The youngest "contractor" in Grammy music history and the creator of the theme song of the 007 movie, why is Bi Li so popular?

Will she be the next music superstar?

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There is no doubt that Bi Li and her music works have caused a craze on the Internet for two years. As for whether this music prodigy who has just turned 18 will maintain this enthusiasm and become The next cross-industry music superstar is still unknown, and maybe even Bi Li can't predict it. At the Grammy Awards Ceremony in February, Bi Li became the biggest winner of this year and won five awards in succession. In addition to the "Best Pop Album" in the popular category, she also won the "Best Album". With four awards including "Best Production", "Best Single" and "Rookie of the Year", he became the youngest "contractor" in the history of Grammy music.

Billie Eilish Perit Baird O'Connell

Perhaps all this stems from her emotional control when singing. After was at the Grammys, Bi Li, her music producer brother, and the film scorer Hans Zimmer (Hans Zimmer) appeared on the stage of the British Music Awards and played 007 created by her. The theme song of the movie of the same name is "No Time to Die". The dark tone has not been modified too much. It is the same as Adele's "Death in the Sky", but under the background of the minimalist orchestra, it looks particularly gloomy, and perhaps also creates an apocalyptic atmosphere consistent with the movie. Bi Li said that the creation of this song only took three days. The creation process of 's entire work is not cumbersome, but it brings out Bi Li's unique voice and a certain temperament in her, an intangible sense of freedom.

No Time To DieBillie Eilish-No Time To Die

If you search for her on Instagram, 1.9 million messages will be displayed under the label "billieeilish"; on YouTube and station B, it is derived from "Bad guy" There are many ghosts and mixed-cut works published; "Elle" magazine once wrote a feature article for her unique clothing; "Vogue" magazine also tried to discover the difference between her and other young people, trying to defend the rebellion or The anti-trend culture has received the opposite message-Bi Li is one of hundreds of millions of young people. The New York Times believes that she is "redefining teenage pop idols."

Independent idol

Bi Li's full name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O&39; Connell), "Bi Li" is what Chinese netizens call her, this The name is more like an interpretation of her weird character. Bi Li was born in Los Angeles in 2001, and her parents in the entertainment industry let her go to school at home since she was a child. In 2009, Bi Li joined the Los Angeles Children’s Choir and was formally exposed to music. Later, her brother became Bi Li's music leader. When she was 11 years old, the siblings started their own creations and formed a band.

Bi Li and her brother

Bi Li appeared as a typical problem teenager. In 2016, at the age of 15, she released her first single "Ocean eyes" and uploaded it to the music sharing platform "SoundCloud". The somewhat obscure music quickly caught a lot Human ears.

ocean eyesBillie Eilish-The Hate U Give (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Clean]

One year later, the album Don&39;t smile at me (Don&39;t smile at me) included many of her early creations, and was Apple Music Online is recommended as an "UpNext" artist worthy of attention. The title design of the entire album is as casual as typing on a mobile phone, full of lowercase characters. Open the album, jumpHer first song "Copycat" (Copycat) quickly made her maverick public. Her lyrics and singing form a high degree of consistency, chanting, nagging, perhaps more like complaining to herself, those subtle emotions, along with the weird notes and rhythm changes, produce a pear-like charm.

COPYCATBillie Eilish-COPYCAT (Sofi Tukker Remix)

A noteworthy phenomenon is that today's teenagers will no longer make their debut innocently like their parents or predecessors. Before , whether it is Jackson or the street rapper Eminem, most of them will show people positively. When Jackson first debuted, he was a pure boy who loved to dance and sing. Many years later, the huge words of love and peace became his creation. Eminem is a white bad boy who jumped onto the stage from a slum. Although his lyrics will also reveal illegal activities, he also talks about his dissatisfaction with centralization and the system. The "bad" he showed, and It has not exceeded the bottom line of rap fans, and has not even challenged the category acceptable to society.

Bi Li is the first true "independent idol" because she has nothing special except for her music. Like many teenagers, she claims to have had Tourette’s syndrome, synesthesia, and depression. She and her family are vegetarians, and she is a Wiegand who advocates not to consume animal products such as eggs, milk, and honey. She has no interest in drugs. What can really raise her interest may be a coat, a rhythm, a fun APP, or a pair of trendy shoes with weird designs. After the United States was tired of the beauty stars created by the idol industry, young people tried to abandon the old concept of star-chasing, and then "recommended" Bi Li as the first "independent idol."

"The Economist" magazine once commented that Bi Li is a product of the Internet era. Her music sounds like it has been processed by a very professional musician, but the album "When we all fall asleep, where are we going?" "(When we all fall asleep, where do we go?), it was produced entirely at home. The so-called "reality" of has become extremely scarce in today's popular music. If we really want to be true, I am afraid we can only listen to today's shaggy Bob Dylan, and Bi Li's work is the reality of contemporary teenagers. Portrayal.

There is no big doctrine in her music, or even any ideas or propositions. A purely personal narration is her way of singing. Perhaps, this is also the basic performance of the Internet generation. They were born in the unimpeded information world. The so-called barriers in the past, such as skin color, culture, national boundaries and even religion, have been continuously diluted in the past 20 years, and the younger generation almost sees Without the existence of these problems, they are more focused on themselves, or the matter in front of them.

Bi Li's single "everything i wanted" MV

However, it seems that young people have never been really concerned by the society. Adults and academics always label their behaviors and lifestyles as subcultures. In the eyes of most adults, those naive and careful thoughts are not enough, even those who try to understand teenagers often have no way of starting. The appearance of teenagers that Bi Li sang shows the hesitation of life. In the hesitation, some people remain innocent and become social aliens; while another group of people are also hesitating, trying to give up themselves. The lyrics of

rebellious teenager

Bi Li is the most important part of her work. She humorously reveals the true side of young people. In the single "Bury a Friend" (Bury a Friend), she tried to outline her own heart, but found that she was constantly caught in a dilemma. That kind of struggle often comes with a sense of powerlessness. Those scars, no matter how big or small, record everyone’s life, withdrawn personality, constant renewal of values, influence her voice, mood and music changes, and cater to the generation born with the Internet. Human hearing aesthetics.

bury a friendBillie Eilish-WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Previously, she criticized the hypocrisy of rappers. She said that those guys like bragging and always write "I have a gun, a luxury sports car" in the lyrics, "I have a lot of "Money, there are a lot of girls" and so on, but they actually don't have anything. These boring lyrics are not cool at all, they are too fake. Bi Li's casual nature is probably because she has never been to school. The educational environment of the home school seems to be sufficient to meet her needs, and her parents also consciously encourage her to stick to her interests. Bi Li's elder brother Finneas O&39; Connell (Finneas O&39;Connell) once published some works as an independent singer, and then received some attention for playing Alistair in "Glee". What many people didn’t expect was that Bi Li’s subsequent music arrangements were almost entirely made by him. His arrangements were humorous and meaningful, with no loss of structure. Every note creation seemed to try to appease the young, Wounded soul individual.

The Bi Li we see today often wears white sports socks and fashionable sneakers. She likes large clothes, such as basketball shorts and baggy hoodies. Like most teenagers in the rebellious period, she cares about her hairstyle, and Changing the color of the hair all the time. Like an ordinary girl, she likes to sit in the corner and watch what is happening in front of her, sometimes like an adult cat, quiet but not well-behaved. This is very similar to her music, with a kind of aggressiveness hidden under the calm voice, exuding adolescent stubbornness and incomprehension. And Bi Li always describes herself like this: “I don’t like rules at all. I like to be remembered. I am strong. So people listen to me carefully. I am a little scary. Many people are also very I'm afraid of me, but it's okay, young people are like this."

In 2019, Bi Li appeared at the grand Coachella Music Festival. She met her idol, Justin Bieber, a 17-year-old and a 25-year-old. Young people on the same stage are like an iteration of the Internet music circle. In the past 10 years, people's aesthetics seems to have eliminated Bieber's singing, but when two people stand together, many people realize their certain consistency. At the concert, the screams caused by Bi Li verified her "top traffic". Her frequent forgotten words and chorus in the audience also reminded her of the difference between the real world and social media. The scene was a bit funny, but It is also what her audience likes. If you think that treating Bieber as an idol is superficial, it is not necessary. In terms of creation, aesthetics seems to be difficult to accept inter-generational judgment, because they inherently believe in the consistency brought by the approach of age, especially among young people. Among them, they are more willing to listen to music like "Smashing Thoughts", and they are more resistant to those sounds full of modification.

Bieber embraces Bili in public

People always like to explore why, after the 90s, there has never been a superstar music artist. Is it true? It seems to be true. After 2000, British musicians entered a long fallow period. With the retirement, disbandment or death of the older generation, the music curled up into a narrower range for self-entertainment. For example, listen to music that was popular a few years ago. "Dubstep" is more like a resurgence or a product of transitional music style. The same is true in the United States, where a lot of popularity and rap are spreading in a slow fashion, but the lyrics discussed in the lyrics are after all clichés and consensus among small circles. Occasionally, there are a few singers, and it is difficult to get from the huge 20th century. The shadow or the accent successfully break away.

On February 18, Bi Li performed

at the British Music Awards in London. In the 20 years after 2000, there were occasional independent musicians, but with the low barriers to technology, the music became flat. Jacob Collier (Jacob Collier) pays more attention to the technique of music, and anti-traditional performance; the extremely creative Pharrell Williams (Pharrell Williams) or the more performance-oriented Taylor (Tyler, The Creator) Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) is not the creator of a culture, or that their works have been eliminated in a solidified business environment.

From sister A (Ariana Grande), Lady GaGa, to ZAYN, Dua Lipa, Danielle Brego, there are always musicians who use various platforms to complete the transformation from amateur to star. For musicians, social media is a double-edged sword. Cardi B and Nicki Minaj (Nicki Minaj) are two very interesting musicians. Social networks bring dividends to their music careers, but they are also positive. Because of the social network, the two were involved in too much right and wrong, and they were ultimately defined as "net celebrities" by the public. Although the music of "Spicy Chicken" has great commercial value, it is always bound to those pastime memes or gossip topics, and eventually becomes a kind of material for national entertainment. Of course, Bi Li did not choose such a self-destructive way to promote herself. What she did was just turned herself into a topic.

So the superstar era is back? The answer is of course no. The lack of talented artists in today’s music circle is not because today’s commercial companies are unable to polish high-quality works, nor is it a financial issue, but today’s society may not need a heroic figure to stand in the Internet. In the personalized music circle, even if characters like Jackson and The Beatles come to this day, they will only be obediently fixed in their exclusive music zone, because what these people want to express outside of music is occupied by others. Up. The success of Bi Li may be precisely because of her cross-border nature. It's not that she crosses boundaries in her works, but the kind of spiritual understanding she can bring to people. music, fashion, design, emoji, mourning, etc., these young people's favorite things in their bones, she plays very well.

(This article was originally published in "Sanlian Life Weekly", the 11th issue of 2020)

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