Bursting through stereotypes

On the cover of her debut album “Trouble,”
singer-songwriter Bonnie McKee stares saucily into the camera,
blowing a large bubble out of gum.

With all of the negative connotations surrounding the
“bubblegum” pop world following the now defunct
boy-band craze of *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, most musicians would
cringe to associate themselves with such an image. Yet unlike other
young singer-songwriters who make a point to distance themselves
from being labeled “pop” artists, Bonnie McKee embraces
the pop music world wholeheartedly.

“I’m not afraid to be a pop star,” said McKee.
“People associate pop music with crap, and that doesn’t
necessarily have to be true. Madonna, Prince and the Beatles are
pop stars. “˜Pop’ is short for popular, and that
doesn’t have to mean cookie-cutter.”

McKee incorporates popular sensibilities not only in her music
but in her image as well. She decided to design her Web site with a
magazine-type format, akin to the sites of CosmoGIRL! or Seventeen.
McKee’s homepage contains links to fashion, music, “top
10″ lists and “letters to the editor” pages,
fulfilling her desire to “create something a little more
interactive” for her fans.

Recognizing the popularity and far-reaching effects of current
online blog trends, McKee even created her own
“myspace,” a web journal with a message board that
allows her to interact directly with fans and receive input from
them about her shows, image and sound.

“My label wants to play it safe, so that we don’t
f*** anything up, so I’m supposed to tone down the sexuality
and all that s***,” said McKee. “But then I talk to the
kids and they swear that they know where babies come from and
they’re not idiots. I have a good idea of what kids want to
see and hear. They’re tired of having everything filtered
through a bunch of middle-aged (executives in) suits.”

Contrary to many artists who struggle to be taken seriously by
critics and the adult music world, McKee directly targets her image
to teens and young adults.

“I’m more interested in appealing to a younger
crowd, because they’re more impressionable. If you have
something to say and if you have certain beliefs that you want to
teach the world, they’re going to be the ones that listen,
rather than someone that already has ideas in their head of what
the world is like,” she said.

Surprisingly, the radio stations that most naturally gravitate
toward McKee’s music usually play adult contemporary tunes.
This reflects the fact that McKee’s piano-based music
possesses a maturity that far outshines many of her peers. Her
image may typically appeal to a younger crowd, but her talent
speaks for itself. Although McKee herself is only 19 years old, she
wrote and performed all of the songs on “Trouble” and
remained in control of her musical vision for most of the recording
process.

“(My age is) a blessing and a curse. I have a vision and I
have very specific ideas of what I want,” said McKee.
“But there are times when I doubt myself. So far I’ve
learned to trust my instincts and (my label is) learning to trust
my instincts, too.”

From an early age, McKee knew she wanted to share her music with
the masses and see them relate to and enjoy it.

“I’m excited to have big production shows and reach
a lot of people and do something fun and crazy and beautiful and
appeal to the masses,” she said.

“If you’ve got something to say, you might as well
say it to as many people as you can.”

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