iamamiwhoami: Potential to reinvent pop

For those not yet acquainted with the mysterious new viral marketing campaign, iamamiwhoami, let me open with a brief primer.
Back in December, a YouTube user by the name iamamiwhoami posted an unusual, minutelong music video.

That first video, and the five following it, depict a woman covered in mud or black paint as she is surreally birthed into a snowy environment. She then begins interacting with her natural surroundings. Each video is soundtracked by a different piece of music utilizing synthesizers, drum machines and ghostly, distorted vocals.

Clearly, these videos are leading up to something. And, as the videos have accumulated more than 800,000 hits on YouTube, that something is generating a lot of interest.

Here's the catch: Three months into the campaign, no one knows who or what the videos are about. Much of the speculation points toward indie-centric artists like The Knife or Goldfrapp, while others speculate Lady Gaga, Trent Reznor or an unknown artist.
Of course, the dominant speculation points to someone bigger: Christina Aguilera.

Although Aguilera's publicist has roundly dismissed the pop diva's involvement in the campaign, rumors persist. Web sleuths have spent countless hours pouring over the five clips in search of clues — decoding the video's cryptic, numeric titles, comparing profiles, even analyzing teeth.

I'll admit, I find myself strangely taken with the idea that these radically bizarre videos could be the next phase in Aguilera's largely pedestrian career.

The question, then, is why? Why, despite the denials, are so many pop fans so invested in the idea that these videos are promoting Aguilera's upcoming album, Bionic?

Before we can begin to answer that question, we first need to consider the potential of Web 2.0 and viral videos.

Over the previous decade, pop artists have lost their mystique due to a glut of coverage and easy access to that information. In essence, pop stars have become too visible.

Viral videos, like iamamiwhoami, are effective as marketing tools, in part, because they are reintroducing a sense of mystery into pop music. Because we can't find out who iamamiwhoami is, the puzzle engages us with its radical possibilities.

This is why so many people want these videos to be Aguilera's — what possibility would be more radical than the complete transformation of a mainstream pop artist into an avant-garde visionary?
Then, there is the issue of pop music's stagnation.

If iamamiwhoami turns out to be Aguilera, the confluence of the provocative viral marketing and the pop star's complete and utter reinvention would be earth shattering; it would raise the bar for mainstream pop and push the entire genre toward new and exciting possibilities, the likes of which haven't been seen since The Beatle's traded in their boy band suits for studio experimentation.

Regardless of who or what iamamiwhoami is selling — and after video six, it's looking less and less like Aguilera — these videos are tapping into the overwhelming potential of pop's historical moment — a potential that might allow pop to reinvent itself as an engaging cultural force for our new decade.

James Brubaker is a doctoral student in creative writing and blogs about music at pomojukebox.blogspot.com.