Transformations in both image and style are a common occurrence in
the realm of the woman pop star. While male musicians may change musical
direction, or morph styles in the course of their career, the concept
of an “image change” in this industry is almost solely the preserve of
women.
The reasons for this in essence are fairly obvious – women musicians
and singers are still primarily noted for the way the present
themselves, with musical style or ability often coming second. While
most male musicians, at least in contemporary music culture, dress in
everyday clothing (from t-shirts and jeans right through to matching
tailored suits), the woman musician, especially in pop is still about
image, looks, and if applicable sex appeal first and content second.
Women’s transformations in pop music can therefore often be complex
and even negative when there is a demand for women to conform to fit a
certain ideal. The need to lose weight, show more boob, have plastic
surgery or just generally be more sexual is very problematic, but sadly
it would seem, fairly typical. Examples such as Kylie Minogue, who went from wholesome girl next door to gold hot pants and a bum cleavage, or Katy Perry
– cheeky pop star to a woman literally squeezing cream from her tits
complex the issue further. Where is the power here? Are these women, and
by proxy their impressionable fans, being exploited, or are they being
empowered through overt displays of sexuality?
Without knowing where the creative force behind these transformations
is placed, it is difficult to judge. For true empowerment through
transformation, it would seem to be necessary to remove this
questionable power struggle (typically in pop between male producers and
women stars) and place creative control in the hands of the artists.
This top 5 transformations in pop therefore features women artists who
are clearly in charge of their image changes, and have boosted their
career significantly through their own wry and savvy metamorphosis. They
have altered and parodied concepts of conformity and pop’s obsession
with the female form, enhancing it, mocking it, parodying it, and using
it for their own ends.
5. Amy Winehouse
When Amy Winehouse released her excellent first LP Frank
in 2003, she was a curvy, bonny lass, seemingly chirpy and devoid of
much make-up. Beautiful though she was, the initial focus for Winehouse’s career was based mainly on her competent, soulful tunes. Zip forward to 2006, and with a new album out burst a reinvented Amy Winehouse punctuated by “heroin chic”. Displaying a monstrous beehive, sailor tattoos and those trademark cat eyeliner flicks, Winehouse
fostered a memorable, eye-catching look, with bare bones, bruised,
scabs and all, that mirrored the harsher turn both her music and her
life had taken.
Ultimately this change was too authentic and too close to a tragic
reality. But her transformation was undoubtedly successful, and marked
the major turning point in her career, turning her into a commercially
successful, worldwide star.
4. Lana Del Rey
The transformation from coy and toned down Lizzie Grant to Lana Del Rey,
the so-called “gangster Nancy Sinatra” that we know today has been
highly contentious and well documented. Whether or not the floundered
musical career of Grant was fabricated as a deliberate precursor to Lana Del Rey is inconsequential – the fact is the transformation worked. The severe reworking from Grant as a fairly drab and ordinary artist into Del Rey
– the intoxicating dirty hipster has caught our collective imaginations
and boosted the artist, 2.0, to fame of dizzying heights in a very
short space of time. Is it authentic? Perhaps not. But Lana Del Rey
certainly seems to have been a significant creative driving force for
this transformation, which has benefitted her career greatly.
3. Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj’s transformation in pop is more
convoluted than a simple image change, with the singer instead adopting a
variety of outlandish alter egos to apply at will. These
transformations are what make Minaj such as dynamic and
noteworthy pop star. Certainly, she is a quality MC with a quirky,
idiosyncratic vocal style. But with a more toned down, atypical R&B
image, it unlikely that Minaj would have reached the
same height as she has with her multi-coloured hair in ludicrous styles,
her bizarre facial expressions, her giant boobs and tiny waist, enrobed
in outfits which have in the past included doctor’s masks, pink wellies
and stitched on cuddly toys. Minaj as herself, “Roman
Zolanski”, “Rrrrosa” or “Harajuku Barbie” work to highlight and
compliment this artist’s genuine talent and intriguing style of rap,
which may have gone unnoticed alongside a more toned down visual style.
2. Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga’s early career image change has to be the most dramatic of all the artists listed here. Many will have seen the YouTube clips of Gaga
performing as Stefani Germanotta, who by comparison is a fairly plain,
dark haired lady producing subdued tracks accompanied only by her own
piano playing. Although Germanotta clearly had excellent vocal
abilities, along with being intelligent and a competent songwriter, the
singer had relatively little success, struggling for years to gain
professional recognition.
Until of course, Germanotta reinvented herself as Lady Gaga. Once the Gaga character was born, success followed. From ‘Just Dance’ onward, Lady Gaga’s
personal style and artistic direction have become ever-increasingly
outlandish, and as her looks got more bizarre, so her success grew.
Undoubtedly her music is very catchy – but ultimately it is her unique
and supremely eye-catching style that have set her apart and boosted her
to huge fame. And best of all – she is the driving force behind her
transformation – and through her own eccentric imagination and
creativity, pop music has far more colour and curiosity once again.
1. Madonna
Ah Madonna, the queen of reinvention. It can be of little doubt that Madonna’s
enduring popularity, spanning nearly 30 years is in no small part down
to her seemingly natural ability to transform herself and her music.
From virgin to whore, goth to cowboy, disco queen to 50s’ pin-up, Madonna has done it all, and continues to reinvent herself into areas we have yet even thought of. Cleverly, Madonna
matches her music to her look, making the transformations seem
effortless and natural. As well as mastering physical transformations,
she has mastered sounds from IDM with William Orbit to playing a Les Paul completely competently at live earth.
Madge embodies transformations in pop. Not every revamp has been
wholly successful (at least from a critical perspective), but she is
always the driving force behind each reversioning on herself. She is in
control of each image with all the power and success completely of her
own making.
See this at TGA at: http://www.thegirlsare.com/2012/05/25/top-5-transformations-in-pop/
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