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iamamiwhoami or Jonna Lee… what will come next?

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Posted by Arnaldo Roman on Oct 18, 2010 in Featured Articles, Música | 0 comments

There has been alot of noise around the viral videos of an artist called “iamamiwhoami”. Who is this or these artists? Blogs and publications claimed that it could’ve been Christina Aguilera, The Knife, Fever Ray, Goldfrapp, The Golden Filter, or even Lady Gaga. Some even dared to say that this was a Trent Reznor project, which proved doubtful since all of Trent Reznor’s musical involvement always has a sound somewhat close to NIN’s style.

Direct Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEoGQU_k78k&fmt=22%5B/caption%5D

These viral videos started with some short takes of about a minute long, most of them with a concept in common, like animal symbols that seemed to represent something but would keep their true meaning hidden. One thing is for certain: This is one hell of a job; these videos are so beautifully made that it hints at an enormous production behind it. Some people have stated their belief that Sony Music could be behind it, but to say that only Sony or a big company could be behind this project is to say that independent music artists, videographers, or creative people are unable to convey these same results.

For starters, the singer featured on these videos was revealed to be none other that Jonna Lee, a Swedish singer-songwriter. You can tell that her music is different just by looking at her facial features and her body mannerisms. Another interesting element is that the “iamamiwhoami” videos have the same quality and aesthetic of the video director Viktor Kumlin, as well as Mattias Edlund’s visual style. You only have to see Jonna’s “Something so quiet” and compare it with iamamiwhoami’s video for the song “n” and you will notice that its artistic oeuvres and filmic technique are related. According to Wikipedia, the domain iambounty.com, which clearly has a relation to the iamamiwhoami name, was suspended although this domain is still registered to Jonna Lee.

Direct Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxRMI2c3Spg%5B/caption%5D

One of the most interesting things about the band is how they didn’t rely on their characters or the personalities of their previous and former musical careers and instead constructed this obscure theme through the power of social media. Nobody knew for sure who they were, even Jonna Lee is somewhat unknown to many music consumers. However, now iamamiwhoami seems to be devouring her as an artist and assimilating her persona into this new construction. This is like the son that surpasses the father or, in this case, the artifice that becomes more real than the real.

Personally, I think that iamamiwhoami exceeds the musical standards of many contemporary acts along with its genial promotional artifice. This is the sort of product that may revive the decadent musical world. We may think that Lady Gaga is an original character, but when we see something like iamamiwhoami it is clear that there are things we haven’t seen yet. We wonder what will come next.

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