Artist Of The Week: Lana Del Rey

Artist Of The Week: Lana Del Rey

She's crazy, she's beautiful and she was probably born in the wrong generation. Yes ladies and gentleman I am referring to the beautiful 60's goddess known as Lana Del Rey. This US singer has been the highlight of crazy college girls and hipster guys. Born as Elizabeth Woolridge Grant she went by the stage name Lizze Grant before becoming the Lana we know and love. If you're not a worker Bey (Beyonce fan) then you will probably end up being a Lana lover.  Lana has been featured and won such awards such as the GQ "Woman of the Year" and others. We all know who she is, and if you don't know by now then you've probably been living underneath a rock with a gay starfish named Patrick. Either way she makes beautiful music and we're about to dive into the cesspool of sadness known as "Born To Die."

"Blue Jeans"- Lana Del Rey (The Internet Remix)

"Born To Die" was her golden child, her "College Dropout", "So Far Gone", or "Nevermind". It separated her from other indie artists who were emerging during her time period. Her top single, "Blue Jeans" gave life to her career, sparking a cult of Generation Y young adults to follow her into the wine cellar and experiment with alcohol. The lyrics could be found on every recently dumped man's Facebook page or heartbroken female's fingers and hands as tattoos. The video was well crafted as well, using a black and white filter to depict the seduction  of an innocent woman by a tattooed male who is supposed to represent "the guy you can't let go". Ladies we know.  The other singles released with this album include "Video Games" "National Anthem" and "Summertime Sadness". Out of these songs I would say "Summertime Sadness" has the greatest musical quality however "National Anthem" created a larger fan base with it's video. Lana decided to include the only black dude in the game who can rock French Braids and a grill, A$AP Rocky, to portray JFK in her video. It depicted the love of the Kennedy First Family before ol John's top slipped back like Janet at the Superbowl (Thanks Drake). The two had such chemistry on the camera that one could speculate that they were dating, or at least she was getting some black...well you get it. What I do love about her music is that other's love it so well that they feel inspired to create remixes of her. I actually found her by listening to "The Internet" a subgroup of Odd Future; the duo covered her song and I instantly fell in love. Her singles have been the target of many electro and dance artists. Regardless she has been at the tip of success with this album as well as the Paradise edition, which included another eight songs. I recommend listening to this album front to back to fully understand the depth of her sorrow. On some tracks she sings about the lazy summer days and nights; but other tracks are her crooning over the love of her life (past, present, or future). My favorite track would have to be "God's & Monsters", it's a twisted track of her rambling about how she lives in the world we proclaim to be the best. It's a breakdown of the reality of life and that we only exist at the mercy of the gods and monsters who sit on opposite ends of the chess board. The lyrics make you feel minimalistic"In the land of god's and monsters, I was an angel looking to get f*cked hard", her viewpoint on the situation is realistic and slightly cynical.

"Gods And Monsters" - Lana Del Rey

Black Beauty 

For starters her voice is darkly angelic, the harmonizing with the sixties-esque instrumental in the background clearly show her artistic prowess. Lana's lyrics are well developed and thought out as if she were reciting some Lord Byron or Oscar Wilde if they were hormonal teenage females. "Born To Die" essentially highlighted her slight pseudo-depression coupled with a mentality of psycho ex-girlfriend. Fellas if a female ever says her favorite artist is Lana Del Rey then please turn the other way, call up your boys and drink the night away then hit her back up once the club is closed. She's nothing but trouble, but will rock your world in the bedroom and studio. Her new album is in the making and sad to say that some individuals are leaking her tracks. Happily enough, the new songs are beautifully haunting and I have high hopes for her follow-up album "Black Beauty". Lana also did a feature on The Great Gatsby soundtrack with her summer banger, "Young And Beautiful". As Gatsby and Daisy continued to spiral down the stairwell of love, Lana lifted up their eyes to the heavens with promises like "will you still love me when I'm no longer young?" I know I would, shoot with a voice like that to lullaby me to sleep I could rest easy on a midsummer's night. All in all give her a chance and you won't be disappointed. Not only can she sing, but she is a sight for sore eyes. The girl is GAWHJEOUS! However what is most attractive about her is the style and choice of clothes she wears on a consistent basis. It screams 1950's early 60's with a modern womanly twist. Lana somewhat reminds you of Madonna in her early years, exerting a hint of sexuality with a high amount of natural beauty and fashion.  In other words she will go far. I just pray that she will stay off the hard liquor once again (she had a drinking problem, which manifested into lyrics for most of her songs). Regardless of her past, this tall glass of white wine is here to stay and get her consumers love drunk on her music. Just know that too much of Lana's special batch will make you bat shit crazy.  Stay thirsty my friends.

"Angels Forever" - Lana Del Rey

~The Caterpillar