Clairo
Clairo | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Claire Cottrill |
| Also known as | DJ Baby Benz |
| Born | August 18, 1998[1] |
| Origin | Carlisle, Massachusetts |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | Fader Label |
| Website | clairo |
Claire Cottrill (born August 18, 1998), professionally known by her stage name Clairo, is an American recording artist from Carlisle, Massachusetts who wrote "Pretty Girl" (2017), a lo-fi-produced song that attracted over 15 million views on YouTube. She credited her sudden popularity to the website's algorithm system. The song was also popular on vaporwave-centric Facebook groups. Her self-described "DIY" ethos was criticized as disingenuous and a disguise of nepotism.[4][5]
After the popularity of "Pretty Girl", Clairo signed a record contract with the help of her father Geoff Cottrill, a marketing executive who worked for numerous companies related to advertising and artist promotion.[5] In 2018, she released her debut record Diary 001 on Fader Label, a company related to Fader magazine.
Early life
Claire Cottrill grew up in Carlisle, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of Geoff Cottrill, a marketing executive who is the current president of American operations at MullenLowe Lintas Group, and was also appointed vice-chair of MusiCares (a philanthropic organization associated with the Grammy Awards) in 2014.[6] Under the names Clairo and DJ Baby Benz, Cottrill started posting music to Bandcamp while in high school before beginning to post covers and songs in addition to DJ mixes of rap music on SoundCloud.[7] She also maintained a YouTube channel where she would post covers and short films.[2] In 2017, she began attending Syracuse University.[7]
"Pretty Girl"
Clairo first drew wide attention in late 2017 when the video for her song "Pretty Girl" went viral on YouTube.[2] According to her, she recorded the track "using the resources around me which were pretty shitty. I used like a little keyboard that I had and I was really into ’80s pop music — my mom is obsessed with it — so it kind of inspired me to do something like that."[8] She attributed the interest in the video to YouTube's algorithm system.[5] The video also became popular on vaporwave-centric Facebook groups.[8]
[The] whole 'do-it-yourself' attitude is everything that I'm about. [...] I think it's really important to be genuine and authentic with everything you do.
It was within a few months that Clairo signed a 12-song record contract with Fader Label. According to The New York Times, this was made possible by her father's connection to Jon Cohen, "an executive at Cornerstone, the marketing agency behind The Fader magazine. Mr. Cohen later signed her [with the label] and introduced Ms. Cottrill to Pat Corcoran, Chance the Rapper's manager, whose company Haight Brand took her on as a client near the end of 2017."[5]
In October 2017, the first major article about Clairo was published in Fader,[4] in which she stated that she was most inspired by Brockhampton and that their "do-it-yourself 'attitude'" was her ethos.[8] On May 25, 2018, Fader Label released her debut record, titled Diary 001.[9] By then, "Pretty Girl" had amassed more than 15 million views on YouTube.[5] In July, she performed a sold-out 16-plus show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York to an audience that consisted largely of chaperoned children and teenagers.[10]
Criticism
A number of online communities and student newspapers criticized Clairo's "D.I.Y." description as disingenuous, arguing that it conflicted with the nepotism that was needed for her to achieve her success.[5] She was thus accused of being an "industry plant", in other words, an artist who has backing from the music industry to advance or kick-start their careers, but are deceptively presented as an independent start-up.[5] Clairo described the accusation as sexist, denying that there was "a man behind my success".[5] The Ringer contributor Lindsay Zoladz commented that it would have likely been more difficult for Clairo to get a record contract without her father's connections, and that "it is impossible to imagine Clairo's success in a Gen X world, so vital is the internet to her appeal."[10]
Discography
EP
- Diary 001 (2018)
Bandcamp releases
- Do U Wanna Fall in Love? (2014)
- Have a Nice Day (2015)
- Late Show (2015)
- Aquarius Boy (2015)
- Metal Heart (2015)
- Moth Girl (2015)
- Growing (2015)
- Creased Laundry (2016)
- Brains a Bus Station (2016)
- Keel Her Split (2016)
References
- ^ Cottrill, Claire (18 August 2014). "lil birthday cover 4 u — Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Moore, Jacob (September 29, 2017). Meet Clairo, the Lo-Fi Bedroom Singer/Songwriter Who Went Viral By Being Herself, Pigeons & Planes
- ^ Caramanica, Jon (7 March 2018). "The New Indie Pop: Off-Kilter, Handmade, Whimsical and Emotional". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Kramer, Bradley (5 April 2018). "Is 'Pretty Girl' Clairo's self-made success too good to be true?". Burlington County Times.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Coscarelli, Joe (23 May 2018). "Clairo's 'Pretty Girl' Went Viral. Then She Had to Prove Herself". New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "MusiCares Announce New Board". GRAMMY Foundation.
- ^ a b Moreland, Quinn (January 16, 2018). Meet Clairo, the YouTube Star Turning Teenage Awkwardness Into Viral Gold, Pitchfork
- ^ a b c d Tanzer, Myles (19 October 2017). "Clairo on "Pretty Girl" and making chill pop songs for the whole internet to enjoy". The Fader.
- ^ "Clairo Announces Debut EP, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. 27 April 2018.
- ^ a b Zoladz, Lindsay (25 July 2018). "The Curious Case of Clairo". The Ringer. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
External links
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