Lana Del Rey’s massive popularity can be explained by many factors. She has a sexy and evocative voice; she immerses her listeners in a world of vivid and roiling emotion; she occupies her own artistic lane, mixing baroque pop, torch songs, hip-hop beats, and different strands of rock into a style that’s distinct in mainstream music.
She’s a rock star who takes the rock-star project seriously. Her retro, shapeshifting persona is built on iconography and ideas that range from Roaring Twenties…