All the discussion over Lana Del Ray has become really interesting since the cooldude dads turned on her. Sasha Frere-Jones of the New Yorker talks about the criticism LDR has faced over her authenticity:

Why is pop music the only art form that still inspires such arrantly stupid discussion? The debates that surround authenticity have no relationship to popular music as it’s been practiced for more than a century. Artists write material, alone or with assistance, revise it, and then present a final work created with the help of professionals who are trained for specific and relevant production tasks. This makes popular music similar to film, television, visual art, books, dance, and related areas like food and fashion. And yet no movie review begins, “Meryl Streep, despite not being a Prime Minister, is reasonably convincing in ‘The Iron Lady.’

People are still hung up on the 1960s icon of the singer-songwriter, one man and his guitar, writing songs from the heart. But even Bob Dylan changed his name and adopted the style of Woody Guthrie. LDR ain’t no different.