Miquela Explained

Miquela
Origin:Los Angeles, California, United States
Instrument:vocals
Years Active:2016–present
Label:Brud Records
Miquela Sousa, also called Lil Miquela, or known mononymously by the stage name Miquela, is a fictional American character, singer and social media personality created by Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou.[1] The character was created as a 20-year-old girl of Brazilian-American heritage. The character began in 2016 as an Instagram profile that details a fictional narrative which presents Miquela as a CGI character and model in conflict with other digital projects while marketing a variety of brands, primarily in fashion.[2] Miquela has been featured in product endorsements for streetwear and luxury brands such as Calvin Klein and Prada. The account gained more than a million followers within its first two years.[3]

Origins and career

The fictional character is a teenage Instagram model from Downey, California.[4] Her first Instagram post was made on April 23, 2016. British model Emily Bador was rumored to be Miquela; Bador has denied managing the account but openly acknowledged the physical similarity between herself and the character.[5] In April 2018, a second, similar character known as Bermuda "hacked" into the Miquela account, deleted all photos of Miquela and replaced them with photos of the Bermuda character. Miquela and Bermuda were then revealed to both be characters created by Brud, a Los Angeles-based startup led by McFedries and Decou.[6]

The character has been pictured with a number of celebrities including Diplo,[7] Molly Soda,[8] Millie Bobby Brown,[9] Nile Rodgers,[10] Samantha Urbani,[11] 50 Cent, Tracee Ellis Ross and Pabllo Vittar.[12] She has been interviewed in a number of publications including Refinery29,[13] Vogue,[14] BuzzFeed,[15] Nylon,[16] The Guardian,[17] Business of Fashion,[18] and The Cut. She appeared on the cover of Highsnobiety in April 2018.[19] She has also been featured in the magazines Paper and V.[20] [21] During 2019 Coachella, Miquela interviewed Colombian singer J Balvin, and took a picture with Spanish singer Rosalía.[22] [23]

In 2020, Miquela "consciously uncoupled" from her "human" boyfriend as a part of the storyline.

Fashion collaborations

In February 2018, the character did an Instagram takeover for Prada as part of Milan Fashion Week.[24] On May 16, she did a Calvin Klein ad with Bella Hadid, in which both were animated, in addition to a collaboration with Samsung.[25] [26] That year, Miquela was hired as a contributing arts editor to the magazine Dazed.[27] In 2020, Miquela became the first digital avatar to sign with a talent agency when a contract was signed with CAA—becoming its first virtual client.[28] [29] It was discovered at the time that Miquela had previously been represented by WME.

Controversies

After Miquela appeared on a Calvin Klein commercial kissing the real celebrity Bella Hadid in May 2019, they received backlash after kissing in the video, being accused of using their sexuality to artificially increase their views.[25] In December 2019, the fictional character described "her" sexual assault on YouTube.[30] [31] American singer Kehlani called out Miquela on Twitter for being "ignorantly offensive".[32] This aspect of her backstory positioned the Miquela character as a social justice activist, which generated criticism given her use as a marketing tool.[33]

Discography

Singles

TitleYearAlbum
"Not Mine"2017rowspan="14"
"Over You"
"You Should Be Alone"2018
"Hate Me "
"Right Back"2019
"Sleeping In"
"Money"
"Wasted"
"Automatic"
"Speak Up"2020
"Machine "
"#MiquelaCovers"
"Hard Feelings"
"Masterpiece"2022

Guest appearances

Music career

Trevor McFedries, a cofounder of Brud, is a music producer and DJed known as Yung Skeeter.[1] The use of Miquela as a virtual musician has been compared to Gorillaz and Hatsune Miku.[4] In August 2017, Miquela released its first single, "Not Mine".[34] The Miquela character has released several singles since its debut with "Not Mine", including "You Should be Alone", "Over You", "Right Back", and a collaboration with Baauer titled "Hate Me". It released two new singles on July 31 called "Money" and "Sleeping In".

Social impact

In June 2018, Miquela was named one of Time’s 25 Most Influential People on the Internet along with fellow fashion peers DietPrada (duo composed of Lindsey Schuyler and Tony Liu) and celebrated musicians Rihanna and BTS.[35]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Petrarca . Emilia . Lil Miquela's Body Con Job . The Cut . 10 November 2019 . en-us . 11 May 2018.
  2. News: Koh. Yoree. Wells. Georgia. 13 December 2018. The Making of a Computer-Generated Influencer. WSJ. 8 November 2019.
  3. News: Instagram's Latest 'It' Model Is Confusing The Hell Out Of Everyone. 2016-09-02. The Huffington Post. 2017-02-23.
  4. 13 September 2017. Virtual It-Singer Miquela Says 'Controversy Doesn't Mean Anything': Interview. Billboard. 2017-12-17.
  5. Web site: Foiret. Cyril. 2019-01-23. The New Trend of 3D Avatars are taking over Instagram. 2019-05-30. Trendland. en-US.
  6. Web site: Shieber . Jonathan . The makers of the virtual influencer, Lil Miquela, snag real money from Silicon Valley . TechCrunch . 10 November 2019 . 24 April 2018.
  7. Web site: Kulp . Patrick . 2018-10-05 . Computer-Generated Influencer Calls Out Her Haters in New Music Video . 2023-09-07 . www.adweek.com . en-US.
  8. Web site: 2018-05-08 . Lil Miquela: Confusing the hell out of everyone . 2023-09-07 . HS Insider . en-US.
  9. Web site: Phillips . Hedy . 2020-12-10 . Miquela . 2023-09-07 . Euphoria. Magazine . en-US.
  10. Web site: Staff . Wonderland . 2018-06-27 . Lil Miquela Wonderland Magazine . 2023-09-07 . Wonderland . en-GB.
  11. Web site: JONES . DAISY . 2018-04-05 . Meet Miquela: An Instagram Model With 800k Followers – & No Soul . 2023-09-07 . www.refinery29.com . en-GB.
  12. Web site: 2020-10-29 . Pabllo Vittar posa com influencer virtual Miquela Sousa . 2023-09-07 . Glamour . pt-br.
  13. Web site: Jones . Daisy . 10 April 2018 . Why We Follow Lil Miquela, The Instagram Model With 900K Followers & No Soul . Refinery29.
  14. Web site: Chang . Eric . 17 August 2017 . @lilmiquela Is a Social Media Superstar With a Brand New Single—She's Also a Digital Simulation . Vogue.
  15. Web site: Widdoes . Adriana . 27 April 2018 . Is Virtual Instagram Star Lil Miquela Magic, Or Just Marketing? . BuzzFeed News.
  16. Web site: Yashari . Leora . 29 January 2018 . Lil Miquela Is a Virtual Artist Who Is Blurring the Boundaries of Identity . Nylon.
  17. Web site: Marriott . Hannah . 27 February 2018 . Miquela the 'cyborg' and handbag drones – Milan fashion week's weird vision of the future . The Guardian.
  18. Web site: Morency . Christopher . 5 February 2018 . Meet Fashion's First Computer-Generated Influencer . The Business of Fashion.
  19. Web site: Eror . Aleks . 2 May 2018 . Lil Miquela: the AI Star on the Cover of Highsnobiety Issue 16 . 28 January 2021 . Highsnobiety.
  20. Web site: Weiss. Alex. 5 December 2017. Lil Miquela: (Cyber) Girl of the 21st Century. PAPER.
  21. Web site: Mischianti. Lisa. 8 March 2018. Lil Miquela Is the Face of New Age Logomania. V Magazine.
  22. Web site: 2019-04-15 . CGI Influencer Lil Miquela Just Interviewed J Balvin at Coachella . 2023-09-07 . Hypebae.
  23. Web site: 2019-04-17 . Rosalía hace una nueva amiga en Coachella: Lil Miquela . 2023-09-07 . Harper's BAZAAR . es-ES.
  24. News: Marriott . Hannah . 2018-02-27 . Miquela the 'cyborg' and handbag drones – Milan fashion week's weird vision of the future . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-09-07 . 0261-3077.
  25. Web site: Petrarca . Emilia . 2019-05-20 . Calvin Klein Apologizes for Bella Hadid and Lil Miquela Campaign . 2023-09-07 . The Cut . en-us.
  26. Web site: Pantaleon . Katerin . 2019-07-16 . Lil Miquela Joins Steve Aoki, Millie Bobby Brown and Ninja in New Samsung Global Campaign . 2023-09-07 . Branding in Asia . en-US.
  27. Web site: Singh-Kurtz . Sangeeta . 2018-10-16 . A hip online magazine hired a CGI "it girl" as its contributing arts editor . 2023-09-07 . Quartz . en.
  28. Web site: Spangler . Todd . 2020-05-06 . Miquela, the Uncanny CGI Virtual Influencer, Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE) . 2023-09-07 . Variety . en-US.
  29. Web site: 2020-05-11 . Lil Miquela Becomes First CGI Influencer to Sign With CAA . 2023-09-07 . Hypebae.
  30. Web site: Virtual influencer Lil Miquela criticised for "ignorant" sexual assault vlog . 2023-09-07 . PopBuzz . en.
  31. Web site: Wakefield . Lily . 2019-12-16 . A CGI and completely fake influencer claims she was 'sexually assaulted' and people are well and truly p****d . 2023-09-07 . PinkNews . en-US.
  32. Web site: Song . Sandra . 2019-12-14 . Lil Miquela Criticized For 'Sexual Assault' Vlog . 2023-09-07 . Paper Magazine.
  33. Web site: Clein. Emmeline. 28 June 2019. Branding Fake Justice for Generation Z. 10 November 2019. The Nation. 10 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191110171152/https://www.thenation.com/article/social-justice-cgi-advertising-brud/. dead.
  34. Stutz. Colin. 11 August 2017. Virtual Singer & Internet Star Miquela Shares Debut Single 'Not Mine'. Billboard. 2017-11-05.
  35. 28 June 2018. Meet This Year's 25 Most Influential People on the Internet. 2020-12-17. Time.

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