在 2000 年代初期充滿敵意的音樂產業的包圍下，Karen O 接受了寶貴的建議，選擇扮演「婊子」的角色。她認為這個建議是自尊，幫助她應付要求順從和適銷對路的環境。透過維護自己的代理權並拒絕妥協自己的藝術視野，Karen O 成為其他尋求開闢自己道路的女性音樂家的榜樣。

(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Stills / Sorrell Schneider)

Karen O is an idol to so many. Artists like Beabadoobee and Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner are two of a whole class of musicians that hold the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ singer up as a role model and vital force helping to carve out space for women in indie. For the musician herself, so much of that comes back to one token piece of wisdom handed to her.

（來源：Far Out / YouTube Stills / Sorrell Schneider）音樂» 來自Vault “做個婊子”：Karen O 收到的最好建議Lucy Harbron 2024 年4 月15 日星期一2:00，英國Karen O 是很多人的偶像。 Beabadoobee 和 Japanese Breakfast 的 Michelle Zauner 等藝術家是整個音樂階層中的兩位，他們將 Yeah Yeah Yeahs 的歌手視為榜樣和重要力量，幫助獨立音樂中的女性開拓空間。對音樂家本人來說，這很大程度取決於她所得到的一件象徵性的智慧。

“‘Karen, you need to be more of a bitch.’” That was the advice a young Karen O received right back at the start of her career that has steered her right. She calls it “The best advice I ever got,” deeming the simple and sharp one-liner as a kind of saviour.

「『凱倫，你需要變得更加婊子。』」這是年輕的凱倫·奧在職業生涯剛開始時收到的建議，引導她走向正確的方向。她稱其為“我得到的最好的建議”，並將簡單而尖銳的俏皮話視為一種救世主。

It feels silly and tokenistic. Or even in maybe ways, it feels counterintuitive. Should anyone ever be instructed to be less friendly or approachable? We’re always told over and over that your reputation is a vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to your success. Patti Smith’s biggest piece of advice rings true here, as she instructed her fans and followers to “build a good name”, stating that over time, your name and the well-respected light of your nature will become a “currency”. To Smith, kindness, work ethic and being liked will reward you.

感覺很愚蠢而且象徵性的。或甚至在某些方面，這感覺是違反直覺的。是否應該指示任何人變得不那麼友善或平易近人？我們總是一遍又一遍地告知，聲譽對於您的成功至關重要。帕蒂·史密斯（Patti Smith）最大的建議在這裡是正確的，她指示她的粉絲和追隨者“建立一個好名字”，並指出隨著時間的推移，你的名字和你本性中受人尊敬的光芒將成為一種「貨幣」。對史密斯來說，善良、職業道德和被喜歡會獎勵你。

But that advice doesn’t translate so well when placed into a largely hostile environment. Smith came up in the late 1960s scene at the Chelsea Hotel where collaboration, sharing and caring for each other were highly valued things as artists all seemed to really look out for each other. Even though the Horses singer obviously still faced the issues and inequalities that came from being a woman in music, she broke through at a time that was truly built on openness and love for one another.

但當置於一個充滿敵意的環境時，這個建議就不太適用了。史密斯出現在 20 世紀 60 年代末切爾西酒店的場景中，那裡的合作、分享和互相關心是高度重視的事情，因為藝術家們似乎都真正互相照顧。儘管這位馬歌手顯然仍然面臨著作為音樂女性所帶來的問題和不平等，但她在一個真正建立在開放和彼此相愛的時代取得了突破。

The early 2000s in New York City was a very different landscape from that. While we’d all like to think that all inequalities and injustices get better with time, that often isn’t true in unsuspecting and subtle ways. While the new millennium should have been a bright new step into the future, the blossoming indie scene at the time was overrun by testosterone. On the level above that, the music industry as a whole was overrun by the sexualisation and commodification of women as pop stars ruled the roost and record labels seemed to demand all female artists be easily sold and marketable. It was a time when desirability made a star. In the era of MTV and the start of the digital age, the time that birthed Karen O was very different from the times that came before. They required a protective prickliness.

2000 年代初期的紐約市的景象與那時截然不同。雖然我們都希望隨著時間的推移，所有不平等和不公現像都會得到改善，但事實往往並非如此。雖然新千年應該是邁向未來的光明新一步，但當時蓬勃發展的獨立音樂界卻被睪固酮淹沒了。在更高的層面上，整個音樂產業被女性的性化和商品化所淹沒，流行歌星佔據主導地位，唱片公司似乎要求所有女性藝術家都能輕鬆出售和銷路。那是一個慾望造就明星的時代。在MTV時代和數位時代的開始，Karen O誕生的時代與之前的時代有很大不同。他們需要一種保護性的刺痛。

To Karen O, that piece of advice has a clear and productive meaning. She explains, “You have to look up when you feel like someone’s pushing you in a direction that you feel not comfortable in going.” For her, the move to be more of a bitch isn’t one to become nasty or hard to work with. Instead, she said it’s “more self-respect to a certain degree.”

對 Karen O 來說，這項建議具有明確且有成效的意義。她解釋說：“當你感覺到有人在把你推向一個你感覺不舒服的方向時，你必須抬起頭來。”對她來說，變得更加「潑婦」並不意味著變得令人討厭或難以共事。相反，她說這是「在某種程度上更多的自尊」。

The need to hold that self-respect harder and more rigidly came directly from the scene and time she came up in. As digital music became a thing and it became harder and harder for bands to gain and keep attention, more pressure was put on the musicians themselves to make their art sellable. Especially for female artists, record labels became desperate to mould and rearrange their stars into something easily consumed and understood.

更嚴格、更嚴格地保持自尊的需要直接來自於她出現的場景和時間。他們的藝術可以出售。特別是對於女性藝術家來說，唱片公司迫切希望將她們的明星塑造和重新排列成易於消費和理解的東西。

Karen O always refused that. Instead, she’s marched down her own path to the beat of her own drum, letting that advice and her gut lead and blocking out the other voices. “You usually hear ‘if you don’t do this, then you’re gonna mess this up for yourself,’” she said of outside pressures. “Generally, that’s not true. Not a single time have I ever regretted saying no to something that felt wrong.”

凱倫·奧總是拒絕這一點。相反，她按照自己的步調走自己的路，讓建議和直覺引導，排除其他聲音。 “你通常會聽到‘如果你不這樣做，那麼你就會把事情搞砸’，”她在談到外部壓力時說道。 「一般來說，這不是真的。我從來沒有後悔對感覺​​不對的事情說不。

Being a bitch is simply having the inner strength and the guts to speak up to that, say no and keep doing what you’re doing. For the musician, this philosophy is the only way to protect yourself and what people want from you: your music. “As an artist, you have to protect your gift because it’s a precious thing,” she said, explaining that bitchiness is a way to maintain agency, “If you say no when you need to say no and yes when you need to say yes, you’re carving a path for yourself as an artist that does their art on their own terms.”

成為一個婊子只是擁有內在的力量和勇氣去說出來，說不並繼續做你正在做的事情。對音樂家來說，這種哲學是保護自己和人們想要從你身上得到的東西的唯一方法：你的音樂。 「作為一名藝術家，你必須保護你的天賦，因為它是一件珍貴的東西，」她說，並解釋說，惡毒是維持代理權的一種方式，「如果你在需要說不的時候說不，而在你需要說是的時候說是， ，作為一名藝術家，你正在為自己開闢一條道路，按照自己的方式進行藝術創作。

It’s sage wisdom, really. Maybe we should all be more of a bitch.

這確實是聖人的智慧。也許我們都應該更像個婊子。

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