It feels like it’s been a lifetime since last we heard from Fergie. And indeed, her last solo album, The Duchess, launched eight years ago. With the single “LA Love,” Fergie doubles down on highlighting her Los Angeles roots with a visual feast of a video, featuring Chelsea Handler, Hilary Swank, DJ Mustard, Sevyn Streeter, Kelly Osbourne, among others.
The fashion is as much a star as the music with a list of labels that reads like a who’s who in street style, including Adidas Originals, Alexander Wang, The Blonds, Ashish, Dimepiece, Moschino and more.
The single is not bad, and yet one can’t help but wonder whether or not the the Duchess will be granted a second act. It’s never easy for pop stars once they settle down and have children to maintain popularity let alone return from a long break.
Plus, the music machine that spit out Fergie eight years ago feels completely different than the social media-fueled one that exists now. As well, the field Fergie once thrived in is now ruled by pop titans including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea, leading one to wonder if there is even room for another female whose lane more or less is empowered bad girl.
Thus far, critical reception of the single has been lukewarm. Fortunately for Ferg, one of the music industry changes since she was last on her grind is that opinion of music writers doesn’t much matter anymore. For this second act, the people will decide her fate.
