Have you met... Googoosha?
24/8/12 08:36![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
musicpsych.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsI was clicking around on Amazon recently when, for some reason, I decided to click on a page for a singer I've never heard before: Googoosha. I like listening to new music, even the 30-second samples on Amazon, to get a sense of what's out there. What really struck me, though, was the Amazon customer reviews for this album. Here's one:
"With a voice almost as ugly as her corrupt, narcissistic and avaricious soul, the release of this painfully bad CD means that Googoosha (Gulnora Kaminova) is set to become the biggest mass-torturer since...well, her father, the dictator (sorry - totally and utterly democratically elected President) of Uzbekistan.
"Support the world's leading mass-murdering despot - buy this record today!
"Or don't, if you've got an ounce of humanity left in you."
Of course, that review wasn't labelled as being a "verified purchase," so I don't know if he actually listened to the music.
But that wasn't the only album review like it. There was one that said that the singer is (allegedly, for all you lawyers out there) "an uber-rich dictator's daughter who earned her riches by looting the treasury of Uzbekistan! ... When she's not pursuing wildly self-indulgant glamour projects, she can be found using the apparatus of state institutions to punish business rivals and to ensure the continued political and economic dominance of her family." It goes on to say that (allegedly) "the tracks on the album sound like Gulunara (sorry I mean Guli, or uh, Googoosha?) was in the room with a tape recorder, sampling the tortured screams of some poor sap who dared to question the viability of kleptocratic totalitarianism as a political system." Some songs also feature (allegedly) "the sounds of forced child labor" which makes it "as if one is transported to the cotton fields during harvest time!"
This made me curious. Where to turn? Wikipedia, of course. The article on her details her marriage and divorce, after which her ex-husband "faced arrest in Uzbekistan, and some of his relatives were arrested and thrown into prison, others were driven to the Uzbek-Afghan border and dumped on the other side, and Maqsudi had his business assets in Uzbekistan, particularly his interest in a joint-venture with Coca-Cola, stripped from him." She is Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations as well as Uzbek Ambassador in Spain. "According to US diplomats in Uzbekistan, Karimova "bullied her way into gaining a slice of virtually every lucrative business" in the country and is viewed as a "robber baron"." She also founded a think tank, some social organizations, and allegedly "acquired interests in the crude oil contracts of Zeromax... in "a deal with [a] local mafia boss"," and "got hold of shares in the Coca-Cola bottling franchise after it was subjected to a tax investigation, they claimed." And now she has a pop album!
For more, you can read about how she is one of the World's Worst Daughters, or see what Wikileaks has to say. To keep things fair and balanced, there is also this Forbes Special Advertising Section calling her "A Woman of Substance by all Standards". It's by a guy called Paul Trustfull. How can that not be trustworthy?
Anyway, I just thought it was interesting to see politically-motivated reviews on a product intended to be on the lighter side of things. I've seen made up reviews on Amazon before, but I don't think I've seen any done for political purposes (aside from books related to politicians). I suppose that is what happens with the Internet and the crowd-sourced nature of some sites - the truth (or at least accusations) follows you around.
It was also interesting to see that with everything she has going on, she is pursuing a pop career as well. Is it just vanity, or could it be politically motivated? I mean, it could endear her to younger audiences and build some goodwill. Bill Clinton was helped when he played his saxophone on late night television. Ronald Reagan probably benefited in some ways from his time as an actor, as did Arnold Schwarzenegger. It may have not helped them in some ways, but fame and name recognition surely did. There is even that Wisconsin US Rep who was on The Real World. (Though I suppose the relationship between fame and politics could be a whole other post. And she was already well-known, so she doesn't need more fame.) I don't know how Googoosha is regarded in her country, so that may not help. The music is in English, too, so could it be that it's more for an international audience, maybe an attempt to soften her image. Unless the fact that it's in English could be a status thing within her country, or a nod to her time spent in the US/abroad.
So, are there any politicians or relatives of politicians who you think should record an album? Should Paul Ryan record a P90X video? Does such a thing help or hurt a political figure, or does it depend on the content? Could pop culture like this be used for social influence, or even social control?
"With a voice almost as ugly as her corrupt, narcissistic and avaricious soul, the release of this painfully bad CD means that Googoosha (Gulnora Kaminova) is set to become the biggest mass-torturer since...well, her father, the dictator (sorry - totally and utterly democratically elected President) of Uzbekistan.
"Support the world's leading mass-murdering despot - buy this record today!
"Or don't, if you've got an ounce of humanity left in you."
Of course, that review wasn't labelled as being a "verified purchase," so I don't know if he actually listened to the music.
But that wasn't the only album review like it. There was one that said that the singer is (allegedly, for all you lawyers out there) "an uber-rich dictator's daughter who earned her riches by looting the treasury of Uzbekistan! ... When she's not pursuing wildly self-indulgant glamour projects, she can be found using the apparatus of state institutions to punish business rivals and to ensure the continued political and economic dominance of her family." It goes on to say that (allegedly) "the tracks on the album sound like Gulunara (sorry I mean Guli, or uh, Googoosha?) was in the room with a tape recorder, sampling the tortured screams of some poor sap who dared to question the viability of kleptocratic totalitarianism as a political system." Some songs also feature (allegedly) "the sounds of forced child labor" which makes it "as if one is transported to the cotton fields during harvest time!"
This made me curious. Where to turn? Wikipedia, of course. The article on her details her marriage and divorce, after which her ex-husband "faced arrest in Uzbekistan, and some of his relatives were arrested and thrown into prison, others were driven to the Uzbek-Afghan border and dumped on the other side, and Maqsudi had his business assets in Uzbekistan, particularly his interest in a joint-venture with Coca-Cola, stripped from him." She is Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations as well as Uzbek Ambassador in Spain. "According to US diplomats in Uzbekistan, Karimova "bullied her way into gaining a slice of virtually every lucrative business" in the country and is viewed as a "robber baron"." She also founded a think tank, some social organizations, and allegedly "acquired interests in the crude oil contracts of Zeromax... in "a deal with [a] local mafia boss"," and "got hold of shares in the Coca-Cola bottling franchise after it was subjected to a tax investigation, they claimed." And now she has a pop album!
For more, you can read about how she is one of the World's Worst Daughters, or see what Wikileaks has to say. To keep things fair and balanced, there is also this Forbes Special Advertising Section calling her "A Woman of Substance by all Standards". It's by a guy called Paul Trustfull. How can that not be trustworthy?
Anyway, I just thought it was interesting to see politically-motivated reviews on a product intended to be on the lighter side of things. I've seen made up reviews on Amazon before, but I don't think I've seen any done for political purposes (aside from books related to politicians). I suppose that is what happens with the Internet and the crowd-sourced nature of some sites - the truth (or at least accusations) follows you around.
It was also interesting to see that with everything she has going on, she is pursuing a pop career as well. Is it just vanity, or could it be politically motivated? I mean, it could endear her to younger audiences and build some goodwill. Bill Clinton was helped when he played his saxophone on late night television. Ronald Reagan probably benefited in some ways from his time as an actor, as did Arnold Schwarzenegger. It may have not helped them in some ways, but fame and name recognition surely did. There is even that Wisconsin US Rep who was on The Real World. (Though I suppose the relationship between fame and politics could be a whole other post. And she was already well-known, so she doesn't need more fame.) I don't know how Googoosha is regarded in her country, so that may not help. The music is in English, too, so could it be that it's more for an international audience, maybe an attempt to soften her image. Unless the fact that it's in English could be a status thing within her country, or a nod to her time spent in the US/abroad.
So, are there any politicians or relatives of politicians who you think should record an album? Should Paul Ryan record a P90X video? Does such a thing help or hurt a political figure, or does it depend on the content? Could pop culture like this be used for social influence, or even social control?
(no subject)
Date: 24/8/12 14:10 (UTC)Let me see...
We could call that one "Lasciatemi cantare! Bunga Bunga!"
"If You're Starving, Clap Clap Clap!"
"Asshole Riot"
...The title speaks for itself.
(no subject)
Date: 25/8/12 17:59 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 25/8/12 19:06 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 25/8/12 03:36 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 25/8/12 07:35 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 26/8/12 04:04 (UTC)