A Significant Material Girl: Originality in the Pop Music Industry and What it Inspired in Others that Followed
By: Cam Hall
Most people in the younger generation have heard the name of the legendary "Queen of Pop" herself: Madonna, at some point in their lives. The majority of these people are familiar only with a few of Madonna's most recognized songs; including "Like A Virgin," "Material Girl," and "Vogue." In addition, while Madonna in retrospect as put out a number of popular tracks and albums, the most of which have gained huge success over the years, and has lasted for about 30 years as a music artist, still the younger generation go about listening to likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and other such music artists that fall into the same category of music as Madonna. Even though while some people in the younger generation may have heard about about the comparisions made between Madonna and more recent female pop stars, especially based on their image, they still go about thinking that current female pop music acts are completely original and have great talent unlike any other music artists in existance, when this is really not the case. The younger generation is definately unaware of how significant Madonna is the pop music industry, especially since she paved the way for a certain number of popluar female pop music artists of today. Madonna inspired a number of current female music artists to foloow in her footsteps thtough the ways in which she promoted herself in the music industry, especially through her songs and music videos.
Madonna was a female pop music star who early on talked about very standout topics through the lyrics of her songs, such as acceptance and sexual activity. One of Madonna's popular songs during the 1980s, "Express Yourself," tells people to show themselves to the world for who they really are and that they can only be able to respect themselves by doing so. Similar and/or related messages came out through Lady Gaga's song "Born This Way" and Christina Aguilera's song "Beautiful," in the 21st century, with both songs basically giving out the idea that no matter how different you are to just be yourself in order to feel truly happy and not insecure with yourself. Another one of Madonna's songs that sparked a following from more current female music artists was "Erotica," a song that basically makes sexual activity and promiscuity an okay thing have fun with and explore to certain extents. A similar king of idea followed on Rihanna's song called "S&M," which bascially makes sexual desires and fantasies seem like not completely bad things at all. Madonna definately shows originality through her songs in these kind of cases.
Madonna was a female pop music star who early made a very significant and controversial image for herself in the music industry, especiallt through her music videos. One of Madonna's music videos in her early carreer that touched the nerves of a lot of people was the video for her song "Like A Prayer," which showed her standing in a field of burning crosses and kissing a black Jesus Christ, and this video was ultimatley slammed by the Vatican for its content. A similar kind of controversy followed in Lady Gaga's music video for her song, "Alejandro," which showed religious imagery annd the singer swallowing a neacklace that had a miniature cross attached to it, and obviously certain religious groups didn't like this at all, either. A few of Madonna's music videos in her early career that inspired others to floow in her steps were the ones for "Justify My Love," "Erotica," and "Human Nature," two of which showed her as a dominatrix and in one of these videos she was wearing black leather clothing while carrying a whip used for sexual activites. A similar approach followed in Christina Aguilera's music video for her song "Not Myself Tonight," in which she had the exact same kind of dominatrix image that Madonna had in her own music videos. Another example is through Madonna's music video for her song "Justify My Love," which showed her touching upon and/or exploring what different kind of sexualities were like. This kind of exploration followed with Katy Perry's music video for her song "I Kissed A Girl," which involved her having a dream of what it would be like to experience a same-sex kind of realtionship while still preferring heterosexual relationships at the same time. Madonna definately shows originaltiy through her music videos in these kinds of cases.
Whether or not the younger generation will recognize Madonna for her contributions to making a number of female pop music artists what they are today, she will still be recognized by others who still appreciate her creativity and boldness to do what she did, especially during a time in America when her image and other aspects to her music career were considerd extreme and over the top for a woman to be doing. Madonna's originality has earned her a great deal of respect from many people in the world, still to this day. In addition, Madonna has been able to obtain something that no other younger generation female pop music acts have, except for the likes of Britney Spears who really didn't deserve to get one, a lifetime achievement award. The so-called "Queen of Pop" has denfinately earned her title through all of her hard work as a music artist. Madonna will always remain a significant figure in the pop music industry, no matter whether or not she is recognized for how meaningful she is in the world of music.
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