When turning on the average radio station, it’s easy to hear the same boring, dry, and uninteresting pop songs. Nowadays, it is incredibly hard to find someone who stands out from the rest of their genre; someone who doesn’t fall into the same drab patterns.
Many cite the lack of creativity in modern pop as being due to a lack of presence within artists, differing from the big personalities of the past like Madonna or David Bowie. When did singers give up on making interesting music and dressing up in ways that make them stand out?
Chappell Roan, a singer songwriter from Missouri, has finally given life to pop. With makeup, wigs, and outfits heavily reflecting 80s dance pop, it is safe to say that she differs from the typical pop singer look.
Kayleigh Amstutz describes her persona, Chappell Roan, as a drag-queen version of herself. Throughout her tour for Midwestern Princess, Roan has picked local drag performers to open for her shows, and has found LGBTQ+ bars in each city for fans to party at before or after her concerts.
While her career started in 2017, it took off after she released “Pink Pony Club” in 2020. In the song, Chappell describes a world in which “boys and girls can all be queens every single day,” and the sentiments shared carry on into her newest album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
One of her most popular songs, Red Wine Supernova, is a “lesbian version of Champagne Supernova” by Oasis, and helped to blow Chappell up on TikTok. Fans love her for being so unabashedly confident in her queerness, and how she can turn it into something as exciting as dance pop. Roan weaves lyrics describing her relationships with women into her highly exciting music, allowing people of every sexuality to enjoy her songs.
One of her most popular songs “HOT TO GO” includes dance moves, bringing whole crowds of people together to dance to her campy pop. When performing at Coachella, she was met with thousands of people chanting her songs and moving their arms to spell HOT TO GO along with her. “This just rocks,” she says. “It’s amazing to be living up my little pop-star life. It’s so slay,” Roan says. “It’s so fun to sing with a crowd that knows every word.”
The people’s “pop princess” is known for her dramatic looks. For her Tiny Desk Concert with NPR, Roan donned a giant red wig littered with butterflies and cigarette butts. Her face was made up with a blank white foundation and striking blue eye shadow. In the room full of books and clutter, Roan stood out in her hot pink dress and matching gloves.
Similarly, for her collaboration with MTV PUSH, Roan wore an 80s style wedding dress, paired with a veil. Her romantic gothic makeup contrasted the exciting pop she sung, and made her stage presence all the more exciting.
Chappell Roan is a breath of fresh air from the boring singers that seem to run wild within the pop industry. Her crazy outfits paired with her lively, campy, queer music makes her incredibly different from modern pop singers, and all the more interesting.
