What makes a popstar ‘real’? Authenticity through CMAT and Chapelle Roan
Authenticity has been a debated topic since the very creation of music.
From the origins of traditional folk songs to the creation of the microphone, our perception of what is truly ‘authentic’ has been knocked down and rebuilt countless times.
With today’s pop-stars facing allegations of being label-created brands, discourse about authenticity is as prevalent as ever.
Taking a look at two massively influential artists in contemporary pop, Music News Blitz’s Katie Slater examines how genuineness is measured and perceived by pop fans.
Introducing CMAT
A woman who’s found herself in the spotlight for all the right reasons, Irish country-pop star CMAT has won hearts with her uniquely poignant tunes.
A pillar in the Irish surge, the authentic nature of both her music and persona has turned her into one of the most revered voices in contemporary pop.
Place and identity
With Eurocountry, a new era of CMAT was born. No longer masking her Dublin accent, she defiantly ignored the tropes of Americanised pop.
Opening the album with lyrics in Irish Gaelic, she immediately turns her back on the anglicised boundaries of the genre.
A deep part of her message is that she conveys ideas through a language many listeners won’t understand, prioritising what is authentic to her cultural history.
This unmasked display of identity has drawn people into the message of her loaded pop music created through individualisation.
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Politics as personal experience
Beyond the accent, the album is filled with political messaging that comments on contemporary Ireland.
Rather than outlining direct politics, CMAT focuses on her lived experiences of growing up in a country that had a severe financial crash after pursuing a ‘pop-star USA’ capitalist model.
Exploring issues from the stripping of communities and culture to rising suicide rates and the breakdown of masculinity, this is mixed with personal stories of heartbreak and body image.
Politically staunch, she acts as a voice for both her community and her own broken heart. Her work feels lived through, a highly regarded form of authenticity.
Irish folk influence
Adopting a country-pop style, CMAT incorporates elements of traditional Irish folk music.
Rather than sticking to Western major and minor scales, her melodies often have modal inflexions.
Irish folk draws on mixolydian and dorian modes, notable in hits such as “I Wanna Be a Cowboy Baby,” “Nashville,” and “Whatever’s Inconvenient.”
Country track “When a Good Man Cries” also shows folk-fusion instrumentation, opening with fiddle melody, bending vocals, and steel pedal guitars.
With Irish culture shaping so much of her life, its presence in her music is appealing in an increasingly homogenised society.
In summary, from her accent, locally politicised message, and cultural features, CMAT defines modern perspectives of authenticity. On the other side of this debate, we have the contrasting Chapelle Roan.
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Persona
Chapelle Roan is the stage character of Kayleigh Amstutz, an American singer-songwriter. Unlike CMAT, this is not just a stage name but a drag persona.
Amstutz describes Roan as a more confident, outgoing, and sexy character than herself, with camp outfits and makeup acting as a transformation ritual.
Preferring a quiet lifestyle of solitude and video games, fans are not experiencing her genuine personality, even visually, through a masked face.
Music
Suffering from bipolar disorder since childhood, the singer reflects on being the ‘depressed’ kid in the conservative Midwest.
With hits like “Pink Pony Club” and “Naked in Manhattan” portraying a fun-loving party girl, Chapelle reveals that when they were written, many narratives were false.
While the lyrics celebrate club stages and queer sexuality, she had yet to even kiss a girl or step foot in the Tennessee clubs she sang about.
Location
Perhaps the greatest contrast with CMAT is Chapelle’s relationship with home. Far from loving her small-town upbringing, she found her farm surroundings to have stifled her creativity.
It wasn’t until she left Missouri for LA that she found inspiration, looking to a culture far from her own to shape her glitzy showtunes.
A reflection of the showbiz life she chose rather than her origins, this can seem traditionally inauthentic.
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Why does this work for her?
Unquestionably successful, but what about this model that works for the pop superstar?
By being so ‘authentically inauthentic,’ Chapelle flips the narrative. Transparent about the creation of her character, this Hannah Montana-style duality becomes both endearing and mysterious.
Though not a direct reflection of her life or community, Chapelle Roan represents the showgirl glamour of many small-town girls’ fantasies.
A lover of songwriting and performance since childhood, we see someone with an unhappy past capture the essence of carefree fun as she struts across major stages in her pink DIY outfit.
Conclusion
Comparing two influential popstars through the lens of authenticity, the most striking conclusion is that authenticity does not have to look one way.
Both political figures, CMAT and Chapelle Roan make music that inspires, whether their anecdotes are lived experience or fantasy.
The drag show-girl and the Irish country-pop singer use their human experiences to create art that is unique to them-perhaps the truest marker of authenticity.
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