First of all let me say that I don’t really like Lady Gaga. I know I’m going to be labeled as the pretentious curmudgeon who shakes his fist at all the punk young teenagers but that’s OK because it’s probably an accurate label.
The longstanding argument about Lady Gaga is (or has been) whether or not her whole act is merely style over substance. Well I think it’s pretty clear that she clearly is all style and very little substance. Of course her songs are catchy and she clearly has some talent as a songwriter but that’s about it. I’ve heard people try to defend her as a great songwriter but that’s simply bananas. She’s a decent songwriter, par for course.
I think we can all agree that Lady Gaga’s videos and performances are insane. In fact I believe that's what her fans love most about her. However, I have no love whatsoever for her style in any respect. She is gaudy, tacky, and hyper-sexualized in the worst ways possible, to the point where everything about her is just nauseating.
But of course, the more over-the-top she is, the more everyone loves her.
I think her shtick is stupid and shameless but apparently everyone thinks the opposite. It’s bold, it’s fresh, it’s daring! I have a couple friends who told me that Lady Gaga’s act is performance art and therefore all the insanity had a reason.
Performance art? Really?
Why can’t we just call it what it is? It’s shameless attention grabbing. Gaga’s “performance art” is merely justification for average pop music. Without all the crazy fashion and gimmicks, what do you have? The same old crap except with more dick ennui.
Lady Gaga is trying desperately to be our generation's Madonna: edgy, groundbreaking, sexual, shocking, and blond. So, by my analysis, for all of her supposed innovation and originality, she’s just another candy-coated shock-jock copycat that’ll make you fat and rot your teeth.
Now, Lady Gaga wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren't for the fact that her influence is a contagious, leprous cancer in pop music. Ever since Lady Gaga hit it big, it seems like every mainstream female pop artist has fallen under her cheap influence in some way. Rhianna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and the ever-trashy Ke$ha have all seen fit to replicate Lady Gaga’s craptastic aesthetic in one way or another.
Thankfully, there are still a few glimmers of hope and promise in pop music. The spark of brilliance that has most recently caught my eye is the talented, the dynamic, the incomparable Janelle Monáe.
Janelle Monáe is awesome. Her latest album, The ArchAndroid, is a visionary, genre-busting masterpiece. Monáe and her cohorts masterfully blend soulful R&B with elements from rock, psychedelic folk, and cinematically-inspired orchestrations. Like her debut effort, Metropolis: The Chase Suite, her new album is steeped in a sci-fi story following an android named Cindi Mayweather in her quest for freedom in a depraved future.
As a performer, Monáe is one of a kind. She has a tremendous voice and amazing dance skills, yet she’s a very modest, levelheaded person. Her act seems to be inspired equally by James Brown’s look and showmanship, and Michael Jackson’s dance skills. However, despite the obvious parallels she rises above mere imitation of her influences and really owns her style.
In order to be convinced of Monáe’s spirit and value as a performer one must only watch one of her videos. She is an absolute joy to watch on stage as she delivers energetic performances driven by her live band and her dancing.
In the video for her first single off Metropolis, “Many Moons”, we are introduced to the futuristic world her music takes place in. It takes place at an auction for androids in which Monáe’s protagonist Cindi Mayweather is the centerpiece. The video succeeds in delivering a captivating performance (I’ve seen a forward moonwalk done before) and a coherent story that isn’t merely pulp schmaltz built on cheap pop culture references.
Her next music video, “Tightrope”, once again treads the line of the weird, but is still incredibly fun to watch. The song itself is probably the catchiest thing I’ve heard all year and, as a bonus, the video features some of the finest dancing I’ve ever seen.
Her latest music video is for her anthemic second single, “Cold War”. The video for this song is easily the simplest I’ve seen but is easily one of the most powerful. Perhaps inspired by Radiohead’s video for “No Surprises” (or even the making-of that video as seen in Meeting People is Easy), the video is a close-up of Monáe lip-syncing to her own song. The power and beauty of her song, coupled with the emotion in her expressions, is made all the more powerful by the simplicity of the video and the subtle sexuality she exudes.
Janelle Monáe is truly an artist. She combines different styles to create something that is fresh and new. Only an artist as talented as her could make a high-concept, sci-fi story and make it cool and catchy. She has a classy and timeless style that is bold yet nonintrusive.
Basically, in my humble opinion, she’s better than Lady Gaga in every way and I wish more people would pay attention to artists like Monáe instead of paying attention to the narcissistic posturing of pop music’s elite few.
Now to compare Janelle Monáe to Lady Gaga may be pointless and degrading but I felt it had to be done. I feel that this world could use more artists with class, creative brilliance, and positive messages, and less artists that seem to celebrate sordid sexuality, abject materialism, rampant consumerism, and little else.
Pop culture’s excesses and shortcomings are indicative of modern society’s ails as a whole. I think we could be doing a lot more with a whole lot less instead of falling into hedonistic indulgence and cultural nihilism.
My hope is that maybe a few people will change their minds and maybe musicians will abandon the need for one-upsmanship when it comes to over-the-top superficial absurdity.
But then again I’m just an old dog, most likely barking up the wrong tree.
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