Shirley Manson said once (I guess it was for Rolling Stone) that Gwen Stefani was “the perfect Trojan horse”. She wasn’t mad or agressive like Courtney Love or Kathleen Hanna. She wasn’t too sexual like the popstars at her era (Madonna, Janet Jackson, etc). She wasn’t overly camp like Bjork or, years after, Lady Gaga. She’s been always approachable: a sexy tomboy, a rock frontwoman which her biggest dream at the time was having a big family. I’m not saying this is something wrong (no way!), but these contradictions have been there since the beginning. What makes people upset about her now (her Blake Shelton era) is that her artistic persona doesn’t have too many contrasts anymore. If she was a rockstar/popstar who was occasionally a celebrity, now she’s a celebrity with a husband and kids who’s occasionally a popstar - and guess what, it’s what she always wanted. As someone here said before, I would love to see your opinion about Pink!
I think when singers start to go as coaches/judges on TV singing competitions people lost interest in their music and are more interested in their personal life so thats why its hard for them to engage their new music to the audience. Thats what happened to Gwen and another example is Xtina, like it or not
See, I wouldn't say that this makes her uncool, but cool in a very specific way; she hasn't followed the lead of her peers and insisted in remaining in something and keeping the same name. She actually achieved her goals in spite of expectations. That's pretty cool.
@@rolandogonzalez9734Xtina was over way before The Voice. Bionic and Burlesque despite being great albums were ignored by both press and public, and Lotus was a disaster. The early 2010 were rough times for older artists and since Xtina relies on trending producers and songwriters to put an album together, she had no choice other than sticking to TV shows and Vegas residencies. What's frustrating about Gwen is that she's different, more self-sufficient in her projects, yet she's still been playing safe.
@@joelhall5124 she doesnt really care about music anymore or expressing something authentic, she is focussed on family and making money to maintain her lifestyle and maybe that was her dream but creative things ask for some originality and soul to connect
Lady Gaga is a great example of someone who rebranded from her shocking, grandiose image to a more subdued one, but is still successful. Sure, the 2010s Lady Gaga is more iconic, but she's still able to put out a good body of work and is still one hell of a performer when she's on a stage.
@@disneytoysr4fun975 Beyonce's longevity and impact is unparalleled. I used Lady Gaga as an example because I think early Gaga and Gwen Stefani is more similar to compare
the one offputting thing i saw was someone saying “gwen was never punk! she always wanted a husband and kids!” you can’t be punk and have a husband and have kids??? punk is about honest self expression at its core. gwen was honest about what she wanted regardless of whether it fit into the rockstar mold. i think thats the MOST punk personally
Confidently wanting a husband and kids is not punk rock lol. Im not even saying it's bad that she wanted that. The problem lies with people desiring to label that desire of hers as punk or punk rock when its not...
Punk is an ideology-based subculture rooted in the lived experience of the young British working class in the 70s and 80s. Ideologically, punk rejects the institutions of marriage and childbirth. A tradwife-in-waiting with blue hair does not a punk make.
Also Gwen Stefani WAS never punk lmfao, SHE NEVER CLAIMED PUNK. SHE NEVER EVEN MADE PUNK MUSIC😭😭😭 whoever you saw saying that honestly you shouldn’t waste your braincells on
@@LD-tn6ffWdf☠️ wanting a family is not mutually exclusive to the punk culture , this is insane. This is exactly why subcultures were ruined by the internet because WHERE TF DID U LEARN THAT?? TikTok?
2 часа назад+87
I feel like becoming a The Voice coach, more often than not, is a career killer
Gwen Stefani back in the 2000s and during her No Doubt days was the "IT girl. She had a peculiar style. She became even cooler when she channeled it to the mainstream collaborating with Eve and other artists. Hollaback Girl is still a banger till this day!😅
@plinko84 Cap lmao🧢🧢🧢🧢 Holla back girl was fun, catchy and one of the best Neptune's production. Her prime was in the mid 90s towards the mid 2000s. She does have a slight edge over Britney Spears
As a long term Gwen fan, her transformation has been disappointing. She’s become a conservative, everything she wasn’t when she first began. The new album is bland and has no personality. The weird thing is Gwen is excellent at ballads and midtempos (Don’t Speak, Wonderful Life, Cool) but her new album doesn’t show that. She has really taken so much of Blake’s artistic identity as her own
When has she ever claimed to be conservative? Also, being a brainwashed lefty is common. Like it or not, Libertarianism is the new counterculture. Stay basic! 😂❤
I adore Gwen and she's still cool to me. But, I think a big issue is that she has some sort of personality issue. She aborbs her partner's morals, aesthetics and life. Rossdale was edgy and open minded, so, she took that on. After him, she became conservative, boring, tame, meek thanks to Blake. It's a shame. Her cancelled 2021 album had some amazing songs and yet she gave us a boring, dull, awkward, souless album called Bouqet.
there’s always a small group of pop artists who went wild in their 20s, only to turn into boomers by their 30s. I picture it like high school frat boys and girls evolving into future Karens and Chads.
I'm tired of people associating everything bad or uncool with "boomers". Can we stop pretending that becoming a Karen as you get older is a "boomer thing" and not holding other generations accountable? It seems to be kind of an unfair double standard.
It’s interesting that when it comes to female artists a lot of times we see the influence of their male partners on their careers. Rarely do we see that for male artists. Even the biggest of female artists, Beyonce and her rapping songs (Jay Z), Whitney and Bobby (Whitney went to New Jack Swing after dating him), Gwen and Blake (country songs), and this is slightly different but Lady Gaga made an entire album based off of her dad’s music tastes (Joanne)
It’s definitely just something that happens with women. We adopt the qualities of people around us in order to feel closer to them. It’s interesting seeing this pattern play out among singers.
To be fair, Beyoncé was rapping, or at the very least incorporating hip-hop into her earlier music, especially with Destiny's Child. Think "The Writing's on the Wall".
Reminds me of lady gaga, eccentric popstars who over time tamed themselves down in terms of persona and as a result, the music itself became safer and had a lot less distinction and risks
I haven’t enjoyed a Gaga album since Artpop but that probably says more about my personal taste than the actual quality of her more recent music. I will acknowledge that she appears to put just as much effort into her music as she did before, but it just hasn’t been speaking to me idk
@@sunrope77 you said it all. my top 3 albums are from her early work/prime. i really like disease (and dwas) tho and i hope LG7 will go back to her old sound and add a twist like the way the weeknd’s “after hours” went back to his alt-r&b music and added some disco elements
@@sunrope77 joanne was her last good album imo(not counting the tony bennett collab albums), traumatica is a huge downgrade and is sorta like her own version of midnights. im seriously hoping her new album will bring back BTW's real sound, cuz disease isnt doing anything for me
No, it's not. You have terrible taste. What's good about, 🎶"Wahooooooo, YEEE-HOOOOO!"🎶 A literal lyric from that moronic melody. You probably like the sound of death rattles and drowning. Sweet Escape was her death rattle. Straight up.
Yeah, Gwen becoming less outrageous definitely hurt her career in the long run. It's been shocking to see Gwen's music transformation after she got with Blake. Some of their ballads together aren't bad imo but I do agree that she's been too safe in her music recently
As someone who’s been alive for most of Gwen’s career, I’ve never thought of her as “cool” nor all that edgy. I recall early interviews where she always said she just fell into the band, swept up in what her brother and the boys around her were doing. Outside her music videos she seemed bubbly and sweet, and personality without distinction. But when she talks about music she just seemed to be riding the wave, enjoying herself. She never seemed passionate about the craft itself like her contemporaries. I’m not surprised by her trajectory at all. Madonna remains the edgiest popstar we have lol I’m not kidding
Without borrowing from Japanese, Jamaican and Hip Hop influence shes boring on her own. Shes not a great singer and there were many artists like her at that time, the seasoning kept her interesting. Even her early No Doubt era was ska phase which is Jamaican based . The moment she shed those personas, the associated sounds and started being just gwen it was a a wrap. Everyone has their time in the limelight and very few artists maintain popularity for a lifetime. Those who do constantly reinvent themselves to keep up with the trends like Madonna and Cher and others can rely on living legend status like Mariah. Gwen has neither the personality nor the voice to remain exceedingly popular. But I still think that she is a great legacy artist, her best music is behind her but its that music I keep playing over and over and it still feels fresh and cool.
A little harsh but I see what you mean. In the last decade with her stripping away from those roots you pointed out, she just comes off as a generic pop star no different than Katy Perry, 2010s Lady Gaga, and Madonna in the sense of just having quirky bold fashion for the sake of boldness and not so much style compared to her ska punk, Harajuku, and Hip-Hop eras. And now she's in her by the numbers phase with this conservative leaning style mixed with modern plastic surgery face. I still believe though that had she stuck in the alternative world instead of going into the pop mainstream world, she would've still been beloved because No Doubt was quite liked. Maybe not so much in the ska scene itself but just overall in the alternative space.
Huh? You praise Madonna and Cher for reinventing themselves and talk negatively about reinvention when Gwen does it, going from rock chick, ska, Japanese then brown music. Which is it?
Disagree and find this take somewhat racist. There are several Gwen songs that have don't have those influences and are amazing on their own, especially "Cool" which is a favourite and shows a natural Gwen with a minimalist pop and new wave influence, which is also a major characteristic of her style, more-so than the reggae, hip-hop and Japanese sounds. Gwen is a pop-rock artist, when she wanted to be more experimental she simply adapted other sounds and made them hers, it wasn't "seasoning that kept her interesting". If you actually listen to her entire discography you will find several works that have none of those influences and still managed to be hits in many countries. Whatever sound Gwen wanted to do became hers in her own way.
Im gen z but i loved her no doubt and solo days! I agree with the part of her toning down her music. I think this is also just something that happens to a lot of artists as they get age in general. However, her legacy will always live on and in my mind she'll always be that cool rebellious girl i wanted to emulate❤❤.
It’s a shame because the unreleased music from her scrapped 2020s album has so much of what I love about Gwen (it’s no LAMB, but what has leaked is still really fun and feels unique to Gwen), but she just shelved it and put out the most basic country/soft rock pop album ever with Bouquet.
I've NEVER been so early! I still love Gwen, especially when she came out during the 2000's. L.A.M.B. was such a good album, 10 year old me wore it out XD! She'll always have a special place in my heart.....but i agree she's definitely been losing the cool factor XD
I’ve felt this way for a while. Ever since her third album, she’s been chasing hits and losing her edge little by little. I think she’s chasing Blake’s conservative audience for a little more relevance.
I was a HUGE fan of Gwen growing up, especially in her no doubt days. I had a VHS of their Tragic Kingdom tour and I watched it so much as a child. Gwen was so cool and she wasn’t afraid to be herself. I loved her solo era but over time I started to feel like she lost her way. It makes me so sad cause the kids these days don’t know how fucking cool she was, she was so edgy and had the coolest hair and style. Now I see her and I’m like who is this person 😂 the Gwen i will always remember is her with bright pink hair and braces.
I think it's time for you to get off the internet, turn off the mainstream news, and go out and interact with people who have different viewpoints and political opinions than you. I can assure you, 99% of them are nothing like you've been told by the people trying to make you hate each other.
She's now a mother, a wife, she's in beauty industry. Music is something she does occasionally, no longer her passion. She literally said she was thinking about her kids and husband's needs while making the record, she barely had time to go in the studio.
I vividly remember my neighbor buying the sweet escape album CD when it just came out and playing the hell out of it every Saturday when she would clean the house, Gwen, kelis and Nicky minaj will always have a sweet place in my heart as a guy😂😂😂
100% agree with everything you said. Her releases from Slow Clap onwards felt awkward and dare I say cringe at times. A far cry from the LAMB Gwen we knew and loved. I’m happy she is at least trying to evolve - I guess the only thing worse is someone who does the same thing over and over again
Beyoncé is still relevant after all these years, not because she hopped onto every passing fad, but because she remained true to herself. Gwen, on the other hand, has been a bit of an empty slate in her solo career; it just seems like she did whatever her she needed to do to be popular, including some very tepid, middle of the road recordings. By contrast, Beyoncé evolved, but in a very distinctively Beyoncé way. She risked becoming a nondescript pop star with her “Sasha Fierce” album, but every album since then has been a bold statement that wasn’t always commercially appealing, and you always had the sense that, despite all of the different songwriters involved, it was Beyoncé’s vision/voice that always made it through.
She created trends - she didn't follow them. Madonna did the same. The death of a pop star happens when they conform and start chasing trends to simply keep up with the times, rather than have a distinct artistic vision they stick to regardless of what popular.
She has a steady gig on the Voice that she loves and so she has an income and marriage and she has become Middle Aged Mommified. She’s become boring and isn’t engaging in the culture the way she used to. This happens to a lot of dads too. They kind of lose themselves into the role they’re playing. It’s why peopl have mid lie crises because they’re desperately trying to be a separate person again and not just “dad” or “mom.” I think older artists can still be interesting but older moms and dads can get caught up in stasis and not grow. I actually think Kelly Clarkson has put out some good recent music even if that is not really my preferred genre and she is kind of in that age bracket of Gwen.
Gwen losing her identity over time is one of many examples why the general public rolls their eyes when a female artist gets married or has children, you can see them waving their pop persona goodbye
I think it's only natural to become complacent as one gets older... You've made it (so to speak), what else is there to fight for? The artists that's DON'T fall into this trap are actually the exception, not the rule.
Love her style and her as a person but I agree her music has just become a bit bland not horrible just kinda mid. Wish she would take on more of a Soft Rock Sheryl Crow in the 90's type vibe at the end of the day if she's happy I guess that's what matters but I can't imagine they don't want to sell. All in all will always love her.
She helps form me into the woman I am. “Tragic Kingdom” came out when I was in middle school, and an a woman in a male dominated field, you KNOW “I’m Just A Girl” is permanently on my playlist. I occasionally like some of her new song. I liked “Somebody Elses’s” because I was about Gavin. But, yeah, her audience is limited now.
Love Angel Music Baby singles and The Sweet Escape singles still play on the radio till this day! Gwen Stefani will remain a famous icon forever with her timeless 2000s hits! ⭐️
Her style and LAMB were unmatched. Sounds of my childhood!!! So effortlessly cool!! I had an opportunity to work with her for a very short time. She just started dating Blake Shelton, I believe. I was wearing cowboy boots and she asked what’s up with those? Do you work out in the field? It’s always funny to see her fully embrace Country music now.
You always make great videos. You should make a video on Fergie next. This video got me thinking about her and how she’s basically gone off the face of the earth now…
love.angel.music.baby and the sweet escape albums are my absolute favs to this day - her voice is so unique and I have such good memories from those times
@@sabrinarodrigues629 Them too lol. I would also throw Dale Bozzio (Missing Persons) and I would say Nina Hagen but I don't think she was ever mainstream in America.
i loved gwen in the past but i noticed that everyone she dates or become friends with, she takes on their personality. i hate that. 1st she's goth, punk rock, ghetto, stylish, japanese and now country. i tried listening to her country songs and just hated them. its like who is she really cuz she really doesnt have her own identity
When was she ever goth? lol But yeah it does seem like she molds herself to whoever she's dating and the only time we got to see a more authentic her was in the mid-late 90s after her breakup with her bandmate.
I saw an ad with her in it the other day and got all excited until I realized it was for some weird christian app. did I miss a few chapters? I'm a christian myself but a "bad" one in that I'm very lax with the teachings and find the preachy judgey ones to be the worst humanity has to offer and I was so disappointed to see such an odd shift for her. ig blake has really done a number on her.
She was ALWAYS a big Catholic church girl from the very beginning... She went to church every Sunday and was very open how much her faith was important to her. I think you guys just want to pick and choose things to be mad about... It doesn't seem like she's really changed as a person, maybe just her ever evolving style and music is in a stage most don't really seem to like that much right now.
"Truth" may be my favorite album from her, tbh. A lot of 2000s pop girls took too long with their next album and fizzled out. Definitely feel like Gwen could've been running the game even now.
Gwen is still cool. It is true that Halloback girl is an inspiration for the song from Bruno Mars and Rose Apt I think if she woulde release Halloback girl. I'm happy she's not like Madonna, Lady Gaga. They are awful.
So sick and tired of people telling Gwen who she is ? She said repeatedly during the promo for this album that she's not no.doubt girl anymore she's changed and she wants to ? She said repeatedly during the promo for this album that she's not the girl anymore she's changed and she wants to write that sort of music
Gwen has always been girly, pop, and more about fashion and she's never pretended to be this innovative or edgy artist. Also, idk why it's so hard to imagine many celebs want to live normal, average lives. She's been saying this forever in her lyrics as well. It's better for her to be happy and she appears to be enjoying life. All these "cool" celebs you worship live miserable, unhealthy, and unfulfilling lives, but you all glamorize it for the aesthetic. And if they die young, you put them on a pedestal. That's weird af.
Maturing is realizing that Gwen Stefani comes off as shell of a person, maybe even her former self. Her music, lyrics, style gave way to her seeming cool, empowered, a little edgy, honest/authentic even if it goes against the grain & as if she had her own voice and perspective, etc. However, as time went on, I saw she jumps from one relationship to the next and molds herself to whoever her current partner is, taking on culturally appropriative personas & style along the way, which slid under the radar back then, and getting tons the plastic surgery to appear as youthful as ever while becoming unrecognizable from her early ND days. Also Blake comes off very conservative and the opposite of punk, which she used to portray. Without a clear perspective on her brand, music, persona, you just wonder who is she and does she even stand for anything? For ex, Madonna may change sonically and visually but the messaging stays more consistent. With Gwen, it all feels desperate, lost, inauthentic and very uncool. But god, I loved her music back in the day!
Loved Gwen in No Doubt, and grew up listening to them. I remember Don't Speak, Ex Girlfriend, Running, Underneath it All, etc and all the J14 posts of Gwen. Her oddness was so appreciative. When Gwen released LAMB, I inhaled it. I loved the album. But the more she became a solo artist, the less I liked her. The most recent No Doubt album (2012) was not the same. It was clear ND was over with the lack of marketing. Thankfully I saw ND in 2012 one last time. Gwen is so talented and I hope her music shifts back to something I enjoy. (AKA a No Doubt reunion!)
Something this video left out is that some (like me) considered it uncool to engage in the video depiction of Native Americans (Looking Hot - the original video), and the fetishization of Japanese culture eventually felt a bit odd to many. The way she used harajuku girls and other symbols of Asian culture got to feel, well, just kind of strange after some time (the term cultural appropriation is often used here, but really, I find her actions more in line with Orientalism as understood by Edward Said). She was still pretty cool in 2006 (Sweet Escape) but the Orientalism was there at this point (something that many like me consider uncool). You're right that her music became safer (I am old enough to have enjoyed her music and to have enjoyed No Doubt despite my critique, I'll still sometimes play old No Doubt music). If people attack this post I don't plan to respond. By the time of the "Looking Hot" video (2012 era) she just didn't seem to have much to say, the music was bland, and even kind of weirdly out of touch as in that video. My favorite later Stefani video is "Used to Love You" - I found that to be very raw and powerful in its way.
I was listening to just the way you are and couldn’t stop laughing because I sñcabt believe how much Bruno has changed. Kids now a days would understand how perfectly popularly polished he used to be.
I remember being so excited when I saw she was releasing a new album, hoping she’d go back to her former edge a bit. But she has been ‘contryfied’ and is now akin to a basic Nashville guitar artist. I am disappointed, these latest two albums are her mainly professing how amazing her life with Blake Sheldon is over and over again. It’s tiring and repetitive. She’s lost her spark and is happy to be a suburban mellow housewife
Her entire career was rooted in cultural appropriation, this why we keep telling people that cultural appropriation is very racism coded. It takes decades of when they show themselves to be racists then people are confused how the script was flipped. It wasn’t flipped, they were like that all along!
Shirley Manson said once (I guess it was for Rolling Stone) that Gwen Stefani was “the perfect Trojan horse”. She wasn’t mad or agressive like Courtney Love or Kathleen Hanna. She wasn’t too sexual like the popstars at her era (Madonna, Janet Jackson, etc). She wasn’t overly camp like Bjork or, years after, Lady Gaga. She’s been always approachable: a sexy tomboy, a rock frontwoman which her biggest dream at the time was having a big family. I’m not saying this is something wrong (no way!), but these contradictions have been there since the beginning.
What makes people upset about her now (her Blake Shelton era) is that her artistic persona doesn’t have too many contrasts anymore. If she was a rockstar/popstar who was occasionally a celebrity, now she’s a celebrity with a husband and kids who’s occasionally a popstar - and guess what, it’s what she always wanted.
As someone here said before, I would love to see your opinion about Pink!
I think when singers start to go as coaches/judges on TV singing competitions people lost interest in their music and are more interested in their personal life so thats why its hard for them to engage their new music to the audience. Thats what happened to Gwen and another example is Xtina, like it or not
See, I wouldn't say that this makes her uncool, but cool in a very specific way; she hasn't followed the lead of her peers and insisted in remaining in something and keeping the same name. She actually achieved her goals in spite of expectations.
That's pretty cool.
@@rolandogonzalez9734Xtina was over way before The Voice. Bionic and Burlesque despite being great albums were ignored by both press and public, and Lotus was a disaster. The early 2010 were rough times for older artists and since Xtina relies on trending producers and songwriters to put an album together, she had no choice other than sticking to TV shows and Vegas residencies. What's frustrating about Gwen is that she's different, more self-sufficient in her projects, yet she's still been playing safe.
@@joelhall5124 she doesnt really care about music anymore or expressing something authentic, she is focussed on family and making money to maintain her lifestyle and maybe that was her dream but creative things ask for some originality and soul to connect
Agree on the P!NK!
Lady Gaga is a great example of someone who rebranded from her shocking, grandiose image to a more subdued one, but is still successful. Sure, the 2010s Lady Gaga is more iconic, but she's still able to put out a good body of work and is still one hell of a performer when she's on a stage.
She's still in her shocking era do watch disease video
Ehh… I think she’s a flop now
She's not even 40 and she has no impact on the music charts. Id say Beyonce is a better example.
@@BootyWarrior80892 wait until her untitled album come next year
@@disneytoysr4fun975 Beyonce's longevity and impact is unparalleled. I used Lady Gaga as an example because I think early Gaga and Gwen Stefani is more similar to compare
the one offputting thing i saw was someone saying “gwen was never punk! she always wanted a husband and kids!” you can’t be punk and have a husband and have kids??? punk is about honest self expression at its core. gwen was honest about what she wanted regardless of whether it fit into the rockstar mold. i think thats the MOST punk personally
I felt no doubt was like indie. ???
Confidently wanting a husband and kids is not punk rock lol. Im not even saying it's bad that she wanted that. The problem lies with people desiring to label that desire of hers as punk or punk rock when its not...
Punk is an ideology-based subculture rooted in the lived experience of the young British working class in the 70s and 80s. Ideologically, punk rejects the institutions of marriage and childbirth. A tradwife-in-waiting with blue hair does not a punk make.
Also Gwen Stefani WAS never punk lmfao, SHE NEVER CLAIMED PUNK. SHE NEVER EVEN MADE PUNK MUSIC😭😭😭 whoever you saw saying that honestly you shouldn’t waste your braincells on
@@LD-tn6ffWdf☠️ wanting a family is not mutually exclusive to the punk culture , this is insane. This is exactly why subcultures were ruined by the internet because WHERE TF DID U LEARN THAT?? TikTok?
I feel like becoming a The Voice coach, more often than not, is a career killer
That's why Ariana jumped ship after the one season haha
Yeah, pretty much. Ariana Grande is the only Voice coach that still thrives in the music space
Gwen Stefani back in the 2000s and during her No Doubt days was the "IT girl. She had a peculiar style. She became even cooler when she channeled it to the mainstream collaborating with Eve and other artists. Hollaback Girl is still a banger till this day!😅
"Hollableh" is her worst song and the start of her decline. When she started making music that appealed to everyone, it's for no one. Absolut 🗑.
@plinko84 Cap lmao🧢🧢🧢🧢 Holla back girl was fun, catchy and one of the best Neptune's production. Her prime was in the mid 90s towards the mid 2000s. She does have a slight edge over Britney Spears
Okay, your outros are becoming straightforwardly shady 😂😂😂
He's gaining a reputation
@@alejandrogiraldoorozco4075 i love them, they’re like his “thing” . also the hollaback instrumental is so fire
I am loving it all🤣🤣💖💖
As a long term Gwen fan, her transformation has been disappointing. She’s become a conservative, everything she wasn’t when she first began. The new album is bland and has no personality. The weird thing is Gwen is excellent at ballads and midtempos (Don’t Speak, Wonderful Life, Cool) but her new album doesn’t show that. She has really taken so much of Blake’s artistic identity as her own
When has she ever claimed to be conservative? Also, being a brainwashed lefty is common. Like it or not, Libertarianism is the new counterculture. Stay basic! 😂❤
Absolutely agree with the last point
Ouch
you do realize that the word conservative doesn’t just mean political parties? dumb bell !
I concur. This happens to every artist when they remove what makes them stand out. Originality.
I adore Gwen and she's still cool to me. But, I think a big issue is that she has some sort of personality issue. She aborbs her partner's morals, aesthetics and life. Rossdale was edgy and open minded, so, she took that on. After him, she became conservative, boring, tame, meek thanks to Blake. It's a shame. Her cancelled 2021 album had some amazing songs and yet she gave us a boring, dull, awkward, souless album called Bouqet.
there’s always a small group of pop artists who went wild in their 20s, only to turn into boomers by their 30s. I picture it like high school frat boys and girls evolving into future Karens and Chads.
Boomers as in "boy next door" or "girl next door"?
I'm tired of people associating everything bad or uncool with "boomers". Can we stop pretending that becoming a Karen as you get older is a "boomer thing" and not holding other generations accountable? It seems to be kind of an unfair double standard.
Gwen was actually 35 when she went solo
It’s interesting that when it comes to female artists a lot of times we see the influence of their male partners on their careers. Rarely do we see that for male artists. Even the biggest of female artists, Beyonce and her rapping songs (Jay Z), Whitney and Bobby (Whitney went to New Jack Swing after dating him), Gwen and Blake (country songs), and this is slightly different but Lady Gaga made an entire album based off of her dad’s music tastes (Joanne)
It’s definitely just something that happens with women. We adopt the qualities of people around us in order to feel closer to them. It’s interesting seeing this pattern play out among singers.
And it flopped very badly audience hated joanne
The importance of de-centering men must be repeated every day.
To be fair, Beyoncé was rapping, or at the very least incorporating hip-hop into her earlier music, especially with Destiny's Child. Think "The Writing's on the Wall".
@jfh9535 multi talented queen
Reminds me of lady gaga, eccentric popstars who over time tamed themselves down in terms of persona and as a result, the music itself became safer and had a lot less distinction and risks
Exactly.
I haven’t enjoyed a Gaga album since Artpop but that probably says more about my personal taste than the actual quality of her more recent music. I will acknowledge that she appears to put just as much effort into her music as she did before, but it just hasn’t been speaking to me idk
@@sunrope77 you said it all. my top 3 albums are from her early work/prime. i really like disease (and dwas) tho and i hope LG7 will go back to her old sound and add a twist like the way the weeknd’s “after hours” went back to his alt-r&b music and added some disco elements
Gaga transitioned successfully though. Still able to make hits till this day
@@sunrope77 joanne was her last good album imo(not counting the tony bennett collab albums), traumatica is a huge downgrade and is sorta like her own version of midnights. im seriously hoping her new album will bring back BTW's real sound, cuz disease isnt doing anything for me
The Sweet Escape album a classic
L.A.M.B was better tbh
L.A.M.B. is the classic. Love them both though.
I always thought how she rode Akon bbc after that video...
I relate to the lyrics so bad sometimes 😭
No, it's not. You have terrible taste. What's good about, 🎶"Wahooooooo, YEEE-HOOOOO!"🎶
A literal lyric from that moronic melody. You probably like the sound of death rattles and drowning. Sweet Escape was her death rattle. Straight up.
Rich Girl & What You're Waiting For are still my songs
Still obsessed with her “Cool” song
Gwen was such a staple of my childhood. I had the Sweet Escape album on my iPod on a loop for months and months.
Yeah, Gwen becoming less outrageous definitely hurt her career in the long run. It's been shocking to see Gwen's music transformation after she got with Blake. Some of their ballads together aren't bad imo but I do agree that she's been too safe in her music recently
As someone who’s been alive for most of Gwen’s career, I’ve never thought of her as “cool” nor all that edgy. I recall early interviews where she always said she just fell into the band, swept up in what her brother and the boys around her were doing. Outside her music videos she seemed bubbly and sweet, and personality without distinction. But when she talks about music she just seemed to be riding the wave, enjoying herself. She never seemed passionate about the craft itself like her contemporaries. I’m not surprised by her trajectory at all. Madonna remains the edgiest popstar we have lol I’m not kidding
Exactly my thoughts as well. Like the pop star thing kinda just happened to her. I think being a wife & mom was always her dream over all of it.
Without borrowing from Japanese, Jamaican and Hip Hop influence shes boring on her own. Shes not a great singer and there were many artists like her at that time, the seasoning kept her interesting. Even her early No Doubt era was ska phase which is Jamaican based . The moment she shed those personas, the associated sounds and started being just gwen it was a a wrap. Everyone has their time in the limelight and very few artists maintain popularity for a lifetime. Those who do constantly reinvent themselves to keep up with the trends like Madonna and Cher and others can rely on living legend status like Mariah. Gwen has neither the personality nor the voice to remain exceedingly popular. But I still think that she is a great legacy artist, her best music is behind her but its that music I keep playing over and over and it still feels fresh and cool.
A little harsh but I see what you mean. In the last decade with her stripping away from those roots you pointed out, she just comes off as a generic pop star no different than Katy Perry, 2010s Lady Gaga, and Madonna in the sense of just having quirky bold fashion for the sake of boldness and not so much style compared to her ska punk, Harajuku, and Hip-Hop eras. And now she's in her by the numbers phase with this conservative leaning style mixed with modern plastic surgery face.
I still believe though that had she stuck in the alternative world instead of going into the pop mainstream world, she would've still been beloved because No Doubt was quite liked. Maybe not so much in the ska scene itself but just overall in the alternative space.
I wonder how the average joe would feel if another even averager random joe criticized their life and work like this
Huh? You praise Madonna and Cher for reinventing themselves and talk negatively about reinvention when Gwen does it, going from rock chick, ska, Japanese then brown music. Which is it?
@nwokorochinwe2370 If you're an artist in the public eye, you expect your work to be criticized 🤷🏾♀️ OP didn't say anything unreasonable or mean.
Disagree and find this take somewhat racist. There are several Gwen songs that have don't have those influences and are amazing on their own, especially "Cool" which is a favourite and shows a natural Gwen with a minimalist pop and new wave influence, which is also a major characteristic of her style, more-so than the reggae, hip-hop and Japanese sounds. Gwen is a pop-rock artist, when she wanted to be more experimental she simply adapted other sounds and made them hers, it wasn't "seasoning that kept her interesting". If you actually listen to her entire discography you will find several works that have none of those influences and still managed to be hits in many countries. Whatever sound Gwen wanted to do became hers in her own way.
Im gen z but i loved her no doubt and solo days! I agree with the part of her toning down her music. I think this is also just something that happens to a lot of artists as they get age in general. However, her legacy will always live on and in my mind she'll always be that cool rebellious girl i wanted to emulate❤❤.
Well… she did say she “always wanted a simple kind of life”
Honestly her and nelly futardo are my inspirations Gwen’s fashion was so cool still is she made a lot artist of today
ah yes nelly furtado is amazing i miss her music
@@Elizabeth-mf3dnshe just dropped an album
Her and Nelly itch a very specific part of my brain
It’s a shame because the unreleased music from her scrapped 2020s album has so much of what I love about Gwen (it’s no LAMB, but what has leaked is still really fun and feels unique to Gwen), but she just shelved it and put out the most basic country/soft rock pop album ever with Bouquet.
I've NEVER been so early! I still love Gwen, especially when she came out during the 2000's. L.A.M.B. was such a good album, 10 year old me wore it out XD!
She'll always have a special place in my heart.....but i agree she's definitely been losing the cool factor XD
I’ve felt this way for a while. Ever since her third album, she’s been chasing hits and losing her edge little by little. I think she’s chasing Blake’s conservative audience for a little more relevance.
she needs a featuring with sybrina carpenter or any of the new young things
I was a HUGE fan of Gwen growing up, especially in her no doubt days. I had a VHS of their Tragic Kingdom tour and I watched it so much as a child. Gwen was so cool and she wasn’t afraid to be herself. I loved her solo era but over time I started to feel like she lost her way. It makes me so sad cause the kids these days don’t know how fucking cool she was, she was so edgy and had the coolest hair and style. Now I see her and I’m like who is this person 😂 the Gwen i will always remember is her with bright pink hair and braces.
She doesn’t need to be cool ! Gwen is just fine ❤
she went from alternative queen to insurrectionists wife
😂😂😂
Such a lame comment lol
so your gripe is not with her music but her political stance?
I think it's time for you to get off the internet, turn off the mainstream news, and go out and interact with people who have different viewpoints and political opinions than you. I can assure you, 99% of them are nothing like you've been told by the people trying to make you hate each other.
I could not agree more. I am embarrassed for her.
She’s an icon so it’s especially disappointing to see
A Beverly hills housewife doing a country costume...Yolanda Hadid Foster whatever 🍋...😂😂😂😂😂
She's now a mother, a wife, she's in beauty industry. Music is something she does occasionally, no longer her passion. She literally said she was thinking about her kids and husband's needs while making the record, she barely had time to go in the studio.
I vividly remember my neighbor buying the sweet escape album CD when it just came out and playing the hell out of it every Saturday when she would clean the house, Gwen, kelis and Nicky minaj will always have a sweet place in my heart as a guy😂😂😂
Kelis is incredible
I wish she was as interesting as her music
Her music isn't even interesting anymore.
100% agree with everything you said. Her releases from Slow Clap onwards felt awkward and dare I say cringe at times. A far cry from the LAMB Gwen we knew and loved. I’m happy she is at least trying to evolve - I guess the only thing worse is someone who does the same thing over and over again
i still remember the old navy ad memes that came out of slow clap😭
Beyoncé is still relevant after all these years, not because she hopped onto every passing fad, but because she remained true to herself. Gwen, on the other hand, has been a bit of an empty slate in her solo career; it just seems like she did whatever her she needed to do to be popular, including some very tepid, middle of the road recordings. By contrast, Beyoncé evolved, but in a very distinctively Beyoncé way. She risked becoming a nondescript pop star with her “Sasha Fierce” album, but every album since then has been a bold statement that wasn’t always commercially appealing, and you always had the sense that, despite all of the different songwriters involved, it was Beyoncé’s vision/voice that always made it through.
Diddy list! ☠️
She knows...
She created trends - she didn't follow them. Madonna did the same. The death of a pop star happens when they conform and start chasing trends to simply keep up with the times, rather than have a distinct artistic vision they stick to regardless of what popular.
And I know - She Knowles 😂😂😂😂@@sabrinarodrigues629
She has a steady gig on the Voice that she loves and so she has an income and marriage and she has become Middle Aged Mommified. She’s become boring and isn’t engaging in the culture the way she used to. This happens to a lot of dads too. They kind of lose themselves into the role they’re playing. It’s why peopl have mid lie crises because they’re desperately trying to be a separate person again and not just “dad” or “mom.”
I think older artists can still be interesting but older moms and dads can get caught up in stasis and not grow. I actually think Kelly Clarkson has put out some good recent music even if that is not really my preferred genre and she is kind of in that age bracket of Gwen.
Gwen losing her identity over time is one of many examples why the general public rolls their eyes when a female artist gets married or has children, you can see them waving their pop persona goodbye
Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavine taught us that girls and women aren't allowed to be cool.
If you can't do stereotypical sexy, no one will invest in you.
I think it's only natural to become complacent as one gets older... You've made it (so to speak), what else is there to fight for? The artists that's DON'T fall into this trap are actually the exception, not the rule.
She is very generic now
Blake happened. The end.
Bloop
I still love Gwen 🤍 I actually liked the album. It’s obviously different from her previous work but it’s not as bad as most people are saying.
Love her style and her as a person but I agree her music has just become a bit bland not horrible just kinda mid. Wish she would take on more of a Soft Rock Sheryl Crow in the 90's type vibe at the end of the day if she's happy I guess that's what matters but I can't imagine they don't want to sell. All in all will always love her.
She helps form me into the woman I am. “Tragic Kingdom” came out when I was in middle school, and an a woman in a male dominated field, you KNOW “I’m Just A Girl” is permanently on my playlist. I occasionally like some of her new song. I liked “Somebody Elses’s” because I was about Gavin. But, yeah, her audience is limited now.
"Spiderwebs" for me, I was obsessed with that song in the 8th grade lol. But yeah Gwen was quite a force back in those days.
Finally someone who agrees with me! I loooove gwens old stuff. Now she’s just meh like trying too hard to stay relevant
Love Angel Music Baby singles and The Sweet Escape singles still play on the radio till this day! Gwen Stefani will remain a famous icon forever with her timeless 2000s hits! ⭐️
Well, she is 55. Seems like she’s making music for people her age.
L.A.M.B. Is a iconic 2000’s album.
Her style and LAMB were unmatched. Sounds of my childhood!!! So effortlessly cool!!
I had an opportunity to work with her for a very short time.
She just started dating Blake Shelton, I believe.
I was wearing cowboy boots and she asked what’s up with those? Do you work out in the field?
It’s always funny to see her fully embrace Country music now.
Lol
You always make great videos. You should make a video on Fergie next. This video got me thinking about her and how she’s basically gone off the face of the earth now…
i miss her no doubt era and her breakout era when she first went solo she was making hits fr
love.angel.music.baby and the sweet escape albums are my absolute favs to this day - her voice is so unique and I have such good memories from those times
She needs to do a Super Bowl
Does anybody remember Kuu kuu harajuku? The cartoon she created that aired on Nickelodeon for a bit
Gwen walked so gaga could run
Gwen wish she do Gaga numbers😂😂
@Wyatt6661 l'm talking about their aesthetic you hater
@@KaiDecadenceBjork, Cindy Lauper, Grace Jones, even David Bowie paved way for Gaga.
@@sabrinarodrigues629 Them too lol. I would also throw Dale Bozzio (Missing Persons) and I would say Nina Hagen but I don't think she was ever mainstream in America.
Let's be honest here... she's now in her 50s. Being not "cool" in your 50s is very cool!
i loved gwen in the past but i noticed that everyone she dates or become friends with, she takes on their personality. i hate that. 1st she's goth, punk rock, ghetto, stylish, japanese and now country. i tried listening to her country songs and just hated them. its like who is she really cuz she really doesnt have her own identity
When was she ever goth? lol But yeah it does seem like she molds herself to whoever she's dating and the only time we got to see a more authentic her was in the mid-late 90s after her breakup with her bandmate.
I saw an ad with her in it the other day and got all excited until I realized it was for some weird christian app. did I miss a few chapters? I'm a christian myself but a "bad" one in that I'm very lax with the teachings and find the preachy judgey ones to be the worst humanity has to offer and I was so disappointed to see such an odd shift for her. ig blake has really done a number on her.
She's always been that way, though!
She was ALWAYS a big Catholic church girl from the very beginning... She went to church every Sunday and was very open how much her faith was important to her. I think you guys just want to pick and choose things to be mad about... It doesn't seem like she's really changed as a person, maybe just her ever evolving style and music is in a stage most don't really seem to like that much right now.
She was so innovative and eclectic, but she's lost those characteristics over time. She just doesn't seem like the Gwen we loved.
When your identity is tied to capitalism you become increasingly more difficult to identify because money is printed a million times over...
i loved gwen’s older music, but she has become so uncool lately. and yes as you said, her newer music isn’t bad but it plays too safe.
I loved Gwen Stefani. Her evolution is still perplexing and disappointing to me too, but I’m glad she’s happy.
"Truth" may be my favorite album from her, tbh. A lot of 2000s pop girls took too long with their next album and fizzled out. Definitely feel like Gwen could've been running the game even now.
I enjoy her new album Bouquet… I like the 70’s soft rock/country vibe…but isn’t an album I’ll replay all the time.
I have been listening to Just a Girl these last two days and then this pops up on my timeline. Perfect timing! 😁
Gwen is still cool.
It is true that Halloback girl is an inspiration for the song from Bruno Mars and Rose Apt
I think if she woulde release Halloback girl.
I'm happy she's not like Madonna, Lady Gaga.
They are awful.
So sick and tired of people telling Gwen who she is ? She said repeatedly during the promo for this album that she's not no.doubt girl anymore she's changed and she wants to ? She said repeatedly during the promo for this album that she's not the girl anymore she's changed and she wants to write that sort of music
Don’t you dare gwen stefani will always be THAT girl
EXACTLY
talk about ignoring the entire video's point lol
Gwen lost her spark when it stopped being accepted to culturally appropriate “your” coolness. No Japanese girls, Sean Paul or box braids this time 🤭
Not Sean Paul box braids 😭😭
Gwen always looked like Madonna
a done up madonna
We've failed Gwendalupe! 😫
She's messed with her face so much she doesn't even look like herself anymore, she looks more like a Real Housewife.
Love Her song “The Climb” with no doubt I’ve been having that on repeat for weeks
Gwen has always been girly, pop, and more about fashion and she's never pretended to be this innovative or edgy artist. Also, idk why it's so hard to imagine many celebs want to live normal, average lives. She's been saying this forever in her lyrics as well. It's better for her to be happy and she appears to be enjoying life. All these "cool" celebs you worship live miserable, unhealthy, and unfulfilling lives, but you all glamorize it for the aesthetic. And if they die young, you put them on a pedestal. That's weird af.
I don’t disagree…but if being cool makes a pop star what explains Taylor Swift besides the blatantly obvious?
She became uncool when she made that song with saweetie 😂
Maturing is realizing that Gwen Stefani comes off as shell of a person, maybe even her former self. Her music, lyrics, style gave way to her seeming cool, empowered, a little edgy, honest/authentic even if it goes against the grain & as if she had her own voice and perspective, etc. However, as time went on, I saw she jumps from one relationship to the next and molds herself to whoever her current partner is, taking on culturally appropriative personas & style along the way, which slid under the radar back then, and getting tons the plastic surgery to appear as youthful as ever while becoming unrecognizable from her early ND days. Also Blake comes off very conservative and the opposite of punk, which she used to portray. Without a clear perspective on her brand, music, persona, you just wonder who is she and does she even stand for anything? For ex, Madonna may change sonically and visually but the messaging stays more consistent. With Gwen, it all feels desperate, lost, inauthentic and very uncool. But god, I loved her music back in the day!
Loved Gwen in No Doubt, and grew up listening to them. I remember Don't Speak, Ex Girlfriend, Running, Underneath it All, etc and all the J14 posts of Gwen. Her oddness was so appreciative. When Gwen released LAMB, I inhaled it. I loved the album. But the more she became a solo artist, the less I liked her. The most recent No Doubt album (2012) was not the same. It was clear ND was over with the lack of marketing. Thankfully I saw ND in 2012 one last time. Gwen is so talented and I hope her music shifts back to something I enjoy. (AKA a No Doubt reunion!)
6:53 'love is a central part of music' could be its own essay! was not expecting pure philosophy in this video about gwen stefani
You articulated this beautifully
Purple irises is great song, her and her husband Blake did together.
She's definitely no Kylie Minogue that's for sure
After all that we've be through
I know we're cool.....
Cool...
Her transformation into a boring conservative mom should be studied 🫠
Something this video left out is that some (like me) considered it uncool to engage in the video depiction of Native Americans (Looking Hot - the original video), and the fetishization of Japanese culture eventually felt a bit odd to many. The way she used harajuku girls and other symbols of Asian culture got to feel, well, just kind of strange after some time (the term cultural appropriation is often used here, but really, I find her actions more in line with Orientalism as understood by Edward Said). She was still pretty cool in 2006 (Sweet Escape) but the Orientalism was there at this point (something that many like me consider uncool). You're right that her music became safer (I am old enough to have enjoyed her music and to have enjoyed No Doubt despite my critique, I'll still sometimes play old No Doubt music). If people attack this post I don't plan to respond. By the time of the "Looking Hot" video (2012 era) she just didn't seem to have much to say, the music was bland, and even kind of weirdly out of touch as in that video. My favorite later Stefani video is "Used to Love You" - I found that to be very raw and powerful in its way.
Tbh she lost me after I realized how she used those harajuku girls as literal props. She's a whole weirdo. Loved her music when she was with no doubt.
I really enjoyed your angle on this!
I'll still prefer her over Madonna's delusional relevance
From the ska to the pop to the country
I was listening to just the way you are and couldn’t stop laughing because I sñcabt believe how much Bruno has changed. Kids now a days would understand how perfectly popularly polished he used to be.
Looks like the lion from Wizard of Oz in the face now. Wow, those pics really shocked me.
I remember being so excited when I saw she was releasing a new album, hoping she’d go back to her former edge a bit. But she has been ‘contryfied’ and is now akin to a basic Nashville guitar artist. I am disappointed, these latest two albums are her mainly professing how amazing her life with Blake Sheldon is over and over again. It’s tiring and repetitive.
She’s lost her spark and is happy to be a suburban mellow housewife
First again! I love your videos keep up the amazing work!
Remember when she sponsored that Nick Jr show called “Kuu Kuu Harajuku” or something?
LAMB was the first album I bought with my own money when I was a tween. 😊
Loooooove Gwen Stefani! Straight up, no doubt 😁
I think without cultural appropriation, Gwen wouldn’t be seen as cool and now she’s kinda in the same boat as jlo (as even kinda looks like her too)
Don't compare Gwen with jlo
They both rely on looks. But Gwen is a songwriter at least. 😂😂😂
So true! 🤔
She doesn't do cultural appropriation. You clearly like to use words you don't understand the definition of.
No. Please delete this comment..
I blame Blake Shelton for the lack of cool. That’s when it all happened. 😂
People saying that Pink was cool and started doing "soccer mom" pop. When actually was Gwen who downgraded.
Her entire career was rooted in cultural appropriation, this why we keep telling people that cultural appropriation is very racism coded. It takes decades of when they show themselves to be racists then people are confused how the script was flipped. It wasn’t flipped, they were like that all along!
Culture appreciation not appropriation.
Still love her!!❤