What rules?
single: “Summertime Sadness”
artist: Lana Del Rey vs. Cedric Gervais
Pop music has opened up in the past couple of years; so much so, in fact, that there seem to be few if any rules about what makes a hit.
Case in point: Lana Del Rey, a virtually un-pigeonhole-able artist from New York who’s a superstar across the world but has only enjoyed modest success here in the States.
Until, that is, a French DJ named Cedric Gervais remixed a song she released over a year ago and made it an unexpected hit.
Things used to be so much more predictable.
What is still predictable is the striking contrast of a depressing love song and a house beat. First mined to great effect in the late 90s (see Deborah Cox, Whitney Houston, and Aaliyah club mixes of the time), it’s probably that contrast that caught attention where the original just seemed depressing to the American musical palate.
The American Bandstand mantra (“It’s got a nice beat and I can dance to it”) may be just the thing to get us on board for the enigma that is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant.
