REY of Light

For our second unit of Journalism, Sound, we studied radio and how it is used to connect people. We listened to many podcasts and studied many different voices. For our Action Project we were assigned to choose who we considered to be the “voice of the century” and make a podcast about them, including an interview and soundbites. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed the project because we got to do it on someone meaningful to us, and I really enjoyed getting to discuss Lana Del Rey and her art.

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00 0:02 0:26 0:46 2:49 2:53 2:56 3:04 3:08 3:14 3:17 3:19 3:20 3:25 3:28 3:35 4:01 4:31	[soundbite] [AG] [music fades in] [old music fades out, new music fades in] [soundbite] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [AG] [IJP] [snippet of Lana Del Rey’s song “Brooklyn Baby” fades in] [AG with music fading in in the background] [soundbite] THE END	Elizabeth Grant, more well known as Lana Del Rey, was born June 21, 1985 in New York state. She began songwriting when she was 18 and released her first album in 2005 under the name May Jailer. Later she signed her first record deal and released her debut studio album- Lana Del Ray AKA. Lizzy Grant, ray spelled with an a not an e like currently, under the name Lizzy Grant, but it got very little attention. She then changed her stage name to Lana Del Rey, rey with an e, and released Born to Die, which became a major hit, 5th best-selling album worldwide in 2012. Later she released two more albums, Ultraviolence, and more recently Honeymoon. In between all those albums she also released many hit singles. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Lana Del Rey about how people consider her to be “not authentic”, and she is often criticised for many reasons. However, people need to realize, that all celebrities have a persona, that doesn’t make them fake or “not authentic”, it just makes them a celebrity. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Lana Del Rey and what kind of person she is, but the rumors about her are just that- rumors. For instance, people think that her father paid money to get her where she is today just because of how wealthy he is, but that’s completely false. 5 Points Records label boss David Nichtern said “Her father never had anything to do financially with supporting her creativity.” Her music is good, and people realized that which is why she’s gotten where she is, it has nothing to do with money. People also think that she slept with many people in the industry to get her higher up, but again this is completely fake. Lana Del Rey is brutally honest and even said herself, “You know, I have slept with a lot of guys in the industry, but none of them helped me get my record deals.” She owns her actions and does it with no shame, which just goes to show how not fake she is, and it also confronts another issue of people calling her anti-feminist. But how can someone who completely owns something like that be anti-feminist? Her music strives to show women's’ points of views on many things, and explains what goes in their minds, not to make an excuse or encourage it, but just to make the world understand, and to show women going through these situations that others feel the same way and that they aren’t alone, but I don’t think that’s anti-feminist at all, I think it’s just honest. The things Lana Del Rey sings about are critical for this century because she brings to light issues that most people don’t really address, like domestic violence. She also confronts death and what comes after. Her music is so hypnotic it captivates people and her lyrics force you to listen and pay attention. I interviewed the person who first introduced me to Lana Del Rey to discuss her music and why she thinks it’s important. Why do you like Lana Del Rey's music? I think she inspires a lot of people, um, especially young women; she serves as a role model for me, and my other young women as well. Why do you think she's important for out generation? Um, I believe that she inspires a lot of people to be their true selves. Which of her songs has the deepest meaning to you? Um, "DarkParadise". Why? It reminds me of the dark times and being able to get through them. What made you play me her music for the first time? I thought you would enjoy her music as much as I did, and I thought her music would help you go through hard times like I did. Lana Del Rey’s music is so important in our generation, because it is so honest. Her music tells the truth about our time period and it helps others know that they aren’t alone. Time Magazine described her song Brooklyn Baby as “by far the most millennial song ever written”. I think her music is something that everyone could relate to if they just listened to her words, and I think it is something important for everyone to listen to, so they can know what they’re feeling is normal and okay. Because that’s what her music does for me.

Works Cited:

• 50 Geeky Facts About Lana Del Rey | NME.COM. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• Harris, P. (2012, January 21). Lana Del Rey: The strange story of the star who rewrote her past. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• Lana Del Rey. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• REVIEW: Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence Is the Album We Need Right Now. (2014, June 17). Retrieved October 14, 2015.