If you watched the AMAs this year, then you would have seen Blake introduce Gwen to perform a medley to mark the 20-year anniversary of her hit album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
As Blake said in the telecast, “Tonight, she’s celebrating the 20th anniversary of her AMA win by performing two of her biggest hits and her biggest hit. Let’s hear it for my one and only, the one and only, Gwen Stefani!”
However, if you thought this was live, you’d be wrong. TikToks from attendees of the awards show itself showed that the segment had been prerecorded and then shown on screens at the awards venue. The same was true of Blake’s performance.
Blake evidently caught wind of the chatter, because he took to X to write, “Just now seeing these stories about Gwen and I pretaping our performances for the AMA’s. We came and performed when the show asked us to.. Really nothing else to say.” Gwen then retwee— sorry, shared the post.
It’s certainly interesting stuff from a man who previously posted “‘Stay Country Or Die Tryin” LIVE from the @AMAs” with a link to his flag-themed performance.
None of this answers my question, which is: Why is Gwen singing “Hollaback Girl” in a Southern accent?
I am aware that Gwen has released country singles in recent years, and it’s not uncommon for artists to reimagine their previous hits in the tone of their new projects (though Gwen has denied that her latest album is a country record). But this is just the same song with a country accent slapped on top. Gwen is from California. I have lived in the US for seven years, and moments like this make me question everything (one of my coworkers thinks she sounds the same, but I have a solid two in my corner).
After a quick consultation of the internet, I can prove that there are dozens of us! Dozens!
It’s hard not to view this change in aesthetic from Mrs “I’m Japanese” as yet another symptom of pop culture’s shift towards the right. Gwen’s caught some heat for it before — two months ago, she hyped up an “enlightening intelligent beautiful interview” of Jonathan Roumie on Tucker Carlson.
Well, the clip is here if you want to hear for yourself.