When the year 2008 ended, a number of articles, as well as conversations I had with other people, seemed to indicate that people really wanted the year to end. 2009 and 2010 have not been that much better, but a musical gift in the form of the wacky, whimsical Lady Gaga gave American pop music a much needed kick of originality and quality production. A question floated around my head "Was Lady Gaga with a precedent?" Of course, it is easy to see the Madonna in Gaga, but what about the 2000's? What came before to prime us to the sonicscapes of the woman with a new dress for every occasion? The reflection that followed made me think of the solo careers of Gwen Stefani and Fergie. I survived both at the time. Now I revisit the Naughties.
I have to get this out of the way before I begin my analysis, Gwen Stefani is very much a pre-Lady Gaga, Fergie is not at all.
Stefani, No Doubt's leading woman, released L.A.M.B. and The Sweet Escape in 2004 and 2006, respectively. They're not bad, standing up fairly well these years after release. Both albums have a glossy, 1980's inspired sound that sets it apart from most of the 2000's pop music. Stefani's voice is a creation in itself, capable of being strong, flirty, and goofy (in a good way), her unique sound makes even the most sexual song sound fairly innocent, unlike Britney Spears' robotic sex-tronic crooning in her most recent releases.
While both Stefani and Lady Gaga share in a love of 80's influences, the real reason I chose the No Doubter is over a matter of image. Stefani looks like Lady Gaga, she also was a wearer different costumes, drawing inspiration from the Japanese Schoolgirls (Rich Girl), Alice in Wonderland (What are You Waiting for?) Cheerleaders (Hollaback Girl), to The Sound of Music (Wind it Up.) Watch these music videos. I will wait. Notice how none of those costumes look especially promiscuous? One of the biggest compliments I had for Lady Gaga was that she managed to be astoundingly sucessful without having to sell her body. GS proved it could be done as early 2004.
Gwen Stefani is original sounding, Fergie is not. Her solo album is titled "The Dutchess." That's right, duTchess, don't they have a spellcheck? There is nothing Dutch about this album. There are no songs about tulips, windmills, Anne Frank, Rembrandt, the colonization of South Africa, or liberal drug tolerance laws, but there are a lot of songs about Fergie.
When I was younger, I wondered by there were so many love songs. After listening to this album, I realized that love songs give a singer a chance to sing about somebody else, otherwise they can end up focusing on themselves. Having said that, the raw narcissism rampant in this album makes it horribly annoying. When the Music Gods make their judgements, I am confident that "Fergelicious" alone is enough to damn Fergie's solo career to an eternity of studying Baroque harpsichord.
The reason why one must compare Fergie and Gwen Stefani when trying to account for the success of Lady Gaga is because Gwen Stefani showed that the public was interested in listening to new takes of pop music by singers that weren't sex robots. Fergie, on the other hand, IS the pop music establishment of the Naughties. If somebody ever were to ask me what the best example of 2000's era popular music, I would point this person to the Black Eyed Peas discography and especially this album. (That is, best as in the most clear example, not best as in of greatest quality. The BEST example of 2000's era popular music would probably be Outkast.)
Please, don't listen to "The Dutchess," in fact, history has already gotten rid of both these solo acts by now. I as the curator expunge Fergie's solo career. Gwen Stefani's was pretty good. I recommend listening to Hollaback Girl. The production on that number is fun, and it has a deliberate sense of camp that Fergie will never understand.
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