The “best version of yourself” trap: Quevedo’s physical change puts the spotlight back on bodies

Quevedo, the artist who in two years has become one of the biggest stars of Latin pop and one of the few Spaniards to dominate Spotify’s global charts, announced at the beginning of 2024 that he was going to take a break: “I haven’t stopped and I need a vacation. I thank you all, but don’t expect to see me on social media, I’m going to try to disconnect.” He’s still not on social media, but his return to the stage on June 29 at the Big Sound Festival in Valencia has sparked a debate that still continues. And all for extra-musical reasons.

The Madrid-born musician who has settled in the Canary Islands returned noticeably slimmer and more muscular, something he demonstrated by wearing a sleeveless T-shirt at the festival. Some people celebrate his biceps, while others lament that you have to have biceps to be celebrated. “Is Quevedo like this? Those shoulders? Those trapezius muscles? Those biceps?” wrote a Twitter user who renamed the performer as So beautiful.

Opposite those who applaud her new look are users who question the star’s motivations for losing weight, focusing on the demands of the entertainment industry and the scrutiny of the public. “Look, we are superficial, Quevedo’s body is in the spotlight. We can ask ourselves more interesting questions, such as: ‘Is she doing it for her health? Does she feel good about this change? Have she used any of these new drugs to lose weight?’ Let’s hope it’s voluntary!” said Pedro Soriano, a nurse and expert in health communication.

“I hope no one has led him to believe that his talent would increase by going to the gym and showing off a normative body; I hope he doesn’t internalize the ‘nothing is enough’ that is so common in the sector. I hope his mind is fine,” express a user on X. Another person He disagreed with his point of view: “This physical change denotes inner discipline. Why does it bother you so much that people get better? Why do you want everyone to be fatter and have health problems?” “Someone must have hurt him for him to have such a bad condition.” glow up“, said content creator Ceciarmy.

The reactions and comments are as natural as they are dangerous: Quevedo has hundreds of millions of listeners of his songs and all his movements interest a legion of fans, but it is bold to express assumptions about whether the physical change of any person responds to health issues, to tours and event schedules that require almost the resistance of an athlete or to pure vanity. Gema del Valle, director of communication for the record label Subterfuge Records and manager of artists such as Samantha Hudson, wants to believe that there is something of the latter and defends that the key for any artist is “to have physical and mental stability” to be able to deal with endless tours, a multitude of trips, setbacks and disappointments. “No matter how much you try to achieve an archetypal beauty, if you are not mentally strong enough to withstand all the pressure, stress, and frustration, you will be able to achieve it.” hate “From the networks, the criticism, the extreme exposure, the hoaxes, the uploads, the success, the failure, the frustration, the disappointments, the bouts of insecurity… neither diets nor stylists are of any use. No matter what you do, it will never be enough if you are not well,” she explains.

Quevedo’s physical change is just another one in the music world. David Bustamante has experienced several metamorphoses throughout his career, going from appearing on covers showing off his tablet to giving interviews talking about his weight changes. On a visit to The Anthill in 2021, confessed She said: “There are times when you don’t feel comfortable with yourself, and there is a reason for that. I always say that people don’t need to be told if they are fat or too thin (…) Everyone has mirrors at home. And when the time comes for each person, if they decide to make a decision, change and look for their best version, whatever that may be, you have to respect it.”

Another singer who on board A similar theme in his conversation with Pablo Motos that same year was Ed Sheeran. “I took my daughter to the gym and I would train while I watched her. That made me healthier, I started drinking more water and feeling better, clothes fit me better. People told me I looked better and younger,” he said. The Briton explained in other interviews that his bad habits in the past made his weight gain, but thanks to diet and exercise he managed to lose more than 20 kilos.

Calvin Harris has been at the top of Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid DJs for years. Some people may remember that when he released his first album in 2007, I Created Discowas a tall twenty-something, with a somewhat emo style and who used to wear sweatshirts, as seen in the video clip of Acceptable in the 80sA good haircut and many hours in the gym led him to be the face of an Emporio Armani campaign in 2015, in which he posed in his underwear.

Stars who started out in the music world at a very young age, like Justin Bieber and Nick Jonas, also experienced radical physical changes and very suggestive photos at certain points in their careers. When the youngest of the Jonas Brothers was seen in photos of himself on a boat that went viral in 2019, showing off a toned body with more than just beauty, many Internet users rushed to comment on social media that he had gained weight because his abs weren’t noticeable.

Music critic Odi O’Malley points out that there are many factors that can lead an artist to want to radically change their image (changes that are almost always aimed at satisfying the eye of the algorithm, which looks for muscles). “I think we tend to dramatize a lot with changes in physical appearance and understand that it implies that that person is going through a bad moment. One thing is thinness that does not look healthy and another is that someone reappears more athletic,” he says about Quevedo’s case. Stars of similar musical styles have boasted of their transformations on Instagram. For example, Nicky Jam shared a post in 2021 with the before and after of having lost 22 and a half kilos.

In 2023, Maluma brought back a photo from his past and compared it to others in which he shows a much more defined body. “I have also been in places and positions that were not very favorable, but the message here is that I decided to get out of there and become the best version of myself,” the Colombian wrote.

It’s clear that the “best version” that many singers talk about is a very specific version: the one that fits the canonical, gym-hardened beauty standard, attracts glances on red carpets, collaborations with brands and greater media presence. “Singers who don’t obey the rules of standard beauty lose out on potential advertising contracts, modeling contracts… In order to have higher earnings and a diversification of the income they get, they will be interested in meeting those canons of typical beauty,” O’Malley shares.

Del Valle adds that beauty and good styling are not the only ways to achieve certain goals in the industry, but also highlights the importance of attitude, speech and charisma. An attractive package is not everything: “It is true that there are cases of more or less ordinary artists who have reached the top with an exceptional physique and good styling, but those lies end up falling apart.” She remembers David Bowie: “He was beautiful, his looks They were incredible, his character changes became newsworthy events, his interviews were fantastic, he knew how to play with the press… but without those immortal songs he wrote we wouldn’t be talking about him now.”

It is also obvious that the image demands in the pop industry are not the same for men as for women. “We are more accustomed to women having a certain physique and having to maintain it at the same point,” says O’Malley, who cites veteran singers such as Madonna, Cher, Kylie Minogue or Marta Sánchez. “They are getting older and they have to comply with the aesthetics they have had historically. Men are still allowed not only to have a different body, but to grow older,” she stresses. On the other hand, the pop industry requires that pop artists evolve and present new versions of themselves, new styles, new characters, new musical eras. A new face, a new hairstyle and a new style every so often. But never older.

Del Valle comments on women: “It doesn’t matter if they are perfect, they will always receive comments about their physique… That is why it is important to be mentally strong in the face of criticism. Whatever you do, you are exposed.” O’Malley maintains that the pressure on image continues to affect female profiles more, although not all men are spared from judgments about their appearance: “There are people who may have it worse or who may have a perception that the public wants them to change and then they change. It happened to Sam Smith.” Smith spoke at the time about his physical insecurities and how his body dysmorphia led him to realize that he was a non-binary person. In addition, he admitted that he had gone so far as to go hungry during the weeks leading up to a photo shoot in which he had to pose in a T-shirt. Although he has reached a point in his career where he does not mind showing his body and wearing more daring outfits, his Instagram posts continue to receive numerous negative comments. Some demand a return to the ballad-like profile of yesteryear, others simply insult him for his physique.

O’Malley gives an example with name and surname when explaining the differences in expectations between them and them: “It is quite unthinkable that there is a female equivalent to Lewis Capaldi [para quien no lo conozca: no es un cantante precisamente delgado]. I would be very surprised if such a product worked, even in the same genre.” She also points out that most of the women who succeed in the world of pop have very similar profiles: “Now there is more of a movement body positive which allows different body types to sneak into the mainstream (…) But they still meet very basic standards of femininity and what is understood as beauty. They are still very hot, very made up and very pretty.” Artists like Lizzo remain exceptions. Other artists with a more rotund figure like Adele have lost weight. By the way, that has not spared her from criticism either. They will insult you if you gain weight, but they will also question you if you lose weight. Quevedo is proof.

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