Will Yela's appearance hinder him from the mainstream?

[Francesco]

Possibly, although... there's been plenty of rock stars and musical stars from other genres with this kind of appearance... so I don't see why it truly would/should.
Initially - because his appearance doesn't conform, and because A&R presumes young girls only like clean shaven etc. (I think there's some evidence to support it which is why leading men often are etc.) - but a lot of Yela's fans are probably rock fans and a lot of rock fans cross over in to hip-hop, particularly with Em and probably now Yela, so he's pretty much appealing to his own demographic...
And, I'd imagine on some level it's him rebelling, perhaps subconsciously, I doubt he consciously sat and thought of doing it for this reason (though he may have) - rebelling against label execs and criticism aimed at Radioactive, having an appearance like he does now says he's his own man. A beard is a sign of masculinity and also not being clean shaven, drinking etc., it's like he's acting out, trying to separate himself from the clean and squeaky expectations and limitations of a major.

That's true but trashy looking rock stars hardly appeal to the mainstream & sell nowadays.
That was the idea of the so called New Rock actually...They still suppose to look rebel-ish but at the same time fresh & clean & most of it appealing for not just their core of fans but pretty much generally.

[Rafael]

And, I'd imagine on some level it's him rebelling, perhaps subconsciously, I doubt he consciously sat and thought of doing it for this reason (though he may have) - rebelling against label execs and criticism aimed at Radioactive, having an appearance like he does now says he's his own man. A beard is a sign of masculinity and also not being clean shaven, drinking etc., it's like he's acting out, trying to separate himself from the clean and squeaky expectations and limitations of a major.

I never thought of it that way. People kept saying Radioactive was sqeaky-clean pop music so afterwards he made himself as grimy as can be. That theory makes a lot of sense in a way.

No worries, I was drunk when I wrote the response. Lol what an awful comparisson with the transformera I did.

Lol I was hungover and grouchy when I wrote my response. When I got home from work I was like "Was I really that butthurt over it this morning? Wow..."