There is very little room for true badassery in the pop world these days. But, lest we forget that the term “pop” was originally an abridged title for “popular” - which potentially includes any and every style - there is always leeway for a select few to slip through the cracks. Most who attempt to portray a “don’t give a shit” attitude employ clichés that land them an image tackier than a bulletin board. Yet just as those with keen nostrils can smell a phony, a true badass gives off a uniquely potent aroma that can penetrate the worst case of the sniffles. The following is a brief excerpt on how to follow your nose. Today’s reading: Imani Coppola.
An artist who can unify disparity: badass. Case and point: The Black and White Album. It is an audible allegory akin to a schizophrenic who has found nirvana. Coppola’s voice is the golden thread through what would otherwise be a collection of tracks that, without the vocal element, would play like a college kid’s ipod on shuffle. Says Coppola, “Feeling like I need to be committed to one sound…that is completely counter-intuitive for me. I knew that when I decided to put all these songs on the same album, there was going to need to be a common thread, aside from the spirit and the sense of humor. I was going to need to find a voice. I really tried to have it sound free; soulful but not trained; natural and free. I wanted someone who can't sing to sing along to these songs.”
Surviving the bureaucracy and hypocrisy of a major label and coming back swinging: badass. Coppola left music school during her freshman year after a seemingly enticing deal from Columbia records. When they wanted her to do things their way (HUGE surprise), she began the transition out. The term “starving artist” was not coined in a vacuum.
“I've fulfilled the spectrum” asserts Coppola. I've gone from one end, with absolutely no experience - I had never had a band before - and got signed. The only performance I had ever done singing was musical theater in high school. I kind of got it without wanting it...without being hungry for it…without starving for it. Not that I wasn't starving. I was still kind of figuring out what the fuck I wanted to do with my life. The Columbia experience came out of nowhere, and it really fucked up my whole perspective on being an "artist" because I was writing pop music at a very early age, and I wasn't sure where my focus should be. That made my experience there very difficult; they wanted an artist who was going to be the pawn, and I was like ‘I have so much to learn. I haven't even listened to any music yet! I don't know shit about music. I don't know shit about songwriting. I don't know shit about art... and here I am, doing it professionally?’”
“So I was very rebellious” Coppola continues. “They wanted me to do samples. I wanted to write the whole song myself, you know? What the fuck? I can! So between me and the label...we kind of made it all go away. By the time I was 22, I had no record deal, and I was a struggling musician in New York City. It was a very confusing time for me, because part of me still felt the need to write ‘the pop song’... ‘Is this the hit?’ It was so ingrained, so burnt into my soul... I mean, I would experiment too, but all my experimentation was fused through a pop hook, so this kind of shaped me as a songwriter. I don't think it has gone away, and I think it will never go away. I think it's kind of a blessing now, now that I have committed to making a living as a songwriter. I realize that there are rules; there's a formula. And if you can find a way to be you and unique in that formula, I think you're doing something pretty amazing.”
The Black and White Album has an organic nature of something home-grown in the good ol’ US of A. Only a culture so diverse - and so at odds with itself - could till the soil for such an exquisite beauty to flower. The album tackles themes that remain close to the heart of modern Americans and cultures worldwide, regardless of on what side of the fence one stands: diversity (“Woke Up White”), superficiality (“I Love Your Hair”), and hope (“Raindrops From The Sun”) among others. But there’s a greater theme pervasive throughout the album, however indirectly: finding one’s own voice amidst chaos. This album - and this artist - is a testament to welcoming the unexpected and the uncertain when treading the path of the heart. Verily, the ultimate nature of badassery.
-Bill Braun
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Imani Coppola’s The Black and White album is available now on Ipecac Records.
http://www.imanicoppola.net
http://www.myspace.com/imanicoppola
