Lana del Rey in Concert in Rome

Lana Del Rey, the “Anti-Gaga”

The success of Lana Del Rey was fairly predictable. She´s strikingly beautiful, with an air of a diva wounded by ill-fated love, alcohol and surgeries, and has a voice that swings from depths of darkness to lightweight neo pop rhythms. Lana herself dubbed the style “Hollywood Sadcore” which soon spread throughout the global village and, of course, all the social networks. She´s also known as the “Anti-Gaga”. Lana Del Rey seeks to move listeners before impact, creating feelings of love before desire. And since she´s very business savvy, this singer is here to stay.

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From her pop music beginnings in Brooklyn and Manhattan, when she was still known as Lizzy Grant, the singer was able to demonstrate her talent for composing and performing her own songs as well as a unique look rooted in vintage film. In her first videos, Lizzy Grant is shown as a battered pop diva, who seems to have emerged out of a movie from the 50s with a heartbreaking voice interspersed with images of cars, cartoons and movies by Stanley Kubrick. This same aesthetic was used for the video for her hit song “Video Games” from the hit album “Born to Die”. Additional hits like “Blue Jeans”, “Born to Die” and “National Anthem” followed.

A retouched image?

Many questioned whether Lana´s alleged plastic surgeries, the excessive botox on the lips, and her too perfect nose were somewhat synthetic. However, the retouched image of the star, with a tattoo on his right hand that reads “TRUST NO ONE”, allows her to present herself as the accumulation of all the cliches of a U.S. diva in a postmodern pop whirlwind, seen in magazines such as Vogue, Rolling Stone, and as part of fashion franchises and promotions such as the one by H & M last year. Of course, she does all of this without alcohol or drugs because those things can kill, and kill business as well.

To better understand the aesthetic and pastiche of Lana del Rey, just watch the video for the song “Ride”, whose script she wrote herself. In it, Lana gives us a lesson of life and freedom that is practically a manifesto. She presents herself as a lounge singer who gets involved with various lovers in hotels in Beverly Hills, on the road and in the desert, in seedy bars, embraced by the U.S. flag, with tattoos, Jack Daniels and motorcycles. Is Lana seeking to rescue people? More likely, she just wants to emerge from a common place by taking advantage of her ingenuity and talent.

Currently, Lana Del Rey is recording her third album and traveling throughout Europe on her “Paradise” tour, promoting the album of the same name. For more information, visit the website of Lana Del Rey: http://www.lanadelrey.com/