You know what Chappell Roan, I kinda like you
From hater to fan, it’s official, Gordistotle backs Chappell Roan!
Chappell Roan shot by Ryan Clemons
I was made aware of Pop Femininomenon, Chappell Roan (née Kayleigh Rose, a much less glamourous alias, she doesn’t like going by it either) sometime last year. I saw her on my Twitter timeline, as I do everything else, and just thought… ok… this girl’s in pseudo-drag making music for “bisexuals”. Neeeeext.
And then honestly, I forgot about her. I’d see murmurs of people calling her the second coming, a “mother” thrown around here and there, but I never thought anything of it. I dismissed her case. Why? Because I hated her album cover (And still don’t really love it).
I KNOW.
Never judge a book by its cover, I know! But when you aren’t interested in said book in the first place, why bother?
It wasn’t until a certain Tiny Desk Performance made its way to me three months ago (wow, seriously, it’s only been three months?) that I thought “Oh alright, let’s give her a chance”.
Did she initially get me? No, not really. It wasn’t until being coerced by my boyfriend to give it another watch that I realized, wait, this girl can really sing and she has the theatrics. This began the initial process of my excruciatingly long journey of coming around to Chappell Roan. At this point, I only really cared for “Red Wine Supernova”. There was no way I was watching a 20-minute video, sorry! But I don’t know, I wasn’t sold on her yet. I didn’t really care for her other music, and one song wasn’t enough to get me to care.
Fast-forward. It’s April 5th, 2024. I get a text from my friend Zain, as I do when there’s any sort of pop culture-related news, with a link to “Good Luck, Babe!” Being a bitch, my first response to the song was, and I quote, “Last Christmas I gave you my heart..” in retrospect, I do stand by that statement!
But… her Coachella performance gave me goosebumps. That’s when my opinion started to sway, it’s not like “Last Christmas” is a bad song, after all. Which is what I found myself thinking when I replayed it again… and again… and again.
So… now she had two songs that I liked, she was gaining on me… But her aesthetic is a little out there, not refined enough, so I couldn’t fully buy into the fantasy she’s selling. But she can sing. So she’s made it to my rotation. I’m still a little put off by her, I don’t know why. Maybe there weren’t enough songs I liked, maybe I found her TikTok persona to be a little annoying? I really couldn’t tell you, but something was off.
Months went by and I’d casually listen to these two songs give or take, everyday. I found myself… wanting more. I’ve been seeing all these pictures of her in these elaborate stage costumes, her stage presence steadily improving, but where’s the new music? I thought, you know what, let’s give the rest of these songs a chance.
H O T T O G O!!! Yaaaaaaay!
Chappell Roan paying homage to Divine | @chappellroan via Instagram
This song is so fun! Why didn’t I like this one earlier? Now Chappell had 3 (three) songs that I liked and for the past week Chappell was all I could listen to! I wondered… what’s taken over me… I thought I swore her off!
Le sigh. I’ll listen to the entire album, you win bitch.
Some of my standouts include all the aforementioned tracks as well as “Femininomenon”, “After Midnight”, “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl”, and “My Kink Is Karma”. As you can probably tell, I don’t really care for the sappy ballads, they’re cute but they were what initially put me off her.
This brings us to the present day, Chappell has had multiple live performances across America, all in elaborate outfits that have made me, kin her, in a sense… She’s endearing! But, what now? Chappell, I need more music, where is it?
There’s many directions she can go in from here, “Good Luck, Babe!” recently reached a peak of #21 on the Hot 100, with “Red Wine Supernova” and “HOT TO GO!” entering the chart a year after they were initially released. My hypothesis is she’s going the pop route, why wear such elaborate costumes if to not court the gay men? Chappell is an albino male peacock performing her mating rituals on Jimmy Fallon, literally.
It’s a competitive market right now with the “new girl on the block” spot being occupied by Sabrina Carpenter. Oh please, please, please Sabrina, let Chappell shine! I suspect that Chappell’s A&R have tricks up their sleeves that will all be played out in due time, I see a few more weeks riding out the success of “Good Luck, Babe!” with new songs being teased at her various slotted live performances before something is probably announced at a major award show.
Ala meat dress adorned Stefani Germanotta at the 2010 VMAs. “I just came out as gay, ‘cause A&R makes no mistaaaakes~” Something like that.
Congratufuckinglations Chappell, you got a new fan who’s excited for what’s next, and who knows, will maybe even shell out a couple of bucks to see you in concert.