00:00Do I like Chapel Rowan? Yes. Why do I like Chapel Rowan? Because she's punk. How can
00:07you argue otherwise? Oh, is it because she doesn't perform three chord music with heavily
00:12distorted guitars? Fair enough, but her approach since blowing up after touring with Olivia
00:17Rodrigo is every bit as punk as, say, a sacrilegious as it might be, the Sex Pistols. I mean, after
00:24all, this is a musician who came from quite the conservative background only to eschew
00:28it all and have dropped the drag queen persona that we've come to love. She also didn't manage
00:34to get through auditions for America's Got Talent, and then when she was signed to a
00:38label was dropped shortly afterwards because of, quote, poor commercial sales. So what
00:44does Chapel do? What any punk would do. Absolutely f*** it to the man. So how could I not appreciate
00:53someone who, during the circus that is a red carpet event, have the guts to turn around
00:57and ostracize a photographer for their language and sense of entitlement? Chapel doesn't forget
01:03either, having another altercation with the same photographer at the premiere of Olivia
01:09Rodrigo's Netflix special. Then there is the honesty about the parasocial relationship
01:14some fans have with artists. And while some were critical about her stance, and there
01:19was that Saturday Night Live sketch involving Nudeng, it's at least a breath of fresh air
01:24having a pop star draw boundaries at what they feel is acceptable behavior and what
01:30makes them uncomfortable from the fandom. But my streams pay for her house. No they
01:35don't. Stop that. She owes no one nothing. It helps that her music has been a breath
01:40of fresh air too. After listening to the rise and fall of a midwest princess quite a few
01:46times, I guess it's going to be on my Spotify rap, I had the same enthusiasm behind the
01:52luscious melodies, the 80s style drum beats and her honest, if not sometimes irreverent
01:58lyrics that I had when another pop star blew up. Everyone from New Zealand, please rise
02:04when I utter her name, Lorde. Chapel's take on being Chapel Rowan, being how drag queens
02:12have their personas I also found fascinating, and to sound pompous for a moment, her Brechtian-esque
02:19performances, be it on stage or in her music videos, very much bring an air of cabaret
02:25to pop music, which I quite like. Queer cabaret at that. She's pretty much the antithesis
02:31of what pop stars should be in many respects, and yet you can still match her on the same
02:36bill as a Sabrina Carpenter or a Taylor Swift, and she would still hold up to a pop audience.
02:43And for those of you who aren't too sure yet about her, because, well, she's a pop
02:48musician after all, come on, give her a chance, it's absolutely worth it, and if you don't
02:54give her a chance, chances are she'll end up on your Spotify rap anyway.
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