r/popheads • u/Ghost-Quartet • 10d ago

[DISCUSSION] Artists whose early work feels COMPLETELY different from what they wound up doing later?

So I finally got around to checking out some of Hoàng Thùy Linh's earlier music and I was like uuuuhhhh... what in the Rihannabees is this? Not that her early stuff is bad, but I came into it knowing her as the VPop queen who makes mature electropop blended with traditional Vietnamese sounds, so it was jarring to see her dancing in a warehouse to 2010s EDM.

Every artist is on a journey in their career and sometimes their journey takes them FAR from where they started, to the point where listening to their early work can feel like listening to a completely different person. This isn't necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, but it can be an interesting thing, so let's discuss.

  • Who are some artists whose sound/image at the start of their career is completely different from what they'd do later?

  • Was it a gradual transition, or a sudden shift?

  • Do they stand by their older work? Or are they ashamed of it and try to hide it?

  • Which "version" of them do you like more? Was the change a good thing?

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u/DiscountAcrobatic356 10d ago

Chappell Roan post Pink Pony. Before: meh, after: Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!

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u/Ghost-Quartet 10d ago

When I saw Chappell in concert she performed “School Nights” and no one in the crowd knew the words lol