Wait, Gwen Stefani was Never Cool?

the audience weighs in on gwen stefani being cool and offers a new perspective

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twitter: imthehonestboy

[julieblair]

To the people in the comments born after 2000, Gwen is the opposite of an industry plant. She was in a band with her brother as a teenager and didn't reach the national stage until years of performing and self-funded releases. The word you are looking for is sell out. They are not the same thing.

[yuffiemebejellybean]

She becomes whoever she marries/ dates. She is ultimately her parents who instilled their values, conservative Catholic folks from Anahiem. She followed her brother because she though he was cool and joined his ska band, met Tony and dicovered new music through him and started wearing the Bindi because of his culture and wanted so much to marry him. They dated for 7 years and he was always luke warm about her. The bands breakout 3rd album was her true brush with her own song writing success, making a full album about their tragic breakup. Then she met Gavin a bad boy English rocker who was always left leaning and grungy, he showed her japan, Vivienne westwood and high high fashion. Thats were alot of her early rocker look came from, Gavins influence. So of course now, with no Gavin, no recent No Doubt, she has gone country with her lastest man who has given her that "simple kind of life" she has always wanted

[PaganPoet]

I'd like to hear your take on Kylie Minogue. I think it's fascinating how someone could have a long and successful career in basically the entire world OTHER than USA

[Omennn]

I think what’s weird is, the music and entertainment industry are so disconnected from the public interest.

[ChezrayGrant]

I like this format with the audience's input!

[ColeClawson]

Gwen Stefani & Katy Perry have always felt loosely connected to me for some reason. The California beach vibes, malleable aesthetic and their use of material culture to reaffirm their music (I mean Katy Perry also called getting her nails done as “Japanese-y” which feels like a Gwen Stefani lyric tbh)

[amulet]

People being surprised that commercial pop music is all manufactured. Never fails to get a good chuckle from me.

[longlivebeans]

I grew up during this era & this wasn’t an uncommon opinion. Y’all might not be ready to hear this but Avril Lavigne wasn’t cool either. Cool fashion does not equal cool personality & their music might seem unique today but there were a million other bands doing what they were doing back then. Being hot, young, white & thin did a lot of heavy lifting for these two.

[Livies]

The blank slate comment really stuck with me and I think that criticism can be applied to many people in this generation. I look back at 90s and early 2000 fashion and nobody really trying to look like anybody, though there was trends everybody was original and made it their own. Nowadays, I wouldn’t say everyone looks the same but fashion seems to be divided into groups depending on race, gender, appearance, etc… and everyone dresses similar to whatever group they fit in.

[notyouraveragesouthernmama]

I’ll never forget that Margaret Cho compared Gwen’s use of the Harajuku Girls to a “minstrel show.” That is all that needs to be said.

[lisette]

i love your thoughts about cultural appropriation. I understand people appreciating cultural and then just taking it to make money. Can you do a video of white celebrities and artists who have a “black phase” and then change races or culture when it’s ready to make money. Like ariana grande. There was even an article about her changing her race to make money and her tanning and 7 rings era.

[CRAIGTEMPLATEXCHRIST]

NOTE; her debut solo album takes ALOT from LENE from AQUA’s debut solo album PLAY WITH ME released the year before… it’s a BANGER… play ITS YOUR DUTY and you’ll see it…

[sadea]

Love No Doubt's music, love a lot of Gwen Stefani's early music and fashion, but I've been side eyeing her since that interview where she refused to even acknowledge how much she benefited and made A LOT of money from caricaturizing Japanese culture and fashion. She literally had non speaking East Asian women following her around as accessories😳 like sis? You've had years to learn what cultural appropriation is. And then her wearing the Bindi on her forehead, and then appropriating aspects of black culture in her fashion too😬😬😬. Love her for the nostalgia, and the fashion but the lack even any solid acknowledgement is just gross to me.

[Danko]

My first CD of Gwen Stefani when she was with her group No Doubt in the 90's was Tragic Kingdom in 1995, and I still remember most of the songs in that album. I loved her voice and her whole aesthetic, she looked very cool and different.

[rendirainando]

Nope nope nope. You have to understand that early 2000s is different type of beast. Relatability is not something generally celebs strive for. They're rich, glamorous, over the top, rebellious, overly sexy etc. they put acts, they say crazy things, a lot of them are assholes and even bad people. that's what makes celebs in that era so special and cool. I know time changes and we prob won't go back to that era again (arguably for the better) but I miss the time when celebs are this unattainable, unreliable, elusive fantasy for us to enjoy as solely entertainment purpose and not putting this parasocial BS where celebs should be your best friend or they're just one of us. and it's gonna be rough if we see these celebs back in the day through current PC relatable commentary.

[maddiedolls]

this begs an interesting question though, what do you think about Nicki Minaj's rendition of Harajuku culture w/ "Harajuku Barbie"? Is that also problematic?

[leciorabello]

I was a teen when “Don’t Speak” was released so I’ve followed her trajectory. No shade, but for me Gwen Stefani is the girl from No Doubt doing her thing. I never saw solo GS as a cool act. She’s stylish, that’s it

[MeganSin]

So when you released the first video on this subject, I made a comment on the cultural appropriation side of the argument. That without cultural appropriation, she would have never been seen as cool. I still stand by that because she has become a simulacrum of what she used to be seen as. Without the novelty of her fashion choices which were cool and eccentric because she has pink box braids and used to have a bindi on her forehead, stuff like she really is a blank canvas. And the music is equally as empty.

[紫雪-ns]

As a Japanese person I never liked her incessant and baseless fetishization and idolization of Japanese people and culture...I do not hate her however because why would I base my growth and being around someone who never contributed to me in the first place? In other words yes white people can and have been so very racist towards Asians, but I would never denounce a white person who is a true ally and lover of Asian culture and people, it would be hypocritical and reprehensible of me to dehumanize someone for being misunderstood as the trending stereotypes to hate people who are candidly different as...

[yassercastillo]

She to me is like Katy. I will enjoy lamb and teenage dream and thats it. Good for a throwback like Katy said 😂