Is Gaga sincere about her integrity? (Read or don't post pls)

[ARTPOPchamp 292]

"I refuse to compromise and allow my talents to be monetized to the point that I don't even wanna be here anymore. I will stop. I will stop, I will quit, I will retire from the commercial market if I have to do something other than be myself because if I can't be myself in this moment then everything I have said to my fans since the beginning would be a total lie."

This quote has always fascinated me and left me frowning.

It makes me think of Interscope editing her vocals on every album except Cheek to Cheek, MTV cancelling her first 2013 VMA performance, Gaga being criticized during the release of Applause because of her commercial tactics (fans having to buy Applause multiple times to win a meet & greet), Gaga admitting to hating releasing singles, not being able to decide what songs become singles or become album tracks,...

Also, in the same interview:

"There's many volumes of work over a long period of time that have just not been released to the public 'cause I've chosen not to put it into the system. (...) And yeah I have a whole second act of ARTPOP, I do, and I love it."

It's hard to harmonize the two quotes and Gaga's criticism of the industry on the one hand and her artistic output on the other.

I don't want to bash Gaga here, because I actually think that if she were free from the shackles of the music industry we'd see a whole other artist and she's not to blame for her inability to do whatever she wants now (actually I blame her fanbase more for that), but my question is: shouldn't she have retired from the commercial market a long time ago if she was actually serious about the quote at the top of this post?

When do you think Gaga will have had enough? What's the limit?

Do you think Gaga has and will change(d) herself for fame and profit and wasn't being sincere?

Do you think that Bobby and her new career era changed her mind?

What do you think would change if her fanbase stopped supporting Interscope's way of suppressing her as an artist?

Let's say she did retire, what would be your reaction?

Enough to discuss. Fire away & keep it nice.

I think the music industry and the fans are kind of holding her back, so many of the fans just want her to be that pop girl doing the same old pop music they approve of, same with the music industry, they want her to be the same THE FAME era girl releasing the same pop music over and over again. 

I do think Gaga has went back on things she has said, but it's because in the beginning she was young, people are allowed to change their views as they grow older. Gaga isn't that same 22 year old jaded by the industry that f*cked her over and dropped her and said her music wasn't good enough for their label. 

I really don't think the label is suppressing her as much as it's made out to be by fans, I think the label actually wants her to release music more quickly, but Gaga fights them on it because she doesn't want songs put out there that are halfassed and made for the mainstream. 

I think Troy was more music driven and viewed Gaga as just a musical artist, whereas Bobby  is more open to her exploring other avenues and focusing on them. But I also think that Bobby may be too open to allowing Gaga to do whatever she wants. 

More than anything a lot of the fans want music from Gaga, I'm one of them, her music is where she shines, to drop working on the new album, which Monsters are so looking forward to and are so excited about and really want new music because it's been so long since we heard Gaga in her pop/dance musical element, to focus on a one time appearance on Hotel is kind of disappointing to me. But if Gaga is more free to express her creativity acting and give more input into the storylines of the show, than she is in her music, that's good. 

[DrewStevens 5,249]

I think we are ignoring this part: to the point that I don't even wanna be here anymore.

She said on a interview with Tony that she didn't want to make music anymore but then Tony helped her to find herself again. So I think she did want to quit but Tony and probably other people helped her to hang in there and keep going forward.

And I don't think she ever felt like that before that time. She may have faced some criticism and her label may have forced her to do things she didn't want to do but she probably wasn't that mad about it.

So overall we can still take her quote seriously if we try to understand the situation.

[MonsterMum 2,532]

You guys forgot 3 things in this whole debate.

1: Interviews (bar the SXSW) are edited, they cut and paste answers to questions. Leave out certain things said but just 1 line which makes it super shady all of the sudden cause the context is missing etc.

Not saying this as an excuse but it happens all the time and plenty of artists are complaining about it more and more recently. Ouf of a 30 minute interview maybe 15 minutes are shown if lucky and ofc it has to be as juicy as possible in most cases, they all want a scoop and if they don't get one they'll make one.

2 Printed press is the same. You'll see artist speaking up about a supposed interview that in real life never even happened but it's a compilation of tweets added (for example) with a nice piece of "journalist freedom" to make it into a story. 

3: When you watch Gaga half way 2013 to end 2013 it's like a different person. Anyone that has used medication or are/have been depressed know that you are in a different mind set in or out of a depression. With or without meds. You gain or lose a filter, your views change even from one day to another and for the outside world it seems like you're being fickle but you can't help it. Even the reasons to why you make a 180 in certain ways are totally legit in your own head but since nobody can see your thoughts an outside will perceive it as being full of **** cause "last week you said something else".

[VforVendetta 2,024]

The thing with Gaga is that she hates and loves the commercial world at the same time. Also no matter how many statements she makes she would never leave the commercial music world cause Gaga for every comromise she makes she makes 3 artistic choices as well. 

Everyone in the commercial part of the music industry needs to make compromises but if you have control over your art like Gaga you can do many innovations as well.

Gaga as an artist is made for the commercial Pop world, leaving would be a much bigger compromise than all the compromises she does in Pop music. I find what she does more important, fighting inside the Pop world for artistic indegrity and every win she achieves means something. She doesn't have half the freedom she would have if she wasn't in the commercial part of the industry but her smaller freedom has much more weight now simply because it reaches much more people that would have otherwise ''eaten'' only the junkfood music of other lower quality Pop acts (that I won't mention here now).

[Thomas P 18,378]

like everyone else on this planet, she says things and doesn't really think about what might happen.

Remember when Britney said she would be a virgin till marriage!

[Kayla 7,595]

In this quote:

"I refuse to compromise and allow my talents to be monetized to the point that I don't even wanna be here anymore. I will stop. I will stop, I will quit, I will retire from the commercial market if I have to do something other than be myself because if I can't be myself in this moment then everything I have said to my fans since the beginning would be a total lie."

Notice that she says "to the point that I don't even wanna be here anymore." She's not against her talents being monetized, she's against them being monetized to an excessive level that compromises her artistic integrity.

I think Gaga has compromised in many situations, so complete adherence to what she says isn't something she's done. But that doesn't mean she lacks integrity. 

I also think she sees potential for change and she feels she has the ability to genuinely express herself enough to the point where she isn't being fake or lying to people. My thought is that if the music industry was so bad that she'd have to be insincere all the time she'd leave, but it's not at that point for her. 

 

It's kindof like...as an educator I do things that I don't personally approve of or support, but that doesn't make me any less genuine of a teacher. (Like I'm against standardized testing, at least for my student population, and I'll explain why all day every day, but I still help administer the tests  )

 

You're not wrong, Didy, but I also feel it's like going, "Oh, you're Vegan? But you put honey in your tea and you used glue made from animals so are you really?"

Sometimes people don't follow what they believe 100%. And that's okay. 

[Head Empty 22,637]

Gaga is so ambitious in wanting to change the industry for the better. But it's a matter of having to play by the rules in order to change them. As a modern day popstar, she's trapped in a machine, whether she likes it or not. During the ARTPOP era you could clearly see that she was no longer willing to do that. Whereas during TF+TFM she was cleverly trying to beat the industry at its own game, and even though she was following the plastic popstar mold she was slowly twisting and turning things around. During ARTPOP she was downright attacking the industry head on, and she bit off more than she (and her team) could chew at that time. Add to that a forceful and destructive management, and things are bound to get messy.

And we also have to remember: "You tell a lie over and over again, and fight for it untill the lie becomes a truth"

Gaga is a wishful thinker in that sense. Maybe she oversold herself at times, or was too bold in her statements. But it could simply be a matter of wanting things to be a certain way, and hoping that they become a reality by putting them out in the universe (like saying that Gypsy would 'definitely' get a video). Gaga wasn't in a good place at that point, but even barring the fact that she wasn't doing well mentally I'd think it's understandable that she was still trying to keep spirits up like that.

[Giorno Giovanna 3,178]

I agree, especially with 3

 

 

Gaga tries her best, she really does, she is a full blood artist so please trust in her

 

 

You guys forgot 3 things in this whole debate.

1: Interviews (bar the SXSW) are edited, they cut and paste answers to questions. Leave out certain things said but just 1 line which makes it super shady all of the sudden cause the context is missing etc.

Not saying this as an excuse but it happens all the time and plenty of artists are complaining about it more and more recently. Ouf of a 30 minute interview maybe 15 minutes are shown if lucky and ofc it has to be as juicy as possible in most cases, they all want a scoop and if they don't get one they'll make one.

2 Printed press is the same. You'll see artist speaking up about a supposed interview that in real life never even happened but it's a compilation of tweets added (for example) with a nice piece of "journalist freedom" to make it into a story. 

3: When you watch Gaga half way 2013 to end 2013 it's like a different person. Anyone that has used medication or are/have been depressed know that you are in a different mind set in or out of a depression. With or without meds. You gain or lose a filter, your views change even from one day to another and for the outside world it seems like you're being fickle but you can't help it. Even the reasons to why you make a 180 in certain ways are totally legit in your own head but since nobody can see your thoughts an outside will perceive it as being full of **** cause "last week you said something else".

[Kayla 7,595]

Gaga is so ambitious in wanting to change the industry for the better. But it's a matter of having to play by the rules in order to change them. As a modern day popstar, she's trapped in a machine, whether she likes it or not. During the ARTPOP era you could clearly see that she was no longer willing to do that. Whereas during TF+TFM she was cleverly trying to beat the industry at its own game, and even though she was following the plastic popstar mold she was slowly twisting and turning things around. During ARTPOP she was downright attacking the industry head on, and she bit off more than she (and her team) could chew at that time. Add to that a forceful and destructive management, and things are bound to get messy.

And we also have to remember: "You tell a lie over and over again, and fight for it untill the lie becomes a truth"

Gaga is a wishful thinker in that sense. Maybe she oversold herself at times, or was too bold in her statements. But it could simply be a matter of wanting things to be a certain way, and hoping that they become a reality by putting them out in the universe (like saying that Gypsy would 'definitely' get a video). Gaga wasn't in a good place at that point, but even barring the fact that she wasn't doing well mentally I'd think it's understandable that she was still trying to keep spirits up like that.

This so much.

Gaga played the game and beat it earlier in her career, and then I think maintaining that became hard. She parodied the Pop Star for a couple years, then realized she wanted to bring who she really is to the forefront more, and the more she did that the harder it became to beat the industry at its own game. She essentially made herself more vulnerable.

Before, if people attacked her they would be attacking Gaga- The Pop Star. Now, if people attack her, they're criticizing Gaga- The Person. It takes a stronger toll on her now. 

 

[Bradley 55,163]

Her words are not 100% factual for sure, but they to some extent indicate what she has in her mind. Sometimes circumstances just do not permit her to follow what she wants, you might regard this as an excuse but I think she's been sticking to her quote as much as she could. It would be absurd to really retire from the industry or like at the 2013 MTV VMAs, withdraw the entire performance just because MTV didn't allow her to perform the original concept, this would be ludicrous.

So I think her words to some extent have some value, but you gotta filter them and not take them word by word too strictly. She's sticking to her integrity/artistry as much as she could but equally she would compromise a little bit. 

[Stephen 29,446]

When will you guys learn that every person changes their mind every once in a while? She's also said that she doesn't like sleeping with random men, because she's afraid of them stealing her artistic visions from her vagina

She was damn depressed by that time and I know for sure that depressed people never recover themselves completely. They could have ups and downs all the time... So:

She was so angry during that interview. She said so many times that she hates how pop music is manufactured, but she NEEDS pop music in order to have fame. Why don't you quote that too?

 

lmaoo i love that vagina quote

 

[elijahfan 23,595]

Life isn't always black or white - sometimes, you need to compromise.

I'm fairly sure Gaga still has enough freedom for it all to be worth it. You can't really sacrifice everything you've worked for at the first bump in the road. I'm sure she's sincere in her feelings, but life doesn't always allow you to do whatever you want to do - would you rather have her fight or surrender?

[elijahfan 23,595]

We also need to keep in mind the context in which this quote was taken. I think her label, manager or whatever were giving her a hard time and that it was her way of subtly threatening them. Like, "if you keep on telling me what to do, you'll just end up losing me altogether".

And she ended up firing Troy. Don't you think this radical action clearly mirrors her feelings expressed in the quote in the OP?

[Kayla 7,595]

Also, consider things in context of where/how she's expressing these feelings and sides of herself. Gaga's work occupies a variety of spaces. Spaces within the fashion community, art community, radio, television, music industry, Pop world, Jazz world, movies, newspapers, magazines, etc. 

Gaga showing herself in one form in one of those areas doesn't necessarily void out how she shows herself in another area. 

Subdued and more GP-accessible Gaga can't be called ungenuine (is that a word? ) just because we've also seen uninhibited and experimental Gaga.

The Gaga who gets vomited on is the same person who dedicates a compassionate song to a fan. The Gaga who stage dives in nipple pasties is the same woman who nails a Jazz solo in a glamorous dress. The Gaga who speaks out against industry greed is the same person who occasionally compromises her vision to make it in that industry. Both of ends of every spectrum Gaga exists on are valid and genuine, albeit contradictory. But that's what I like about Gaga- she can inhabit a variety of spaces and make her expression come out honest while still adhering to the "rules" of each space. 

She knows the rules enough to break them, and she breaks them cleverly. Sometimes you have to give a little to take a lot. 

[Saint Laurent 4,862]

You're missing the point. She is talking about not compromising the ART.

Therefore, I don't think she cares about what singles they choose to release etc.

As for cancelled performances, we don't know what actually happened all we have is heresay so I believe what she has said.