Underrated and Miscategorized Women in Music

The reason I love Gwen stefani so much is because she is the first woman I heard that ever sounded totally different and it was great, I grew up not listening to much rock. Country and pop was all I heard on the radio, and I loved to sing, but I didn't sound like any of those people, I can't sing like a pop diva like Whitney Houston and I can't sing like Reba and I was like my voice just doesn't fit in, and then no doubt came out with "don't speak" and I saw the video and thought, that girl is so cool and she has so many different levels and uniqueness to her voice, so I bought tragic kingdom and played it over and over and her lyrics were like mine, I'm like "there are like a thousand words in this song and it's okay, she has a lot to say in this one song and it's working," and it's like she was the first person on the radio that I personally could relate to, she didn't seem like some star in a distant land of fame and fortune, she said things in her songs that I personally went through and one day I was at a pacsun shopping and I was singing along to "my own worst enemy" by lit (playing on their tv) and my sister goes "you kind of sing like Gwen stefani" and I remember that moment to this day because it was awesome, for one that I wasn't singing her song and I wasn't trying to sound like her but I just had finally found a successful person that had the same style as me, and I learned to sing from her and i am just so glad she is like the way she is because it makes me feel like my weirdness is okay too and that regardless if you don't really sound the way people think you should, if you have a passion for something, keep doing it, because there is a reason you're doing it and you may not be a opera singer quality but who wants to listen to people that all sound the same, all the time? I've learned more of that afterward with other singers but Gwen was the first and best example of that and I'm so glad she was on mainstream and I got to hear it and learn from her.

Gwen is now seen as a fashion icon, and she is, she loves fashion. She started a clothing line, but unlike most celebrities who just start those sorts of things to make money. (not blaming them due to record labels and free streaming services draining their finances totally) But Gwen actually does love fashion, she started her career at 16, and even then made her own costumes to perform in.

People that only know of Gwen from her solo stuff tend to lump her into "pop artist" which isn't even true of her solo music, but it is certainly not what "no doubt" is. If the band were to fit into a genre it would be rock, but technically it isn't rock either. That's just the only "mainstream category" it could fit. In fact Gwen has even been known to do a "metal scream" here and there.

As I've said before, Gwen can "belt" she does it a lot different than a "diva" or a "popstar" because she is neither of those things. People say she can't sing. Well that is because you're listening to her with the wrong expectations for what women should sound like. All female singers don't sound like mariah carey (thank God). Gwen's voice is probably the most unique voice I can think of, no one else sounds anything like her (besides me, lol).

(I know people will be mad because I said that but I didn't say it, someone told me that)

Anyway, Gwen has written most of her own lyrics from the very beginning, something I admire. And she also wrote the music to "simple kind of life".

"No Doubt" started as a ska/punk rock band, they've said so over and over. But if I were to say that every song fits into a category, it would be a disservice to the band and their music. They don't fit in tightly anywhere, which means they can fit in everywhere. I admire that, because they aren't trying to be one thing, they just write and play what is honest to them at that given time, If you listen to any live shows, you will see that Gwen sometimes gives a different attitude to a song depending on how she is feeling that day. I LOVE that. That is how I write too. Some professionals would call that sloppy, to not have an outline or intended genre in mind when writing. But I think it's just more sincere and honest.

Another issue I have with what people tend to say about Gwen, is when they say that she left the band for a while. She NEVER left the band, she was always in no doubt. In interviews, she won't even say the words "solo album", she calls it a "dance album". She did some other songs with other people and by herself. But she was always still in the band. Which shows us that she is very loyal.

If you have listened to nearly every single song she's written, you will get to know her. She tends to really pour her real heart into her lyrics, which is beautiful. And it's clear to me that she has never been trying to be anything in her career. She didn't try to be a great songwriter, or singer. She was always just raw. And that is also the reason her music is different. We don't stay in the same place in life or feel the same about things over time. Some people would say having "happier" sounding songs means you "sold out". But Gwen singing about young love, or hard times in orange county, when she's flying to london and living her dream, would be faking it. At each point in her life, if you listen to her songs. She is always being true to where she is at in life at that time. And that is so admirable to me.

Another point (a sticky subject) autotune... *sigh*... I wish I never had to talk about this, in a way. But people throughout history have been doing unique things to create different sounds, so autotune exists. I've said this before but I'll say it again. I have mixed feelings when it comes to autotune. If it is being used to deceive people into thinking you can sing well when you can't, then it is possibly the worst thing that's ever happened to music. BUT if an artist is using it as a creative/artistic decision to make the song sound a certain way because of their artistic vision for a particular song. (E.T. by katy perry for example) then I think it isn't that different than another instrument being used. And the fact that Gwen never uses a microphone with autotune (yes, that is a thing) in live performances or concerts, proves to me that her using it is for the latter intention. But that only occurs in a few songs. I thought it was in "looking hot" but actually watched her sing it being filmed in studio (without autotune) and was amazed to see that she just has a seriously cool voice. She can do some crazy stuff with it. (the part were she is going "oh, oh...oh, oh, oh")

I also wanted to point out how humble she is, she was a coach on "the voice" for a season and every time someone picked her to be their coach, she looked sincerely shocked.

I also read her interview in cosmo, I'll quote her in a second but I want to say this first:

[It really bothers me that when I try to find her cosmo interview online, all I can find is people talking about what she said about Gavin being hot, I mean we all know she thinks that. Because who doesn't think that. I know they aren't together anymore, but that's what stood out to readers? really? She said so much about her career and life, really intelligent and insightful stuff, and all they can talk about is what she said about a dude? That is so annoying.]

This is her being humble: "It still shocks me that people care about me. I trip out about it all the time... It's mindblowing! for me it's like I've never gotten to the point where I've said. 'okay, I made it. i'm number one' it's an amazing thing to hit number one, but it's not that different than being not number one. It's really about the journey- that's where the joy comes. It's not about the end result cause there really is no end."

I was personally amazed and overjoyed to find out in this article that Gwen said something I have thought for a long time, about "the voice" or "american idol" and the things they've been doing to the music industry. I was so happy that she said this when asked if she would have tried out had they been around when she started;

"first of all, my kind of voice would never impress people. The voice has amazing singers with acrobatic voices and you're like 'Whoa! technical' but in real life, the people who have made an impact in history are people who don't have those kinds of voices, there are a few of them-- whitney houston, obviously. And Prince is an unbelievable singer , but he has so much character. As soon as his mouth opens, you know it's him, whereas some of these singers are generic-sounding. Even if you're perfect, you sound like a background singer if you don't have the character."

Right on!

I could make this really, really long... because I have so much to say about her, but I'll leave off with this last point...

Gwen was one of, if not the first "edgy" female musicians, to bring it to the mainstream, she walked the line between rock and pop, she paved the way for people like avril, pink, sia, etc. Before her success, you couldn't be a beautiful and girly woman and sing the type of music she did, you had to either sing lovely girly songs and be sexual or sweet. There were no powerful independent, in your face female singers like that in the mainstream. There were a lot of female musicians like that, but they couldn't be pretty, or dress pretty, they had to be the "character" of a hardcore chick if they were going to sing like that, the misogynist society didn't want to accept that "regular" girls feel these ways too. If you look regular you have to be all about the men, and be submissive. If you sing about not being those things, you have to look mean or weird as a warning or a way to show that you're not like "regular" girls, society was okay with them as long as they could pretend that it was just a role they played or if it was just the "freaky girls"

Gwen blew all that out of the water, and said, I want to be married and have a "simple kind of life" and I am pretty and girly, but I'm also strong and intelligent. I am independant and I live my life for me, and not for a man. And she was saying "all girls feel this way". She got away with it too, she didn't have much of a backlash because she did it so smooth that people didn't even realize it was happening. I LOVE her.

She had one of the best feminist anthems for girls everywhere in "just a girl" and from all of us, thank you Gwen!