Artists hiding their faces has been a recent trend that has gained massive popularity. Masking oneself was not a common thing for artists to do before online global spread.
Artists and bands like BoyWithUke, Daftpunk, Marshmello, Deadmau5 and The Residents have made their mark on popular culture with their renowned music and they do so without showing their faces.
Senior Lincoln Gisi is drawn by the curiosity of masked artists.. “Artists who do not show their face intrigue me more with their music as they can not show much personality besides their work. It becomes a puzzle of determining who the person between the songs might be,” Gisi said.
While masking could be deemed a poor self-marketing choice, many artists have made it work, drawing attention to their mysterious identities or capitalizing off their masks. Marshmello’s mask has become the symbol for their music and brand.
An artist’s popularity can change if they do choose to reveal their identity. However, this influence can be great in both a positive and negative way as it is viewed uniquely from each individual fan.
Artists like BoyWithUke have seen massive success with their “face reveals” as it has allowed him to be more personal in his music. His recent songs like “Migraines” and “Homesick” show a more personal and intimate side to BoyWithUke. These songs detail his experience with his rapid rise to stardom and the insecurities that it had previously brought him to not being able to express who he truly is.
Artists outside of music like social media influencers and content creators have also followed this trend, although not to as much of a success. These artists get put in the spotlight of ridicule and judgment due to their direct connection to social media.
Dream is the prime example of this treatment and has received endless backlash for months because of his open identity. This has led to him completely shutting his face from any of his social media and deleting his original face reveal video from YouTube.
It may be hard for other artists to achieve the same level of success from their unmasking as Boywithuke, but senior Steven Ly begs to differ on how masked artists are perceived. “I personally do not care about how artists look. I only really care about how their music sounds and I believe that is what draws people into them as listeners and fans” Ly said.
While it is debatable whether the anonymity of artists directly contributed to their success, it is clear that these medium visionaries will continue to enthrall their fans across the world. The people behind the art have the talent and skills to support their recognition.
