Naked Ambition...

It's no word of a lie when I say that I love Lana Del Rey. We saw it when I sang her praises in a review for Born To Die, and when I defended her questionable performance on Saturday Night Live. So when I found out that she was being featured in this year's GQ Men of the Year, I was over the moon.

She looks absolutely fierce on the cover, wearing nothing but jewels and red lips, and the rest of the shoot doesn't disappoint either, showing Del Rey at her best in her signature sophisticated Old Hollywood style. And at first, the nudity didn't bother me. I don't have a problem with anyone wanting to pose naked, it's their prerogative.

But upon further research on this issue, reading certain posts on Tumblr and following it up with articles on the internet, I sensed that something wasn't right. Let's take a look at all of the other winners of Men of the Year: comedian James Corden, rapper Tinie Tempah, pop-star Robbie Williams, and actor John Slatterly. With the addition of Lana, three Brits and two Americans, nothing strange there. But then you take a look at their covers...

Spot the odd one out...

Suited man, suited man, suited man, suited man... and naked woman.

Now, ignoring the New Statesman's argument that her cover looks suspiciously similar to a 70's porn poster, there are a lot of questions to be raised about why on Earth LDR, who happens to be the only female, is the only one to bare all. I'm not suggesting that they tied her down and forced her to shoot naked, if she didn't want to do it she could have just refused. But why didn't the Creative Directors at GQ suggest that their other cover stars strip down too?

I'll tell you why, because GQ is a magazine for men made by men. It's the James Bond of men's magazines, suave and sophisticated, focusing on men's fashion and lifestyle, and not forgetting to sex up those ladies. The sexism is so casual that one of the shots in Lana's spread even shows a faceless man clutching at her breast like it's no big deal.

Easy there, fella, we're not groping produce at the supermarket here. Or are we?

What scares me most is that sexism has become so internalized. We are so used to seeing naked women in the media that we don't even bat an eyelid to it. I'm ashamed to say it, but I wouldn't have thought twice about it if I didn't find out about all the other covered-up male cover stars. Naked women have become the norm, and no one seems to care about this because no one seems to think that sexism and feminism is a 'thing' anymore.

Like I said early on in this post, I have no problem with anyone, male or female, wanting to pose naked for a photo shoot. I do, however, have a problem with the ideology that the more naked a woman is, the sexier she becomes, whereas men are sexy whether they're all bare or covered up - and more often than not we see them covered up. Women may have come a long way when it comes to equality in the past century, but most of those successes have been tangible - the right to vote, contraception, sexual health, equal pay (which FYI, still not equal)... but I think the real battle is changing people's mindsets of women being largely objectified and start treating them as true equals to men.

'Born To Die' Album Review

Lana Del Rey's highly anticipated debut album has finally been released. Del Rey says of her album, "I think it’s beautiful. This album is my self in song form," with the Telegraph backing her up, describing it as "a literate, emotional collection of beautifully crafted, pithily memorable songs."

The first track, fittingly, is Born to Die, the album's title and second released single. With haunting vocals and profound lyrics, the song speaks of a relationship doomed to fail, as well as hinting at some religious undertones. But mostly, it's about sitting back and enjoying the ride, because in the end, we are all 'born to die'. The next track, Off to the Races provides a refreshingly different sound. It is full of attitude and as the beat builds up, almost sounds like new-age 'white girl' rap. Having said that, she still manages to maintain her Old Hollywood in the sound, living up to her 'gangster Nancy Sinatra' image.

Blue Jeans, one of her more well-known songs that she performed at the infamous SNL show, has a very western feel to it, especially the opening guitar riff at the start. It has a quality that wouldn't be out of place in a Quentin Tarantino movie soundtrack. The lyrics highlight a quiet desperation, not wanting to lose the one see loves and wanting to wait it out ("I will love you till the end of time/I would wait a million years"), and yet still remaining true to her style and ("Love you more/Than those bitches before"). This song remains to be my favourite of hers. Fourth track, Video Games, is the song that catapulted her into the limelight, the video racking up over 21 million views on YouTube to date. The song is completely striped down in order to show off her vocals, with soft strings accompanying her in the background as she sings nostalgically about happier times.

Diet Mtn Dew is very reminiscent of hip hop, which is strange to hear after listening to Video Games, but it works surprisingly well. Having listened to the original demo, you can tell that Lana has become more daring with her sound. Her lyrics, however, remain true to herself, as she sings of the bad boys that she lusts after ("You're no good for me/But baby I want you"). You can tell that hip hop has been a big influence on Del Rey as National Anthem takes a similar turn in terms of the 'white girl rap' theme, but with a pleasant twist of a string procession (which is very 'Bitter Sweet Symphony') at the start of the song. Heavy themes of the American Dream and 'nouveau riche', with dark undertones and reckless abandon.

Dark Paradise is melancholia at its best. The combination of orchestral strings, rhythmic drums and haunting lyrics makes for a strong song which is both melodic and heartbreaking. Her songwriting really shines through and shows her off as the talent she really is. Next is Radio, which to me sounds like a bit of a 'fuck you' to those hating on her, vilifying her, and who didn't believe she would make it. "Now my life is sweet like cinnamon/Like a fucking dream I'm living in/Baby love me 'cause I'm playing on the radio/How do you like me now?" It's like a love song for chasing your dreams.

Carmen is a dreamy ode to a woman every girl wants to be, but with hints of dark secrets and emphasised with Lana's sultry voice. Towards the end of the track, you can hear a woman speaking French in a low voice, which adds to the mysterious quality of the song and who it is about. Another heartbreak ballad, Million Dollar Man, is another track that showcases Del Rey's soaring vocals. As always, her lyrics are sincere and melancholic, as well as reminiscent of Old Hollywood. "You're screwed up and brilliant/Look like a million dollar man."


Summertime Sadness differs from its live version, sounding a lot like Blue Jean's younger sibling in the opening refrain, then switching up to military inspired drums in the first verse. There is very strong lyrical imagery going on throughout, and also sounds like it should be its own film. It is definitely up there as one my favourite tracks on the album that haven't already been released as singles. This Is What Makes Us Girls recalls Lana's boarding school days in Connecticut when she was fifteen, and is a song about teenage rebellion and the feeling of being able to do anything ("Remember how we used to party up all night/ Sneaking out looking for a taste of real life").

The next few tracks are found on the Deluxe version of the album. Without You probably has my favourite opening verse out of all the songs on the album: "Everything I want I have/Money, notoriety, and rivieras/I even think I found God/In the flash bulbs of the pretty cameras/Pretty cameras, pretty cameras/Am I glamorous? Tell me, am I glamorous?" Beautifully written, this song fits very well with her general theme of nostalgia and 'what once was'. It's a poignant reach for something lost as she sings, "All my dreams and all the lights mean/Nothing without you." The penultimate track, Lolita, is much more upbeat as we head to a close. The lyrics are fun and lighthearted, and shows how versatile Del Rey can be while still being true to her 'Old Hollywood' style. Last but not least is Lucky Ones. Optimistic and heartfelt, it is definitely a great way to close a great album.

Born To Die is a brilliant album, which is sure to start off a great year for both Lana Del Rey and the music industry itself.

The Lana Del Rey Saturday Night Live Debate

Internet sensation Lana Del Rey made her live US television debut as musical guest on the popular show Saturday Night Live on 14th January, and has since become the victim of ridicule and many criticisms, as the general consensus stated that the performances of her two songs, viral hit 'Video Games' and 'Blue Jeans', was "awful."

Daniel Radcliffe, who was hosting SNL that night, has defended her, mentioning that most of the complaints actually had nothing to do with her music. "It was unfortunate that people seemed to turn on her so quickly," Radcliffe said at the BAFTA award nominations, "If you read about what people are saying about her online, it's all about her past and her family, and stuff that's nobody else's business." Which is true, if you look up her name, you will find lots of speculations and criticisms about whether or not she's had plastic surgery, or if her family were as poor as she claimed. All of which do not mention her musical talent.

Now, I may be bias, being a huge Lana Del Rey fan myself, but I think people are being way too harsh on her. From video clips I've seen floating around on YouTube, Lana is a nervous performer when she is on stage faced with a large audience. In a lot of her live performances, she does not emulate her natural swagger and attitude that you hear on her tracks, and often over-plays her vocals a little bit out of said nerves. People forget that SNL was, after all, her first live performance on US television. Before that, she had only done live TV in Europe, and you could argue that collectively, the viewers who watch SNL are about the same amount who have ever watched her live TV appearances in Europe put together.

That is not to say that all of Del Rey's live performances lack her original quality, here, I have stumbled across a beautiful live rendition of her single Born To Die at Chateau Marmont:

So as we can see, she definitely can sing. Del Rey was probably nervous at the prospect of singing in front of such a large audience, and let it get into her head a bit. I'll admit, they weren't her best performances, but they were by no means 'disastrous'. What I think is that people aren't quite used to her style and a lot of them judged her too quickly on those two performances, without looking into others first. For example, Hollywood actress Juliette Lewis first tweeted about the performance: "Wow watching this ‘singer’ on SNL is like watching a 12 year old in their bedroom when they’re pretending to sing and perform #signofourtimes." But Lewis has since deleted the tweet, covering her tracks by saying that Lana has "great haunting melodies" and that she's a "fresh and yummy songwriter", which shows us that all everyone really needs to do is give her a chance.

Lana Del Rey is by no means a bad singer. In my opinion, it just seems that she was so under the radar for so long, with no-one really noticing her at all, then suddenly as if by magic, she became so popular and in-demand in such a short space of time that it overwhelmed her. Her stage-fright will fade with time, and until then, I'll leave you with one of my favourite songs by her, Blue Jeans:

Lana's single 'Born To Die' comes out on 23rd January, and debut album under the same title on 30th January.