The allure of Lana Del Rey is also her hamartia. Her dazed blend of Old Hollywood glamour and "gangster Nancy Sinatra" helped the artist formerly known as Lizzy Grant make a dent in the industry, but that dent came with harsh criticism and rumors of a forged identity.
"Sometimes, when the things you say and the way you look don’t add up, people are quick to label you as an impersonator or feel like you’re not entitled to the life experiences you’ve really lived," the "Blue Jeans" singer told her sister Chuck Grant in a new interview for Galore Mag. The conversation, a rare one as Del Rey typically opts out of interviews, finds the musician at her most candid. For readers' benefit, Grant asks questions that she likely knows the answers to, like where Lana's living now, how New York City affected her, and what kind of cars she owns (two Jaguars, if you must know). But, she doesn't shy from the tougher questions, either.
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Del Rey opines on her latest album Ultraviolence — the inspiration, the lack of inspiration, and how she pulled herself out of that. She talks about her public image versus her private identity. She admits to why she really opened up to the New York Times in June: The interviewer "did what so many people can’t do, which is gauge who a person is through intuition and feeling," she told her sister. He "had nothing to gain from telling lies."
What lies could he or any other reporter tell? In this interview, at least, Del Rey comes off as genuinely candid. As to whom she "fucks with in the music industry," she says, "Azealia Banks, because I have the same artistic inclinations as her and the same taste in men." When asked who she most related her music career to, she says with no explanation, Lil' Kim.
Now, Del Rey's probably not going to churn out a "How Many Licks" banger anytime soon, but think about the similarities: She and Kim are just two women in control of their sexuality, succeeding when the public just wants to bring them down. And, if the people can't see that, well, Del Rey would say they just are "not deep enough to intuit." (Galore)