FKA Twigs and Lil Nas X. Black identity and seductive aestheticism.
American rapper, singer, and songwriter Lil Nas X’s song, Montero (Call Me By Your Name), debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for numerous different Grammy Awards just this past year. In contrast, English singer, songwriter, and dancer, FKA Twigs’ song Cellophane, was nominated for Best Music Video in the 2020 Grammy Awards and was named Best Music Video of 2019 by Pitchfork. In addition to the stark differences in critical acclaim, artist production, and background, both music videos contain a scene of both artists falling into an underworld while pole dancing. However, despite the similarities in actions and scenes of the music videos, they must not be interpreted in the same way and rather, they share the queer, Black, aesthetic nature that both artists awaken in society today, which will be discussed in the context of the arguments of Susan Sontag and Walter Benjamin.
In Notes on Camp, Sontag offers that “as a taste in persons, Camp responds particularly to the markedly attenuated and to the strongly exaggerated” (Sontag, 1964, p. 4). This defines both the extravagant compression and amplification of “Camp” artifacts that she offers. At first glance, a generic interpretation of FKA Twigs’ Cellophane video can be seen as an oversexualization of female sexuality and objectification, but with Sontag’s definition of camp, the attenuation of the inelegant essence of pole dancing comes to life. The dramatization of slow, seductive movements of Twigs pole dancing in front of an unseen audience and later climbing the pole and falling into an underworld is an effect of camp. Furthermore, FKA Twigs’ dedication to learn the physical language of sex workers and strippers is also camp, as also defined by Sontag as “Camp is disengaged, depoliticized, or at least apolitical” (Sontag, 1964, p. 2). In an effort to separate the political aspect of sex workers and strippers from the art itself and romanticize the visual expression and the sexual nature of the dance is camp in itself. Connecting this to the pattern identifiable between Cellophane and, specifically, Montero (Call Me By Your Name) is another representation of camp being the “consistently aesthetic experience of the world,” prioritizing “style over content, aesthetics over morality, irony over tragedy” (Sontag, 1964, p. 11). Montero (Call Me By Your Name) is interpreted as exactly this, in that, in the video, Lil Nas X raps about gay sex and relationships and gives “Satan” a lap dance. Furthermore, the queer elements that influenced and inspired the Montero music video are supported by both Sontag’s definition of camp in “modern dandyism” and “how to be a dandy in the age of mass culture” (Sontag, 1964, p. 11). The satirization and “glorification of character” is enhanced by the flamboyant costumes, as well as Lil Nas X’s lack of pole dancing experience and rather a emulation and co-opting of the art of sex workers. Both music videos create this Camp-like atmosphere and exude different energies in such similar, yet different manners.
Artistic critics called Lil Nas X’s commodification of independent artists, like FKA Twigs, and sex workers’ physical art tone deaf. In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Benjamin (1936) defines this reshaping and reproduction as actions that would destroy the authenticity and aura of pole-dancing. The Montero music video reproduces and exploits the art of stripping and seduction have cultivated throughout history. Society today is influenced to hate sex workers and idolize them at the same time as it has been rebranded for the mainstream. Benjamin also states that “mechanical reproduction is inherent in the very technique of film production… [which] permits in the most direct way and virtually causes mass distribution” (Benjamin, 1936, p. 65). Both music videos co-opt the art and culture of sex workers but in disparate manners. In Cellophane, FKA Twigs was said to have “expressly learned to pole dance over a year before the music video… to realize her vision” (Rossignol by UPROXX, 2019). On the other hand, Lil Nas X simply imitates pole dancing and utilizes the aesthetic symbolism it has for his queer identity and overt representation. Moreover, Cellophane and Montero have contrasting roots of reproduction, defined by Benjamin. Benjamin points out the two ways technological processes of reproduction take place; namely, augmentation – revealing or changing aspects of the original art object– and distribution – putting the copy of the original into situations that would be out of reach for the original itself. In the online debate about the plagiarization of FKA Twigs’ artistic work in Montero, Lil Nas X falls into augmentation, as defined by Benjamin. Lil Nas X is an openly queer, Black artist with modern and popular acclaim, unlike FKA Twigs, an independent, genre-bending, avant-garde artist with underdeveloped acclaim in the music industry today. Lil Nas X not only changed aspects of both FKA Twigs’ and sex workers’ work, but also had the prior mass culture approval to gain commercial success from Montero, without reference or credit given to either.
To conclude, although both Cellophane by FKA Twigs and Montero by Lil Nas X have similar aesthetic patterns of artistic expression of pole dancing, the motives and roots behind the videos themselves must not be interpreted uniformly. Both artists incorporate and express elements of varying definitions of Sontag’s camp, surrounding topics of dandyism and theatricality, as well as Benjamin’s ideas on mechanical reproduction and augmentation. Yet despite these dissimilarities, they share the Black, aesthetic nature and physical language of pole-dancing that both artists awaken in society today.
Works Cited
Benjamin, W. (1936). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, 48-66.
Blistein, J. (2021). Lil Nas X, FKA Twigs Amicably Resolve Dispute Over ‘Montero,’ ‘Cellophane’ Videos. Rolling Stone Magazine. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lil-nas-x-fka-twigs-montero-cellophane-video-similarities-1149549/
Goldfine, J. (2019). FKA Twigs' Devastating, Surreal 'Cellophane'. Paper Magazine. https://www.papermag.com/fka-twigs-cellophane-video-2635462496.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
Rossignol, D. (2019). FKA Twigs Shows Off Her Pole Dancing Skills In Her Supernatural And Striking Video For ‘Cellophane’. UPROXX.
https://uproxx.com/music/fka-twigs-cellophane-video-tour/
Sontag, S. (1964). Notes On Camp, 1-11.
Irene, your post was very ambitious and singular in comparison to others. I appreciate how you chose to write on something that could be seen as esoteric to some, but tied in notable pop culture figures to elucidate your points. I feel that some of the connections you made were a bit hard to follow but I appreciate the risk you took by relating sex work to the readings from this semester. Moreover, in your second paragraph, you aptly describe FKA twig’s cellophane music video, writing “[t]he dramatization of slow, seductive movements of Twigs pole dancing in front of an unseen audience and later climbing the pole and falling into an underworld is an effect of camp.” However, while your description is sound, the line of reasoning is not. Furthermore, your definition of camp is not very clear, forcing readers to do the heavy-lifting when it comes to figuring out what you mean by “an effect of camp.” I feel that a bit more lead-in and information on Sontag’s view of camp would have strengthened the connection you tried to make here. This is not to say, however, that what you wrote cannot be understood, just that it is somewhat ambiguous. Your third paragraph is where your ideas and communicative skills fully align, affording your audience a thoroughly compelling read. Here, you compare Lil Nas X and FKA Twig’s music videos to Walter Benjamin’s theory of mechanical reproduction. Although Montero and Cellophane share certain elements, they are very different from a mechanical reproduction standpoint, which you illustrate adeptly in this paragraph. You wrote “[b]oth music videos co-opt the art and culture of sex workers but in disparate manners. In Cellophane, FKA Twigs was said to have “expressly learned to pole dance over a year before the music video… to realize her vision” (Rossignol by UPROXX, 2019). On the other hand, Lil Nas X simply imitates pole dancing and utilizes the aesthetic symbolism it has for his queer identity and overt representation.” I think you did an excellent job illuminating the differences in these seemingly similar music videos. FKA Twigs takes a more conventional approach to pole dancing, while Lil Nas X employs augmentation by pole dancing in a fantastical situation “that would be out of reach for the original itself” (Benjamin, 1936, p.50). While reading this post, I thought about Andi Zeisler’s 2008 book Feminism and pop culture. In her book, Zeisler explains how “it’s important to examine representations of women and agency in the expected places (network television, major labels), but it’s even more important to start scouting the margins—the blogs, the underground publishing collectives, the tiny bedroom record labels—for alternatives and to begin creating them ourselves” (Zeisler, 2008, p.15). This thinking, in my eyes, can be extrapolated to any marginalized community. In this case, that community is the Black queer community. In mainstream media, blackness is often confined to stereotypes or trauma, both of which exist in a heteronormative context. Lil Nas X and FKA Twigs show audiences a queer, sexually-liberated perspective on being Black. Zeisler would argue that these perspectives are just as valuable as conventional portrayals of blackness in media. All in all, I think that your post was very unique and thought-provoking. Although the connection to Sontag was a bit tenuous, the back end of your post soars as you tie in Walter Benjamin’s theory of mechanical reproduction.
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