Artificial nails have lost some of their social stigma. How this shows up in pop culture now.
Three observations:
1. pickin’ up a penny with a press-on
Dream Nails is a British riot grrrl band that released their second album in October 2023. In September, the writer Antonia Baum went to the nail salon with the Berlin rapper Wa22ermann for her “Zeit” column and reflected on the fact that artificial nails have lost some of their social stigma in recent years. ILoveMakonnen’s sixth album is called PINK NAILS. In his video for “Nails,” Saint Levant wears them painted white and raps: Former classmates would ask him for jobs today, but back then they despised his nails.
In August, a podcast excerpt went viral in which a German father influencer said that he had found a simple way to break patriarchal gender stereotypes: he painted his nails. When Christina Aguilera debuted her lube brand in April, she sported long, pink nails topped with vulva plastics. In her videos for “Lady Marmalade” (2001) and “Dirrty” (2002), Aguilera wore her nails short. After the Met Gala in 2023, not only the clothes of the marchers were discussed, but also their nails. Lil Nas
2. nails done, hair done, everything done
In 2021, Lorde sings “Stoned At Te Nail Salon” and Jack Harlow sings in 2022 from a nail salon that can keep its “nail tech” secrets to itself. “Nails” (2022) by the Israeli ESC winner Netta is about a guy who no longer interests her because she now loves her nails. Yes, I can’t stop looking at “herself” – i.e. her nails. Lines that perhaps make sense when you consider that you see your nails more often than your face – and what is perceived as “beautiful” is often an intentional alienation from the self.
Because of course people are always in want. In capitalism. It is better as a colorful product. In Noga Erez’s Missy Elliott feature “Nails” (2022), in addition to nail lyrics, there is also a nail beat that sounds similar to the rattle of a rattlesnake. You can see how it comes about in the Gen-Z-defining HBO series “Euphoria”: Maddy Perez accuses Cassie Howard of being “You dumb fucking bitch” and folds her hands, including long nails, together in a devastating “blabla” gesture that Becomes a poster and Tik Tok meme in 2022. Since the second season, “Euphoria” has hired a nail artist who reflects the moods of the protagonists in her nails.
3. cute from the cooch to my cuticle
The clear gesturing with long fingernails naturally comes – like almost everything that has ever become cool in pop – from the black community and from rap. Until 1993, says Bernadette Tompson, no one was particularly interested in nail design. But then the nail artist cut up real dollar bills to apply to Lil’Kim for the “Get Money” video. Criminal act! An excitement!
As a result, Tompson could hardly save himself from orders. In 2017, her Money manicure became part of MoMA’s “Companies That Influenced the 20th and 21st Century” exhibition. Nicki Minaj’s debut album PINK FRIDAY was released in November 2010. According to Google Trends, the local demand for nail salons has been increasing since 2011. But as recently as 2016, long nails were called “stripper nails” by the white Met Ball organizer “Vogue”. They were defended against their reputation, but only if they reached only slightly, just a tiny bit, beyond the fingertips…
This column first appeared in Musikexpress issue 12/2023.