Going Jazzy for Gaga

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga for their duet album, Cheek to Cheek. Courtesy of billboard.com.

On the stages of modern pop music, the descriptors ‘grand’, ‘outlandish’, and ‘guise’ serve as the glittered trail leading you straight to Lady Gaga’s stiletto-clad feet. With red carpet ruses fit for the Mad Hatter, Lady Gaga nestled a niche of her own in the music scene.

Since her collaborative album with jazz icon, Tony Bennett, however, Lady Gaga’s niche as a musician has been under fire. Since her ‘Just Dance’ debut six years ago, her music and wardrobe selections alike have been befitting of the pop image. Like a categorical sorting process by the public, Lady Gaga has been primed as unpredictable in many ways, but not in terms of which genre she her songs belong to.

In the album, “Cheek to Cheek” with Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga’s achievements and accolades as a performer attached to a jazz album are not living up to the entertainer’s prior successes as a pop star according to album reviews. In the LA Times, one reviewer shook a show tune finger at Lady Gaga’s ensembles in classic songs, like “Anything Goes” offering that, “she sometimes blasts away at these songs rather than relaxing into them.”

In the schema, or category, that the public has outlined Lady Gaga in, there is no room for the artist to move laterally into the theatrical and show-tune stems of her past. After all, before she was glitz and Gaga, she was Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Rooted in the melodic ballads of theatre, Germanotta is the antithesis of Gaga and her audience has taken note of it.

Despite “Cheek to Cheek” topping the Billboard 200 chart, there is a detachment between the duo and their audience, as Lady Gaga is disputed for her worthiness in singing alongside a jazz legend. Because of her steadfast denotation as a Queen of Pop by the masses, there is a royal order for what queens mustn’t do. And evading her pop image by topping the charts in an alternate genre is not cohesive with the permissions, nor the capabilities that the public is accustomed to allowing Lady Gaga to have.

While the LA Times includes reviews that acknowledge the raspy tone of Lady Gaga’s that, quite literally, jives with Bennett’s voice so well, more than just her Little Monster fan base is left wondering where the electronic flare of Gaga’s character fits alongside this theatric persona. Transported outside of the Art Pop world of Gaga’s past, the multi-faceted schema of Lady Gaga has yet to enter into full bravado with listeners. For now, definitive silhouettes and abilities are preferred of our artists, but perhaps there will be room in the future for jazz on Gaga’s outlandish stage.

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A 'Booty' by Any Other Name

Of all the fan-made and artist-inspired monikers, none is as renowned as ‘J. Lo’. Withstanding the tests of time and trendiness, Jennifer Lopez has built a brand to outlast the eras of the Puff Daddies and Snoop Doggs whose images were defeated at the turn of the century. Durable and adorable as the 45-year-old has proven to be, J. Lo has also ventured to prove that her moniker comes with an identifier: her bottom.

On September 18, J. Lo released the official music video for ‘Booty’ featuring her Aussie counterpart, Iggy Azalea, with curves down under to rival the original Fly Girl herself. These two femme queens make the most of four minutes and some-odd seconds, showing audiences more dance moves to highlight your rear-end than ever previously imagined. Of course, this is no surprise as the newly ranked Billboard Hot 100 track uses J. Lo’s trademark body part as its namesake.

Jennifer Lopez in the music video for "I Luh Ya Papi" ft. French Montana. Courtesy of  jennifer-lopez.net.

For decades now, the frame through which consumers view J. Lo has been through the recognition of her Latina allure and her best asset. This is to say that the identity and purpose that Lopez serves in the media is conveyed in such a way that audiences interpret her strengths as a star to be dependent on her minority identity. As an actress she has lent beauty and relatable nature to the archetypal Latina maid, the Latin pop star and the unlikely female suitor to the fair-skinned McConaughey-male leads. As an energetic performer, she made us believe that love don’t cost a thing in the presence of catchy choruses and truly bootylicious dance moves (our apologies to Beyoncé, CC: Destiny’s Child). 

Perhaps it is Jenny from the Block’s identity as a minority and as a Latina that contributes to her resistance identity as a curvaceous female. Deserving of the resistance identity title, J. Lo’s media framing keeps her from fitting in with her female counterparts, even within her latest music video alongside Iggy Azalea, because of her warm skin and the rhythmical aptitude, which stereotypes would suggest is all too telling of her Latin upbringing.

In one of the most watched role reversals of mainstream media, Lopez made a satire of the modern music video for her song “I Luh Ya Papi” featuring French Montana. Joining in on the recent trend of female pop stars advocating for gender equity, Lopez “turns the male gaze on its head,” as stated in this music video review from the Huffington Post. Breaking the dichotomy of gender roles and the spectrum of objectification, Jennifer Lopez and her female counterparts make a mockery of men as mere décor—an effort that equity-conscious consumers can surely get behind.

What’s more important than the media frame that permits J. Lo’s booty to precede her in music and movies alike, is the way that she has taken this resistance identity, put on some gold hoop earrings, and has run with it. It is not out of defiance that this Latina from the Bronx has remained a name to know, no matter the monikers you choose. It is with compliance and maybe a little help from a stylist, that J. Lo has embraced her outlier of a silhouette in order to make the most of her Latina identity and to frame her biggest asset for decades on end.

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Refusing to Rest on Royalty

Though the accessories and gadgets in Hollywood have shifted since the age of the silver screen, the sought-after celebrities that occupy stardom in 90210 have yet to experience a shift. With international shipping-and-handling of a more angst-driven type, the teen singer-songwriter, Lorde, is defining her own status of celebrity in the star-studded zip code.

Whether you draw parallels between the blonde bombshells from then and now or the slick and shimmering fashions that have ever walked the red carpet, most of the stars we follow for their image and not their intellect. With lyrics written to linger on her listener’s ear, the “Royals” singer is playing a melody meant for depth and analysis—a true anomaly compared to many a “Queen of Pop” that she shares the stage with.

Rolling Stone, January 2014 cover

“I think the thing that people relate to about me is that I—you know—I kind of try not to fall into your typical traps of song writing,” Lorde said in an interview with Studio Q. 

Peering in on the lives of celebrities, one might find the images, air and behaviors that belong to them indicative of what our society deems a “stereotype”. For the American pop star, the subconscious associations bring to mind a slew of all-too-expensive objects and all-too-chiseled body types. It is a stereotype unfitting of 17-year-old Lorde’s gothic stylings.

In Lorde's cover story in the January 2014 issue of Rolling Stone, Tavi Gevinson, editor of Rookie said: "Everyone talks about Ella [Lorde] as the anti-Miley because she dresses like a witch and she doesn't twerk. But it's more nuanced than that. She sings about partying, she curses like a sailor and her songs aren't completely asexual. She reflects an intelligence in girls our age, and normalizes it." 

Certainly for the celebrity culture that has proven a steady market in America, there is what Patricia Divine of University of Wisconsin at Madison calls, “inevitability of prejudice”. As consumers, we tend towards the stereotype that the unintelligence that celebrities have is more than redeemed with their unshakeable choruses and good looks. The type of pop star that Lorde proves to be helps us to marry the all-too-familiar “cool factor” with the keen factor, which she carries from her image and into her work in the recording studio.

For this Aussie, the American Dream of fame and stardom does not come at the cost of incapability. It comes with a dark lipstain, a shattered celebrity stereotype and lyrics with a clever likability factor all their own.

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