Claiming Your Narrative: the ‘Becoming’ of an Artist
“You have something against titles?”
“Not really. I mean, they’re sure helpful. But they also put a lot of art in boxes. You look at the title before you’ve looked at the artwork and then the former is what guides your interpretation of the latter.”
He nods, “Like what labels do to people. Attach an epithet to a person and that’s almost always the first thing you’ll see and most often the only thing you’ll remember about them. It’s a favourite trick among journalists. Reduce a complex human to a bunch of adjectives and you’ve convinced everyone you’re an expert on them, that they’re perfectly knowable, and that that’s all they’ll ever be, nothing more.”
Above is an extract from an attempted piece of fiction of mine. Naming is how we try to understand the word, but the act is also possessive.
A pop star is said to be a cultural product, an offshoot of democratization of the arts and the pop culture of the 60s, rooted in mass dissemination and multiplicity of voices.
What happens then, when these voices become a cacophony? How does a pop star maintain chemistry with their oeuvre, be heard and not become a puppet in the hands of the capitalist wolves or play into the hands of fans imposing their idealistic fantasies upon them?
They say a star is born. But of late, with reality TV, scouting and grooming coming to the fore, it’s getting increasingly tempting to conclude that a star is, in fact, made, processed. With the label of ‘manufactured’ superglued to K-pop and even pop music charged with allegations of being ‘non-serious’ and fake and only catering to shallow and widespread consumerism, what locus does an artist who just wants to share their work with the world occupy?
In the 2018 movie, pronounced a modern classic, the star that is Ally doesn’t shine until Bradley Cooper’s character believes that she can. Much of the conflict between the couple arises when she doesn’t conform to Cooper’s idea of what a ‘real’ artist should be. It is interesting to note because Lady Gaga, our heroine, has always heavily relied on her eccentricities and costumes as being integral to her artistry while her onscreen character is pushed towards adopting an unadorned persona.
Blurred lines
Music, in the present time, is an immersive sensory experience. With the rising popularity of platforms like YouTube and live streaming, there is an unprecedented focus on performance, be it Pink’s stellar acrobatics or BTS’ gripping story-telling aided by powerful choreography, props and VCRs. While fans are chasing after authenticity, relatability and sometimes even a vicarious experience of the dream life, the artist, when stepping on stage, dons a costume that is more than just glimmering fabric and pearlescent makeup. This ‘social face’ or persona isn’t fundamentally an illusion hinting that everything is a facade but simply a part of our constitution that protects us and helps us adapt to the external environment.
It is usually taken for granted that a person who has signed up for a ‘public’ career, has also agreed to every aspect of their life being prodded and dissected, be it via the gossip-hungry paparazzi or the micro-analyzing fans. Popular artists like Sia, Daft Punk and Marshmello have taken up to props to maintain a semblance of privacy by physical concealment. Many have been using social media to personally engage with fans and create an intimacy that lends them some control over how information about them is disseminated by offering it firsthand.
The violence of labels
Ezra Pound encapsulated a timeless sentiment when he proclaimed, “Make it new!” The music scene, as it seems, is perpetually in search of an anti-pop star to dismantle the system. From Queen to Billie Eilish, there seems among consumers of music a demand for a self-made star who aligns with their sense (often inflated) of fairness and opportunity for all and works their way to the top via an upheaval of existing hierarchies.
Eilish shot to fame through Ocean Eyes that went viral overnight on Soundcloud and while youngsters are charmed by this prodigious teen who makes music in her bedroom along with her brother, there’s an extensive discourse on whether she is an ‘industry plant’ since signing up with Interscope Records. Besides being crowned the ‘Queen of misery,’ her portrayal as the anti-pop star reviving rock in the mainstream music has generated a sense of annoyance among critics fed up with the ‘I’m not like the other girls’ syndrome.
Billie’s identity extends beyond her whisper voice and haunting music videos, it comprises her baggy clothing and her quirks and bodily ticks. As much as she adores and interacts with her fans, she’s also maintained a fierce grip over how she is perceived by the masses. When she strips for a concert video, it’s on her own terms, with a powerful affirmation.
Is my value based only on your perception or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?
Image building and negative PR
The entertainment industry follows an unwritten mantra of ‘no publicity is the only bad publicity.’ Controversies are welcomed, non-issues ballooned and the most mundane of information sensationalized for better business.
Strumming a guitar, with dreamy eyes and a chocolate voice, Taylor Swift made us fall in love with the idea of love. But upon falling into the abyss of industry drama, she stepped on the dirt hurled at her and reinvented herself with Reputation that celebrates this bolder Taylor. She has heeded the Darwinian principle and adapted with her hugely successful crossover and the back and forth between pop and alternative.
Art is redeeming, it is here that one can hope for reincarnation and live many lives. Be it through meticulous reinvention or alter egos like Sasha Fierce, Hannah Montana and Marshall Mathers.
Industry gatekeeping
BTS’ breakthrough with the western audience has faced extreme capitalist and cultural gatekeeping by business persons who do not profit from the Asian group’s success, music critics who are baffled by this relentless push on their walls by an ‘outsider’ and can claim no hand in the appraisal of their artistry, and the xenophobic populace that is oddly threatened by the disruption of an ‘order’ where people of colour have been systemically prevented from reaching the zenith.
The avoidant tactic then adopted was an implicit infantilization in reports and interviews and blatant refusal to acknowledge seven grown men’s individuality, their hard work and messages. This is an insidious unidimensional branding at work that disregards the seriousness and passion of the artist to further the ‘manufactured’ agenda or discredit their struggle by labelling them a fleeting ‘sensation,’ a fad with no lasting impact.
There is no denying that media manipulation occurs in every industry but it is interesting to note how a western artist’s separation of their personal and public spheres is lauded as mature, mysterious and dedicated to their work whereas the similar prioritizing of their career by K-pop idols is viewed as puppeteering. It certainly has a lot to do with the west hailing itself as the paragon of liberty as opposed to the ‘Orient’ that is devoid of agency and clubbing the ‘other’ as a rudimentary, homogenous monolith incapable of complexity.
Unmediated artist-fan interaction becomes vital in such a scenario. BTS members continuously engage with the fans and provide glimpses into their lives and minds through documentaries and their lyrics. BTS’ Map of the Soul:7 is the band’s rigorous introspection into their own psyches and retracing their path to claim their history which has often been misrepresented by the media. The album, with candid lyricism and sampling of their old songs, is a bold statement at embracing their beginnings, something that had often been made out to be a source of embarrassment for the septet.
The essence of Bhabha’s ideas on identity in flux is, as I see, exchange. The process of becoming is cyclical — cultural exchange creates diverse (or hybrid) identities and it is in these niches that culture is located. Becoming, in fact, as a prerequisite for being, heralds change as a constant and is indicative of the transformative power of humans.
Internationalism in the music scene has granted artists a unique chance at metamorphosis, developing cumulative identities that continue to evolve along their musical journey. As fans, we can support them in a healthy manner not with cumbersome epithets and pigeonholing but by recognizing the inherent multifacetedness of people and drawing some lines.
RM, in Break the Silence, had insightful deliberation on BTS being an “imaginary, momentary rainbow.” The collective identity of the group, he’s aware, is transient and shifting, like white light split through a prism.
A pop star is the voice of the times whose music resonates with the generation. We have songs that sound like our first heartbreak, that comfort us like the hug of our best friend, that we can still shimmy to like we did at that one party in college, that taste like that perfect coffee we made one blissful morning but weren’t able to nail that ratio ever again.
There are myriad stories within these notes and each artist uses a different device to narrate it to us. Some leave footprints on the sands of our time that stay.
