Can we talk seriously about t.A.T.u. for a moment?

Why don't we recognize the magnitude of what this project actually accomplished?

Back in the early 2000s, there was very little queer representation in mainstream pop. Yes, there were LGBTQ+ artists, but many were still closeted, or their music and image had to remain deliberately ambiguous and "palatable" to the general public.

Then t.A.T.u. came along — and suddenly, two teenage girls were kissing on television, singing about desire, forbidden love, alienation and being outsiders. Whether their relationship was real or manufactured almost became secondary: they brought queer imagery and themes into the mainstream in a way that was incredibly difficult to ignore.

Of course, there is a lot of baggage surrounding the project.

It was created and controlled by Ivan Shapovalov, whose methods and ideas were highly controversial. Lena and Yulia were not actually a lesbian couple, and Yulia herself has made some deeply problematic statements about gay men over the years. None of that should be erased or excused.

But why should acknowledging those things mean that we have to erase their artistic legacy?

Because honestly, the music holds up.

Their studio albums are surprisingly solid bodies of work. They worked with important producers and songwriters, experimented with different sounds, and — even if you completely remove the manufactured "lesbian" concept from the equation — t.A.T.u. was still an extremely strong pop project.

https://youtube.com/shorts/-K-_O1FXPw4?si=OsZVg7wV95UPZQi9

And their visual work deserves more recognition too.

Videos like "All About Us," "Lyudi Invalidy," and "White Robe" went far beyond simply selling a pop image. There was social commentary, violence, repression, religion, sexuality and alienation running through their visual universe.

I especially think Lyudi Invalidy deserves to be reconsidered as a conceptual album. There is something genuinely fascinating about the atmosphere and thematic consistency of that record.

So I would encourage people to go back and listen to t.A.T.u. without the baggage that the internet has attached to them over the years.

Put aside the manufactured relationship for a moment. Put aside the controversies. Listen to the songwriting, the production, the arrangements, the melodies, the lyrics and the sheer ambition of the project.

You might be surprised by how much of it still works.

And now, with the renewed interest generated by Heated Rivalry and their reunion, it feels like people are slowly remembering t.A.T.u. again.

Maybe it's time to do more than remember them as "those two Russian girls who kissed."

There was much more to t.A.T.u. than that.

Their music deserves to be heard again — and, perhaps, taken seriously again.

not gonna get us is lowkey the best song ever

Their discography is aging immaculately and lbr 200KM/HITWL is lowkey the best europop album of all time

It's a shame that there was so much mess around them because their music is amazing

this track >>>>>>>>>> everything else in the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_KdA3oPSZM

I adore t.A.T.u. and I agree with everything you said about their music... but can we not ignore how the "queer representation" in question was very much a male gaze fantasy using two underage girls? I'm sure it had a positive impact on many young lesbian girls, but it was never queer artists making LGBTQ music, but straight people using LGBTQ imagery for shock value, which is why they're almost always brought up negatively in regards to queer representation.

Let's all stream "Fly On The Wall" tho

because any conversation about their music gets derailed and the focus is shifted on their personal and political beliefs

this is the best song ever btw

I unabashedly shout along to MALCHIK GAY like monthly. They are seriously renowned…on my Spotify.

Thanks for highlighting the deserved duo!

(Also, the real answer to this question is because this forum became flooded with kids)

1 minute ago, OrbitNumber1 said:

I adore t.A.T.u. and I agree with everything you said about their music... but can we not ignore how the "queer representation" in question was very much a male gaze fantasy using two underage girls? I'm sure it had a positive impact on many young lesbian girls, but it was never queer artists making LGBTQ music, but straight people using LGBTQ imagery for shock value, which is why they're almost always brought up negatively in regards to queer representation.

Let's all stream "Fly On The Wall" tho

Number One on Itunes that year (2008).

Yulia wanted it as a single but management said no.

18 minutes ago, WhoWho said:

this track >>>>>>>>>> everything else in the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_KdA3oPSZM

We shout/Nich ya is so pure.. the 2003 version is even better

https://youtu.be/L-mClBcp7Q4?si=VjEt4eoM0eNu41vi

4 minutes ago, Pendulum said:

because any conversation about their music gets derailed and the focus is shifted on their personal and political beliefs

this is the best song ever btw

This and Klouny😍😍

https://youtu.be/kzNh6xr35GQ?si=UVyvil9Mfqgkh7ll

Whew this masterpiece

I'm not really a fan but this one is a bop

13 minutes ago, OrbitNumber1 said:

I adore t.A.T.u. and I agree with everything you said about their music... but can we not ignore how the "queer representation" in question was very much a male gaze fantasy using two underage girls? I'm sure it had a positive impact on many young lesbian girls, but it was never queer artists making LGBTQ music, but straight people using LGBTQ imagery for shock value, which is why they're almost always brought up negatively in regards to queer representation.

Let's all stream "Fly On The Wall" tho

Exactly. In the beginning, the project was clearly designed to be provocative and to appeal to the male gaze. However, the LGBT community embraced them with open arms. It was practically the only representation we had.

For the first time, a "forbidden" love, one that was openly rejected and persecuted by society, was being portrayed so explicitly in mainstream pop. Teenagers, and even children, were following them and identifying with what they represented.

6 minutes ago, Abracadabra said:

Whew this masterpiece

This one is really, really controversial. Especially their performance in Japan💀

i dont take art from homophobic people seriously

Their albums meant so much for me growing up! I felt some connection and representation to them as a bullied kid before I even came to terms with I was gay when I hit puberty. Not Gonna Get Us music video was such a powerful statement and video when it came on MTV

23 minutes ago, Pendulum said:

because any conversation about their music gets derailed and the focus is shifted on their personal and political beliefs

As it should. Yulia is a homophobe and Lena is a mealy mouthed fence sitter. Their music being good doesn't change that their image was all a sexualized facade for men to get off to, not queer representation. It's like saying lesbian porn is queer representation.

They were heavily manufactured, but boy did they make bops.

I'd say the reason we don't talk about them is to most of the world they were a one album wonder. I'd say they were my first faves, I remember my dad buying the 200kmp/h in the wrong lane CD. I also bought their DVD and the 'Not Gonna Get Us' maxi single off Amazon which had a really funny ATTS remix where there were orgasm sounds

18 minutes ago, Vixen Eyes said:

i dont take art from homophobic people seriously

Homophobic people?

Yulia was the only one who said something about not wanting his son to be gay (and let's face it, being LGBT in Russia is very dangerous).

Lena otherwise was always very supportive. So?

10000% ! I love them. The first Russian Album was so innovative and special for me as a child when I discovered it. Their music is in my yearly top 5 every year

(Can totally see the male gaze point tho, especially after seeing the hours long interview with Ksenia Sobchak)

23 minutes ago, Vanpy said:

This one is really, really controversial. Especially their performance in Japan💀

What's the tea on that? I don't really know anything other than it's a bop

1 minute ago, Mr. Stratus said:

They were heavily manufactured, but boy did they make bops.

I'd say the reason we don't talk about them is to most of the world they were a one album wonder. I'd say they were my first faves, I remember my dad buying the 200kmp/h in the wrong lane CD. I also bought their DVD and the 'Not Gonna Get Us' maxi single off Amazon which had a really funny ATTS remix where there were orgasm sounds

But they weren't one hit wonders. All about us was on the top of the charts in a lot of countries. Their former producer **** up all the connections with USA, that's why they didn't even promoted there in 2005 and onwards.

They were my favorite band in high school. I still listen to them pretty often. I found this background story about them and the project a few weeks ago which was an interesting read. A lot of details of their beginning and how they were derailed until their eventual dissolution.

https://dokumen.pub/tatu-story-reconstruction-of-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-most-controversial-pop-duo-of-the-2000s-1497327385-9781497327382.html

3 minutes ago, Abracadabra said:

What's the tea on that? I don't really know anything other than it's a bop

The producer obligated Yulia to "masturbate" live on the performance.

Besides, when the video was filmed she was really doing it, and was underage

16 minutes ago, Graffiti said:

As it should. Yulia is a homophobe and Lena is a mealy mouthed fence sitter. Their music being good doesn't change that their image was all a sexualized facade for men to get off to, not queer representation. It's like saying lesbian porn is queer representation.

We're talking about their art, not their beliefs. And let's face it, our favs aren't all saints at all.