The past coupla weeks haven’t been so, umm, fair to Lana Del Rey. The singer, whose meteoric rise in 2011 came thanks to the “Share” button, was officially debunked from her hipster-throne today with a scathing article by Jon Caramanica of The New York Times. But the overthrow was long-coming. Even before the singer gave a markedly uncomfortable performance on SNL, full of vocal flubs and awkward twirls, blogs have been questioning Del Rey’s authenticity. So curious were fans about the real Del Rey, born Lizzy Grant, that Billboard devoted an entire cover to the so-called “gangster Nancy Sinatra,” only to poke holes in her well-marketed identity.
But today’s the worst day Lana (umm…Lizzy?) has seen in her career. That’s because, today, Lana Del Rey’s well-pruned lips were deflated at the hands of writer, Jon Caramanica. In his review of her debut album, Born To Die, the New York Times music expert says, ”This is album as anticlimax, the period that ends the essay, not the beginning of a new paragraph.” He writes of the singer’s inability to really “give” anything because the singer is not real. The review is as disastrous for Del Rey’s career as Lynn Hirschberg’s “Agitprop Pop” piece was for M.I.A.’s; the Sri Lankan star failed to move but a handful of records of MAYA following Hirschberg’s commentary.
So what’s Del Rey to do? Caramanica writes, “The only real option is to wash off that face paint, muss up that hair and try again in a few years. There are so many more names out there for the choosing.” How about starting with, I don’t know….Lizzy Grant?
What do you think of his review? Is Lana Del Rey’s career a wrap? Weigh In!
