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Janelle Monae

Janelle Monae is an American singer- songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer who challenges gender within her performance and work. Janelle is openly pansexual and has said many times that she “feels her feminine”, she “feels her masculine” she just “ feels an energy that she cant really explain” this results in her not fitting the binary, Janelle dresses however she feels fit too, depending on how she is feeling. Recently she did a performance on ‘The late show with Stephen Colbert’ in which herself and her entire band wore shirts and ties. Of course this is mainly ‘male clothing’ despite the fact 3 out of 4 of the band members are female. I think what Janelle is doing is amazing for representing how many women feel nowadays, especially the LGBT+ community. Personally I don't want to walk around in a dress or a skirt so seeing someone as influential as Janelle wear a suit and rocking it is really inspirational. Janelle is paving the way for a new generation who aren’t fitting the gender binary, the more normalised stepping outside the binary is the less shocking it will be every time a strong powerful woman puts on a pair of pants and owns a performance. 

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Harry Styles and his image.

In this blog post I will explore and discuss Harry Styles’ Image. Investigating how he has created an image and whether it’s true to him. It is no secret that every artist has a persona they like to portray, but the question we should be asking is, Is that persona genuinely real? So, what is Harry Styles’ image? From what’s put out into mainstream media I’d say Harry’s image is that he’s a progressive artist who bends the gender norms and doesn’t care about what people think about him.

When Harry was in one direction it seems as though this wasn’t a persona he took on, so why the sudden change? Maybe it’s because he feels as though he can be himself now or maybe it’s because he knows he can get a bigger response by doing things that are considered controversial and aren’t the ‘norm’ for boyband members.

         Recently, Styles was made the cover star of Vogue this was a monumental moment as he was the first male to grace the front page. However, looking at this with a critical eye makes me wonder if it should have gone to someone a little more deserving, as at the end of the day Styles is a straight cis white man (to public knowledge) perhaps a bigger, better statement could have been made if it was a person of colour who is part of the LGBTQ+ community, because every other magazine cover seems be graced by a white straight man therefore it could have been more beneficial to give the space to someone who gets pushed aside more often than not. I also think it’s important to note that people who are non-binary and dress how they went are a lot of the time picked on and taunted for being themselves, but when a successful popstar does it, they get nothing but praised. This double standard needs to be eradicated. How can it be one way for Styles but not others?

         Although I don’t agree with Styles being put on the cover of vogue as the first male star, I do think Styles and his team have cultivated a strong unquestionable image. Because when you think of Harry Styles, one of the first things that would probably enter your head is his flamboyant print suits this alone makes his image stand out from the crowd, as we can picture instantly what it looks like. This is extremely important when you’re a pop star as having people recognise you and know who you are is part of the fame.

         Harry has a large fanbase mainly made up of young enthusiastic girls, this means that when he wears a skirt or paints his nails his fans go crazy, congratulating him on not conforming to stereotypes and being proudly himself. Taking a further look into this I haven’t found anything Styles has done to support the LGBTQ community in terms of awareness of financially. Styles also refuses to disclose his sexuality which is okay, unless he is just queerbaiting a demographic who desperately a role model and positive representation, which is incredibly sad if Styles and his team a perpetuating a false image and being praised for progression but aren’t doing anything positive in support of that.

         Harry Styles and his team are extremely smart as they’ve created a unique image for him, if you go see him live you know to expect dancing, colourful clothes and a guy that doesn’t fit into the binary ideals. So, for that I praise them, because at the end of the day it’s all about the performance when you’re a pop star and an artist without a definable image just isn’t going to be as successful.

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How YUNGBLUD cultivated his image.

Yungblud AKA Dominic Harrison has been a rising star over the last couple of years. He is a British artist from Doncaster, UK. Harrison has been making himself known to countries all over the world. In this blogpost I will explore and breakdown Yungblud’s artist image and see how he has cultivated an image and brands himself. Yungblud prides himself on being authentically himself and ‘not giving a fook’ about what other people think about it. Yungbluds entire image is built around him being a underprivileged kid from the North with bad parents lets investigate whether this is the truth or not.

So, when you think about Yungblud you probably think of a northern punk with colourful hair and pink socks. But, what do we actually know about Yungblud? Well we know that he is a 23 year old from the North of England. We also know that he has ADHD and was bullied quite badly in school for being ‘different’ to all the other children. A lot of Yungblud’s fanbase came about after his collaboration with Halsey and Travis Barker two very well known artists which brought their fan bases along to the song. After this surge in fans Harrison found himself in a little spotlight of fame from that came more collaborations with Machine Gun Kelly and even Bring Me The Horizon. Right now Yungblud’s fame is at the highest point it's ever been.

With his new found fame we can see Yungblud is becoming less afraid to try different looks in his music from wearing dresses and skirts to full faces of makeup. Although Yungblud would wear skirts for performances back in 2018 watching him express himself more and more is really great to see as he feels more accepted for who he is with his growing fanbase.  

A lot of Yungblud’s music explores the themes of growing up and how difficult that is in today’s society. For example, in the song ‘Parents’ he sings the line “My daddy put a gun to my head.

Said if you kiss a boy I'm gonna shoot you dead." This lyric hits hard for the LGBTQ+ Community and with no doubt attracts a bigger fanbase with the candor and relatable experiences. 

This helps Yungblud push his image off being an oddball, an outcast and a misfit. Now from what I can tell after two years of following him it seems as though Yungbluds’ parents are actually really supportive of him. As shown in the BTS video for ‘Weird’ where he calls his parents and asks them to be in his music video to which they say yes. Not something that homophobic parent’s are likley to be doing. Especially knowing he had a LGBT fanbase.

Although his songs may not always be about personal experience, I do find it interesting how someone with borderline abusive parents would be so excited to have them around.  The concept of being young and hating your parents has been a persona of the punk image for a long time and it seems to be the way in which Yungblud is also building his image.

After further investigation and watching more of his videos Yungblud seems to be able to play the piano and guitar at a grade standard level. If Yungblud came from a poor northern estate with cruel parents it stands to reason that he would not be able to play instruments to such a high degree. After all, lessons and instruments cost money. Lots of it. This is demonstrated on this video with Halsey.

 The final bit of evidence I have found which supports the fact his parents aren't what they're made out to be was in 2016 Yungblud appeared on Disney channels ‘The lodge’ at just 19 years old achieving something like this is quite difficult at any age but when you're that young it'd be almost impossible without acting lessons and input from your family. I do believe that Harrison is quite a genuine artist however I don't think everything he writes is true to himself.   

All in all Yungblud may be from a working class family and a small town in Northern England and sometimes life may have been tough however I do not think that makes him special as a lot of people are in the same situation as him, the only difference is Yungblud now gets to profit on all them ‘hard times’ he’s faced and his fans get to carry on just living them. 

Yungblud as an artist is great for every person who feels like they don't fit into a ‘normal’ society, his fans have created a space for everyone called the Black Hearts Club, this is a safe space in which anyone is welcome to be their authentic self, without the fear of judgement. This of course is great for everyone involved but is it as great if the whole ideology is built up on lies? I'm not too sure.

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Welcome

In today’s society musicians have made themselves a career from portraying an image to their audience, whether the the way they act truly reflects their lives however is a completely different story. When you think of an artist today I bet you can instantly tell me exactly what they act like or how they portray themselves because without an image an artist is nothing. In my blog I’m going to pick a different artist every time I write an entry and explore how their image came about and see how true to them it actually is.

If you have any suggestions of who you want me to investigate then just send me a message :)