A shift in visual representation in popular music?
Popular music has a long tradition of being highly stylized. Intense choreography, mesmerizing outfits and outlandish make-up are hardly ever non-existent in (female) popular music performances. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonce and Madonna; they all carry with them a specific set of stylistic expectations. From Katy Perry’s black wig to Lady Gaga’s high heels; these attributes are highly embedded in the general public’s imaging of these artists. All of the artists mentioned above have, in their own unique way, contributed to the way popular music has visually been given shape. These unique contributions have all, in some way, added new layers to the extensive range of options one can choose from when it comes to the visual representation of popular music. Over the last fifteen years, almost any concept one can imagine has visually been deployed by one of the popular artists of today’s age. From Katy Perry’s clown era, to Lady Gaga’s cowboy era to even Madonna’s ‘secret agent’ Madame X era; they all share the same sense of beingly highly constructed and conceptual. Two weeks ago, Lady Gaga performed her latest single ‘Hold My Hand’ without make-up, wearing only a pair of sneakers, a black T-shirt and some plain jeans. The extreme contrast to her previous, highly conceptual work is evident. Although Lady Gaga has toned it down severely over the last couple of years, the extreme extent to which this performance was simple and natural raised an important question to me; could being a 'plain Jane' be the next step in popular music?
‘We all need a hero sometimes… we need a lot of love to walk through this life’ – Lady Gaga tells the Oscars’ audience as she introduces her latest single. Whilst elaborating on the story behind the song, the overly zoomed-in camera close-up showcases her vulnerable, make-up free look. This ‘vulnerability’ and simplicity is taken further as the song starts with nothing but Gaga’s gorgeous vocals and a piano. As the song progresses, the only extra elements that are added throughout the performance are the introduction of some guitar sounds as well as some soft drums towards the end. Visually, the deployment of a different camera angle during the second chorus reveals Gaga’s surprising outfit. A black T-shirt, some plain jeans and some comfortable sneakers are being matched with her hair set tight in a pony tail. Both the visual and the musical elements of the performance prevail in extreme austerity. The performance consists of only three band members and Gaga sitting on a stool, making it highly reminiscent of a jam session. Even more so because she appears to be improvising throughout the verses. Can it get any more toned down than this?
The utter simplicity of the performance is even more shocking when we regard the mere fact that the singer walked the red carpet preceding the performance in full glam. The Italian-American fashion trailblazer strutted a classic, traditional black dress with an extremely low cut exposing her thong and her bum. In true defiance of audience expectactions, Gaga’s deliberate removal of her make-up, her replacement of glam with the mundane and her very simplistic musical set-up resulted in a standing ovation from the crowd. News outlets as well as public fora seem to share the same concensus, as the average comment that appears online seems to applaud her bravery and courage to appear on the Oscars so vulnerably. ‘She relies solely on her talent, what a queen!’ – is one of the comments on the Oscars’ their Facebook page. Given Lady Gaga’s history of shock value and performance art, I feel as if the most shocking move Lady Gaga could have made at this moment in her career is to strip it down. Her suprisingly sincere showcase of vulnerability at the 2023 Oscars accounts for a refreshing alternative to the highly stylized popular music of the last decade.
Although it is hard to predict the turns popular music will take in the next years, it is evident that Lady Gaga has often foregrounded the trends. Her current departure from ‘Mother Monster’ to ‘the girl next door’, as illustrated through her 2023 Oscars performance, is a highly refreshing yet surprising one. Given the highly constructed and stylized nature of popular music over the last decade, it would not surprise me if ‘plain Jane’ were to be the next ‘popular’ direction. The dramatic electropop of the early 2010s, the heavy EDM-influenced sound of the mid 2010s and the late house/disco infused trend in popular music; they all share a sense of high stylization and up-tempo music. Who would have thought that Lady Gaga would be the one to go against it?
Lady Baba
20/03/2023
Don't forget to watch the performance through the link below!