Is Gaga still a gay niche artist?

[NewYorkCity 10,462]

That's just a label. As soon as she releases a massive song and radio eats it up... everyone will like her.

Look at 'the teenage girls idol' Justin Bieber. He released bops and... bam. Everyone hated him just 1.5 years ago lol

[Kanye West 1,676]

She never was?

[fede ARTPOP 5,815]

I think she wanted to be a Gay icon

 

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

Cheek to Cheek, her Sound of Music tribute at the Oscars, all of her legendary tributes actually, Till It Happens To You, and her magnanimous Super Bowl performance has proven that Gaga has no niche. Not that she ever did.

Put differently, Gaga's niche is humanity.

She appeals to 18 year old gays as much as 80 year old grannies, left-wing art freaks and far right neo-cons and everything and everyone in between.

This time round the hesitant straight male has no choice but to submit to Gaga. She's got the whole spectrum covered #nicheless

[Ronk 14,092]

27 minutes ago, Lord Temptation said:

Cheek to Cheek, her Sound of Music tribute at the Oscars, all of her legendary tributes actually, Till It Happens To You, and her magnanimous Super Bowl performance has proven that Gaga has no niche. Not that she ever did.

Put differently, Gaga's niche is humanity.

She appeals to 18 year old gays as much as 80 year old grannies, left-wing art freaks and far right neo-cons and everything and everyone in between.

This time round the hesitant straight male has no choice but to submit to Gaga. She's got the whole spectrum covered #nicheless

That's how I feel:  Gaga has no niche.

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

7 minutes ago, Ronk said:

That's how I feel:  Gaga has no niche.

I'm feeling you too 

[Ethan 2,051]

Me thinks going down in the history of the likes of Lisa Minelli and Maddona VS Marylin Monroe is much more iconic one. You'll all see. 

[Bradley 55,140]

10 hours ago, Weasel said:

How on earth does Katy appeal to the average straight man. I highly doubt they have teenage dream on their phone 

Boobs? She might appeal to teenage girls more but she's not a gay icon like Gaga is, there are still straight men who low key bop to her.

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

Yup...BTW burned that into the GP's mind and even with some years having gone by...that was a very strong era visually and message wise that couldn't be ignored and for the gays it worked in her favor but isolated the rest of the world

[Bradley 55,140]

11 hours ago, Foxy said:

I'm a living proof   Plus, I know a lot of fellow straight guys who listen to her, though they consider her more of a guilty pleasure   My gym buds have Judas, Applause, and Bad Romance on their workout playlist because they think it's energetic. Though the gay icon that has been written in Gaga's reputation seems very difficult to brush off, so I think it's a 50/50. 

Those straight buddies you have slay.  Breed them!

[Bradley 55,140]

12 hours ago, Didymus said:

Not really comfortable with taking terms like "gay niche" for granted The perception that she's an artist that's gay or to be enjoyed by "the gays" is something else.

I think that image actually was constructed mostly in 2010 (not 2011 like many pretend) when she basically talked about "gay stuff" in every single interview. Plus, statements like "gay men understand me because they get my aesthetic" didn't help

I think that reputation was never that overpowering though. I think more people associate her with bad music (though her talent is definitely getting more and more attention) and "theatrics" than some gayness. I think a lot of people think she's talented but just don't like her music, which is why they don't get pulled in completely. But that's not the same thing as being in a gay niche.

The thing is people are unwilling to talk about her music in the first place, even if they listen to her music. I've had discussions about Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Rihanna, etc. with my straight friends but very seldom Gaga. Tbh, I haven't heard any friends who deem Gaga's music to be bad, they're just not in the habit of talking about her. I think a major factor that contributed to that is her strong association with gay people. Her name is feminine itself 'LADY Gaga', sounds like a drag queen's name tbh.

Though I've always found her name to be very threatening, she sounds like a noblewoman with that name. 

[Bradley 55,140]

11 hours ago, AlexanderLevi2 said:

I don't know where you guys are from but if any guy ordered tickets to a Katy Perry or Rihanna concert and was not going to them with a girlfriend, he's automatically assumed gay  

not that I agree with it but that's how it seems to be

Katy maybe but Rihanna is pretty dope even for straight dudes imo.

[Bradley 55,140]

11 hours ago, Foxy said:

That's like saying she has to become basic for her to appeal the straight community. 

Well, at least that's how some members see it. Honestly, anything that isn't Gaga is basic to this fanbase  

She's done it with Applause, DWUW, and JnD (im fully aware with what i just said  ) . I'm pretty sure she can do it again, she just needs the proper delivery this time. A Roar-sized hit.  

ARTPOP was appealing to the GP (to some extent) imo, the thing she lacked was good promotion.

Btw, people often associate GP appealing with 'generic' and 'basic'. That's not always the case. Uptown Funk was quality music yet it was appealing, so was Hello.

[Bradley 55,140]

11 hours ago, Didymus said:

I don't deny that the image that was created (by Gaga, the fans themselves and the media) of Gaga's fanbase (basically a bunch of gays dressed up in police tape) probably alienated a lot of listeners, but I don't think that would have had much effect if people still felt fascinated by her actual work, which was undoubtedly the case from 2008 to 2009 despite her style being more "gay friendly" whatever that means. I always look at her V Festival and Glastonbury video's to remind myself that there was a huge mainstream, mixed audience just eating out of the palm of her hand. Her act was intriguing and addictive. And then it wasn't anymore.

That's what I do too, she looked like a fcking rock star, not a pop star, when she was touring The Fame. She still is entertaining until this very day but the outfits, her behaviour, etc. have changed so much, she lost the edginess that she had during The Fame. She was a wild beast back then. But to be fair she has gained (positive) qualities that were absent in The Fame so I'm not entirely dismissing Born This Way and ARTPOP.

but then

I'm sorry but WHO made that wig?

this outfit looked cool at the Grammys with its variant but not so at the BTWB

It took me MONTHS to get used to this rave girl outfit, I don't hate it but I can understand why the average casual listeners call her ugly (Let's not pretend the GP thinks Gaga is sexy and hot and beautiful)

I personally thought these were good:

 

[Bradley 55,140]

11 hours ago, tizian said:

 

The thing is commercial success is difficult (not impossible) to obtain if you shun away certain categories of people. Commercial success comes from record and ticket sales, so I don't get your point of saying 'IF it's a commercial success, people will buy her tickets/records anyway'.