Label boss Jimmy Iovine calls criticism 'a drag.'
By Gil Kaufman
<P>To look at her, you'd think <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/rey_lana_del/artist.jhtml"_blank">Lana Del Rey's</a> inspirations come mostly from 1940s detective movies and sepia-toned Hollywood pinups. But the "Video Games" singer told England's Magic 105.4 that one of her big fashion and music icons is Britney Spears. </P><P> </P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Lana Del Rey Says Her Lyrics 'Are Personal'" id="vid:724891.id:1677189" width="240" height="211"></div><p> </P><P> </P><P>"I'm not really interested in a ton of female musicians but there is something about Britney that compelled me — the way she sings and just the way she looks," Del Rey said. And even though she's just released her major-label debut under the Del Rey name, she added that she's already kind of over music-making. </P><P> </P><P>"The thing that makes me happy now isn't really singing," she said. "Music was once the be-all and end-all, but when you lose everything you have over and over again, it's not so important." </P><P> </P><P>It might be a bit early for her to bail on the whole music thing though, since her album, <I>Born to Die</I>, topped the iTunes album charts in 14 countries this week, including the U.S., U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Ireland and Mexico. </P><P> </P><P>The chart triumph — and a possible #2 debut next week on the <I>Billboard</i> albums tally — came despite a rash of negative or <a href="/news/articles/1678050/lana-del-rey-album-born-to-die-reviews.jhtml">middling reviews</a>
 of the album as well as the continuing fallout from her shaky <a href="/news/articles/1677389/lana-del-rey-snl.jhtml">"Saturday Night Live"</a>
 debut last month. </P><P> </P><P>The haterade has gotten her label boss, Interscope's Jimmy Iovine, to chime in on the flack his latest protégé has been taking. "It's a drag," Iovine told <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lana-del-rey-backlash-jimmy-iovine-286378" target="_blank"><I>The Hollywood Reporter</I></a>. "Maybe this is a new sport. It's something we've never seen before. Or maybe it's [like] the Giants and the Jets." Del Rey herself told <I>Rolling Stone</I> that she thought she looked "beautiful" and sang "fine" on the show, saying that "that's just the way I perform, and my fans know that." </P><P> </P><P>Say what you want about Del Rey's looks, attitude and performance ability, but Iovine said there is one thing you can't mess with. </P><P> </P><P>Musically, he thinks <I>Die</I> is "really good. Great lyrics and great songs. I don't care what anybody says, 'Video Games' is a great song. When she sings that song, it moves me. It's how we signed her — she sang and it was beautiful. I think she's really talented. Period."</p>
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