I happened upon this image while randomly surfing the net yesterday, and something about it made me smile. The implication is obvious sans the seven-paragraph hatchet job that accompanied it. It was an article chronicling why Madonna is the most overrated artist in the world and accusing her of having trace musical abilities, a fact obfuscated by the skills of her various & talented producers over the years. Guilty as charged.
So what if Madonna isn't the best singer or dancer? So what if she hides her shortcomings behind big production values and a cutting-edge support troupe. So what if she she has amassed incomprehensible wealth by surrounding herself with the very best young talent available. I don't care quite frankly.
There are plenty of artists that sing, dance, act, and write more profound lyrics. But Madonna is a visionary; she has insight and she has power. Combine that with raw sexual energy—a male sexual energy. It's the kind of energy that doesn't give a shit who disapproves; in fact, the opposition serves as a tonic and increases her will to succeed. When she fell off her horse and cracked her ribs, what did she do? She got back on the effin' horse, hired Steven Klein to shoot her & the horse in an S&M-themed photo essay for W magazine, then went on to choreograph a solid one third of her world tour in a John Paul Gaultier-inspired homage to everything equestrian. She is brilliant. Talk about creating a spectacle from nothing! It is just this sort of branding that has helped Madonna establish and maintain her iconoclastic standing throughout the world for all these years.
When Madonna hired Shep Pettibone and Andre Betts to Produce Erotica in the early '90s, she essentially was making the shrewd decision to elicit the help of young talent who had their hands on the pulse of underground sound and House music—to help her bring that sound mainstream. The driving beat combined with the sensu-sexual theatrics Madonna created around the album snowballed into a firestorm that is felt worldwide even still. A few years later Madonna developed an inclination toward the metaphysical and she tapped William Orbit, master of atmospheric electronica, to produce a trance-spiritual epic of sorts. Ray of Light won four Grammys because of Orbit's multi-layered mastery, and yes, perhaps Madge was an incidental element with regard to those awards, but that music would not have been heard by the world were it not for Madonna. She put the deal together—she made it happen. Taking ambient electronica a step further, she pulled in Mirwais to produce both Music & American Life, both of which, incidentally, went to #1 world wide. All the while critics were panning our Queen as being "washed up."
It's more than the Music Stupid! Madonna embodies i n s p i r a t i o n. She represents to me how much is possible within a single lifetime, and how a life of magnitude can be whittled from a small and potentially insignificant epicenter.
Why do you love Madonna?
14 comments:
Why do I love Madonna?
Because she has always been interesting. A rebel. A bitch. Someone who didn't care what others thought. Someone who faced her fears and went for her dreams no matter what. Someone who took her minimal talent and surrounded herself with the right people to make a statement. And let's face it, Madonna's songs are catchy and some even stand as quite profound and very artistic, despite her pop designation.
It was around 1990 that I believe Madonna truly ruled the world. Sure she is still popular today, but never at the level she was then. I often miss those times...
Don't get me started! There is no question about her ability to rule the world as a performer, composer, singer, dancer, humanist, producer, actress, show-woman, bussines woman, mother, wife... ARTIST. Often being accused of media manipulation, a stealer of other people's ideas, fake as a singer, bad as a dancer, worst than worst in acting - I can not think of every single bad thing that's been said about her... And still, nobody does everything of the above better than she does. And how come that somebody with such a lack of talent can be at the top after 25 years?! And not just bubbling around the top, with every new cd proclaimed as a ''comeback'' album, but standing (or sitting) on the throne with the cape and the crown.
Ladies (and queen wanna-bees), you will have to wait a little longer than you thought for this amazing woman to step down.
Nice new photo, btw :) I like it.
Snap Snap Snap...in a Z formation!
Great post! No one could've said it better than you my friend!
Nile Rogers, a member of the the group Chic and famous producer has
worked with people like, Bonnie Rait and the B-52's. He helped produce
huge albums for both of them. He also produced Like a Virgin. I heard him
comment on working with Madonna, and he said, he had never seen such a
display of raw talent as he did working with her. Also, I once saw an
interview with Madonna where she admits she does not have the best
voice and she is not the best dancer however, she went on to say, she has a
voice and something to say and wanted to get it out there. And we loe
her for it. So...Freak le Chic to anyone who says she is simply a
product of the producers.
Is there anyone else in the world better at selling what she does have? I have think not . . . and therein lies her amazing talent, to know what you have and more importantly what you do not have is a difficult thing to decipher, only those truly honest with themselves about their interaction with the world around them e.g. their place in the world can do what she has done. Its the kind of talent producers possess but instead of producing other people, she produces herself . . .
i concur wholly with what You said btw... but i would go a step further. actually i've written quite a bit on the M topic myself, as i think You know, though nothing as defensive over the past decade or so--since the early to mid-90s--when i was at my youngest and fighting a world for my own reasons, about the same time She was in nearly the same ways. although i'm not a drooling fan (by that i mean, if i saw Her on the street, i would leave Her alone--avoid Her--i've been in this situation before, Her persona is not an invitation to intrude on Her private life--after all, what could You say?), i have followed Her artistry/life & obviously Her Music since it was an underground triviality back in 1982-83. i've been on the front row, or within a few of it, of every single concert She's spun off--i know first hand why She has achieved--She is truly grand & Her spirit is magnetic. i have been one of Her strongest proponents--a world without M is not truly imaginable.
i think M is Our greatest living genuinely compassionate ARTIST/Creative Genius--actually i think she's The single greatest Musical Artist of all-time. an appropriate scale would be to place Her in the same category as Da Vinci, Stravinsky, Newton, Shakespeare, Plato, Spielberg, Monet, the Beatles, Beethoven, Galileo, Streep, etc--not one of those Men/Women--or any other creative person through all-time was without their supporters (ala, Leonard, Bray, Pettibone, Orbit, Price, etc). as much as those people assisted Her, she inspired them. don't even get me started on the talentless, like elvis & mariah, lol.
so as You say, she is an inspiration for us All--on a global scale. just remember my friend, no matter what any critic says (and btw, i don't keep up with the critics--they are an absolutely pointless crowd), they cannot change Her or the effect She's had FOR ALL TIME ;-)
my best to You--
be well, Peace
troy
I first started to love Madonna somewhere between 1982 and 83. I was living in Key West and working as a private dancer and a part time grounds keeper for the Hemingway estate. I would hang out in the cuban neighborhoods, sipping cafe con leches and dancing in the streets with the chicitos. Madonna's music captured the asymetric rhythm of those times.
she knows what she is doing. that is always attaractive.
(you look like an ozzie redneck in your new pic!)
tee hee
:0p
Eloquently articulated Troy and ditto :-)
Why do I love Madonna? I think it was her attitude that made me fall in love with her. I became a Madonna fan around Like A Prayer album, even more so around Blond Ambition. For me its never been a question of "I love only her music, but I hate her persona" like for some people I've met. I've always loved the whole package. I think she is unique, even if critics keep putting her down and underestimating her talent. I love her because of her music, because of her attitude, because of the unbelievable creativity she has - how she turns her life into art and embodies the time and makes it her own. When I became a Madonna fan, some of my friends made remarks like "she can't sing" etc.. True. She is not the best singer in the world and never will be - even though she has improved a lot since the early days. But is a perfect singer an ARTIST? Can be, but if all you have is a brilliant voice it can be boring. I think one of the reasons why people love Madonna is her 'perfection through imperfection'. She is million different things and those things contradict one another constantly. Like in all of us. She is human. She is bigger than life. She is a simple woman, a mother, a girl with a broken heart. She is inspiration, she is will and she is determination. She is a force of nature and like there is only one sun, there is only one Madonna.
Hey Lost Edge--
I thought I recognized you...you were the one wearing the Daisy Dukes and hot pink poly halter top, picking up trash by the pool, and mowing the lawn. We tricked one night and then went out out to cut a rug at the Copa.....remember our song: "Dress You Up"?
Madonna is royalty. Madonna is magnificence. Madonna epitomizes that steam engine that just won't stop. I love her music and despite popular belief, it does take talent to stick around this long.
The woman has more talent on one finger than most do in a life time. If that doesn't warrant some sort of accolade, than those negative nancy's need to fuck off.
Madonna is my wife.
Besos
Right on!
I like Madonna. In fact I found you commenting at Madonna's blog ...
... if you want to be entertained, come to my new celebrity blog at
http://gledwoodceleb.blogspot.com
...hopefully you'll like it.
There's over 40 youtube screens already but please do bear in mind it IS only 3 days old and is "growing" as Hollywood celebs like to state...
I like this blog. I will take down your url and put it somewhere on my links (I cannot say where as I've 4 blogs and they're all in disarray links-wise)
all the best
gledwood
"vol 2" ...
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