Artist Spotlight: Lana Del Rey

So, we have decided to do something a little different for this Music Monday. Instead of our usual individual song/artist picks, we decided to collaborate on a single post dedicated to a mutually beloved artist and debut what we hope to be the first of many "Artist Spotlight" posts.

Now, from the beginning of What's Bippin, Michelle and I agreed we would never blog about certain topics, specifically certain artists, artists that we both feel very protective and passionate about. I think this was due in part to us being in denial and believing if we never talked about it publicly than we could somehow keep them all to ourselves (ridiculous, I know) and also due in part to us feeling there are just no words worthy of describing our feelings towards them.

As silly as this may sound to some, the impact these artists have had on us has made it very difficult for us to share with others and even though we still don't feel 100% comfortable writing about all of them (there are still some we will NEVER talk about on here), we decided since this blog is about US, we could not and should not withhold these things that make up a huge part of who and what we are.

With that being said, we have decided to loosen the reigns a little and dedicate an "Artist Spotlight" to one of our biggest music and fashion icons: Lana Del Rey.

Here are the facts: Michelle loved her first, now we fight over who loves her more but agree that no one loves her as much as we do combined. Don't get us wrong, we love our fellow Lanatics, but only those who discovered her on their own and have no relation to us. Otherwise, we feel like a child at the playground whose toy has been stolen: "Give her back, she's mine!". Obsessed much? You could say that.

Even as the hardcore Lana fans that we are, there are still lines we simply will not cross. For instance, we strongly dislike blatant and direct imitation out of the profound respect we have for her. Which means that covers of her songs, recreations of her looks/photos and impersonators better nail it to a T (in other words, you better have us fooled for the real thang, mkay?), otherwise in our opinion it is an insult. One might argue that imitation is the highest form of flattery, to which I would repeat, if you can pull it off then fine, but most cannot and here is where the problem lies. We don't blame people for trying, I mean, naturally we all want to be her.... but unfortunately we cannot and if you are a true fan, out of respect for the artist, you would be able to recognize that.

Now, that is not say we are not cool with anything "inspired" by Ms. Del Rey. That is perfectly okay with us. In fact, it's more than okay, we love it! We are guilty of it ourselves! She is our muse in many different aspects.

What makes her so special you may ask? This is probably the hardest question to answer being that it's of a more personal nature, since we could both answer that completely differently. We both love her for a lot of the same reasons and then also for our own reasons. So, instead of trying to explain it, we thought it best to compile some of our favorite Lana works and let you see for yourselves.

Our picks:

I know, I know, we probably should have cautioned you before viewing this that your may explode by all the amazing-ness that is Lana Del Rey. It is too much even for us to handle at times. Please take as long as you need to compose yourselves.

L.A. Road Trip

Our latest adventure brings us to the City of Angels.

"Why have we traveled so far?" You may ask.

The reason is Cirque Du Soleil's show Iris, currently at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

Michelle had already seen the show, but didn't mind going again, and I had been wanting to see it for some time now. So, we packed up the fam and set out.

It had been overcast pretty much all day and the clouds threatened rain. "Oh no, rain and Los Angeles traffic?!" Not to worry, Michelle and I gots this! We decided to cat nap for most of the 2 hour ride. Being Los Angeles road trip veterans, we have pretty much seen everything there is to see along the way: Camp Pendleton, Power Plant (a.k.a. the boobs), Disneyland, Downtown L.A. etc.

We arrive with some time to kill before the show. Since the show was at the Dolby Theater on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams we decided to walk down to Grauman's Chinese Theater and check out the characters, walk of fame stars and such. For as many times as I have been here, being obsessed with old Hollywood, I still get giddy to see the stars, hand and foot prints of the actors I have grown to love so much!

Hollywood High

Marilyn Monroe and  Jane Russell

After having spent some time wandering about, we decided to grab a bite before the show. With lots of yummy options, we settled on Johnny Rockets. Can't go wrong with chocolate malts and burgers, right? American staples.

Finally, show time! *insert jazz hands here* The Dolby Theater is spectacular. It exceeded my expectations by far! As tempted as we all were to take out our cameras and snap away, there were signs stating it was not allowed and believe me, they weren't kidding. A lady next to us was almost tackled by security and ushers for trying.

The show delivered, as most Cirque shows do. The theme was Hollywood in a very fun, glamorous and accurate portrayal. As always though, I feel I am much more entertained by the clowns than anything else. Sad, but true. The French female mime was adorable. We managed to congratulate and take a photo with her after the show. She was such a good sport!

Michelle and I with Ekaterina Pirogovskaya

After leaving the Dolby Theater we emerged back on to Hollywood blvd to light rain. No one having an umbrella, this is how we improvised:

Now, back to San Diego! Michelle and I tucked ourselves away in the back of the car, shoes off, feet crossed, sharing ear phones and iPhone, blasting Lana Del Rey and singing along. Until Michelle got thirsty (from all the awesome singing) and I got hungry. 

We stopped at Carls Jr/Green Burrito and these are the shenanigans that took place. 

Main reason why we should never be allowed in public together, especially at late hours of the night.

A special thanks to the cashier for putting up with our obnoxiousness. I guess she didn't really have much choice. This was also when Michelle revealed her true stingy feelings. I suggested we share her enormous fountain drink and she refused and said it was due to me being a "soda vacuum"! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a SODA VACUUM! How dare she! In a public fast food restaurant, at 11 pm and in front of all 0 customers! After which, I appropriately stuck my head under the fountain drink machine and proceeded to drink directly from it to show her what a real soda vacuum looked like. No, not really, just did it for pretend-sies.

What can I say, always a guaranteed crazy time when were together. Plenty more adventures to come folks, so stick around.