A sunset stroll with Lady Gaga

[Luffy 25,357]

How do you guys feel about this? <3

 

 

[Katsuki Bakugo 9,788]

Love this interview so much! Asia looks flawless!

[Didymus 33,814]

I think it's very.. double. Right now she's banking on this whole "this time I'm doing everything the way I want it!" current so we're led to believe her next projects are worth looking at, but at the same time, we were already supposed to believe she was her own artist from 2008 onwards, and she only used the "my label's oppressing me" talk when her commercial success started decreasing.

So I dunno. It's like don't tell us it's great you're doing things your way now, you've been claiming you were more authentic than everybody else because you were in charge of your own artistry for forever and you said yourself in 2014 you never changed yourself ever, and that you would've gone back to singing in bars if you ever had to because if you had changed yourself you would've lied about everything to your fans, and guess what, you did, so sell the mansion and start stripping I guess

So basically, if her next solo project isn't vastly superior to her previous ventures, I'm out. Can't deal with this narrative editing anymore. You're doing what you want as an artist? That basically means you're doing your ****ing job now and you weren't doing it for years, so shut up about it and do that job instead of using it to rebrand yourself. It's extremely smart (and it's clearly working) but it's also ugly. It's what makes me suspect she's a lot more hungry for success than she is for artistic expression (shoot me, idc).

[crisTEAne 21,059]

i'm happy that she's happy and that she's following her heart. 

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

7 minutes ago, T E A said:

i'm happy that she's happy and that she's following her heart. 

I'm happy when she's happy but I have to admit I am also happy when she's mad. Her pain and rage is what gave us ARTPOP. Artists are always at their most creative when they are raging the machine.

But to see Gaga happy and healthy is so contagious. She exudes calmness and I love how that makes me feel. 

I keep thinking about this quote by Gaga - "Don't let the world change your smile. Let your smile change the world" 

[crisTEAne 21,059]

1 minute ago, Lord Temptation said:

I'm happy when she's happy but I have to admit I am also happy when she's mad. Her pain and rage is what gave us ARTPOP. Artists are always at their most creative when the are raging the machine.

But to see Gaga happy and healthy is so contagious. She exuded calmness and I love how it makes me feel. 

I keep thinking about this quote by Gaga.

"Don't let the world change your smile. Let your smile change the world" 

don't forget the video in which she talks about ryan murphy teaching her how to use the art of darkness while being happy. i think she's starting to grasp the idea that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive and being an artist doesn't necessarily equals to torturing yourself. in the inside/outside MTV interview she said that she had to fück herself up, remember? now, i guess, she has to do the opposite: she has to heal her soul.

[nativenewyorker 1,190]

50 minutes ago, Didymus said:

I think it's very.. double. Right now she's banking on this whole "this time I'm doing everything the way I want it!" current so we're led to believe her next projects are worth looking at, but at the same time, we were already supposed to believe she was her own artist from 2008 onwards, and she only used the "my label's oppressing me" talk when her commercial success started decreasing.

So I dunno. It's like don't tell us it's great you're doing things your way now, you've been claiming you were more authentic than everybody else because you were in charge of your own artistry for forever and you said yourself in 2014 you never changed yourself ever, and that you would've gone back to singing in bars if you ever had to because if you had changed yourself you would've lied about everything to your fans, and guess what, you did, so sell the mansion and start stripping I guess

So basically, if her next solo project isn't vastly superior to her previous ventures, I'm out. Can't deal with this narrative editing anymore. You're doing what you want as an artist? That basically means you're doing your ****ing job now and you weren't doing it for years, so shut up about it and do that job instead of using it to rebrand yourself. It's extremely smart (and it's clearly working) but it's also ugly. It's what makes me suspect she's a lot more hungry for success than she is for artistic expression (shoot me, idc).

I think when she says "doing things exactly how I want to do them" she meant more of her schedule and which events she attends and whatnot. She made it a point to take on projects one at a time and not overload herself that year and she seems more relaxed and focused instead of spread too thin. 

And I don't think she only brought up the pressure her label puts on her when she started failing commercially, I think Interscope tried to tighten their grip on her during ARTPOP because coming off of the success of Born This Way and her cancelled tour, there was a lot riding on her keeping up the stamina. Then with Troy ditching her, she began to rebel against the entire corporate aspect and call out the people who want to keep her as a product and make the most money off of her. 

Gaga's "narrative editing" is sometimes cringey, but discrediting her claims of authenticity based on this is harsh. 

[Didymus 33,814]

17 minutes ago, nativenewyorker said:

I think when she says "doing things exactly how I want to do them" she meant more of her schedule and which events she attends and whatnot. She made it a point to take on projects one at a time and not overload herself that year and she seems more relaxed and focused instead of spread too thin. 

From her other interviews we know that's not true. She directly linked the quality of her music to where her career was at. "I can't pull the gold" etc., saying TF and TFM are the only albums where she could carry out a well-crafted vision completely. So that entire BTW era was just her lying about being happy etc. 'cause she was already crashing and feeling the label pressure (which she acknowledged at one point, but just once and about single choices, not about the rest).

And then for ARTPOP she pretended that she made her best album ever and that she didn't even know she could top it when then later we had to hear she was sobbing behind her piano saying "why did you become a robot, you're too good for this ****!" to herself. And as the cherry on top, we learned she allowed Interscope to edit all of her album vocals to make it more radio friendly.

So no, it does have a huge impact on her artistry and she blatantly lied about where she was emotionally (in the beginning of the ARTPOP era for instance she was all "Actually in my previous era I wasn't very happy", which was enough of a surprise, "but now it's all good and I'm in touch with my work more than ever and I'm just so excited to be here!" when she was actually drowning), and how that was influencing her work.

So the point is: she always has this "I was unhappy, but now I'm not" narrative when she's promoting something lately, and it's just suspicious (to me), especially because every single time she uses it to validate her work.

17 minutes ago, nativenewyorker said:

And I don't think she only brought up the pressure her label puts on her when she started failing commercially, I think Interscope tried to tighten their grip on her during ARTPOP because coming off of the success of Born This Way and her cancelled tour, there was a lot riding on her keeping up the stamina. Then with Troy ditching her, she began to rebel against the entire corporate aspect and call out the people who want to keep her as a product and make the most money off of her. 

Nah, it's clear by now that that tightening grip occurred after TFM.

The point is: we can just never know if she's being real with us or not. She lied about so many important things so many times, that I'm just not buying this whole "now everything is going perfectly" current she's presenting rn. I'll buy it when I finally see it on the product and she doesn't completely go back on herself the next era when she has something new to sell.

[Bradley 56,191]

1 hour ago, Didymus said:

I think it's very.. double. Right now she's banking on this whole "this time I'm doing everything the way I want it!" current so we're led to believe her next projects are worth looking at, but at the same time, we were already supposed to believe she was her own artist from 2008 onwards, and she only used the "my label's oppressing me" talk when her commercial success started decreasing.

So I dunno. It's like don't tell us it's great you're doing things your way now, you've been claiming you were more authentic than everybody else because you were in charge of your own artistry for forever and you said yourself in 2014 you never changed yourself ever, and that you would've gone back to singing in bars if you ever had to because if you had changed yourself you would've lied about everything to your fans, and guess what, you did, so sell the mansion and start stripping I guess

So basically, if her next solo project isn't vastly superior to her previous ventures, I'm out. Can't deal with this narrative editing anymore. You're doing what you want as an artist? That basically means you're doing your ****ing job now and you weren't doing it for years, so shut up about it and do that job instead of using it to rebrand yourself. It's extremely smart (and it's clearly working) but it's also ugly. It's what makes me suspect she's a lot more hungry for success than she is for artistic expression (shoot me, idc).

I think she wants both success and authentic artistry, knowing Gaga for years, we know she adores success, and I don't see it as a bad thing, as long as she doesn't ala Azealia Banks shoves her superiority in front of others and claims how she is a genius all the time (Kanye West comes to mind), I'm good. Like it's alright to strive to be successful, you're a pop singer and businesswoman, I understand if you want to excel not only artistically but commercially. In fact, this has turned into a motivation for her to outdo her rivals, it sounds negative in nature but I think fans derive from this, cause we get to see the final product, and because of her desire to succeed, her works are competitively interesting and fun.

As for me, I give her some leeway in her expression of her authenticity, I don't think she was a puppet, yet I think she conformed to her label's requirements to some extent (making her songs more radio-friendly and commercial). Her music wasn't solely what she herself created, there were probably tweakings made by her label, but it's not 100% artificial either, there was a heavy element of her involvement.

I do believe that this album is going to be less obedient towards her label and more expressive according to what Gaga wants.

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

1 hour ago, T E A said:

don't forget the video in which she talks about ryan murphy teaching her how to use the art of darkness while being happy. i think she's starting to grasp the idea that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive and being an artist doesn't necessarily equals to torturing yourself. in the inside/outside MTV interview she said that she had to fück herself up, remember? now, i guess, she has to do the opposite: she has to heal her soul.

Shall be watching that video tonight. Thanks muchly 

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

2 hours ago, Bradley Cooper said:

I think she wants both success and authentic artistry, knowing Gaga for years, we know she adores success, and I don't see it as a bad thing, as long as she doesn't ala Azealia Banks shoves her superiority in front of others and claims how she is a genius all the time (Kanye West comes to mind), I'm good. Like it's alright to strive to be successful, you're a pop singer and businesswoman, I understand if you want to excel not only artistically but commercially. In fact, this has turned into a motivation for her to outdo her rivals, it sounds negative in nature but I think fans derive from this, cause we get to see the final product, and because of her desire to succeed, her works are competitively interesting and fun.

As for me, I give her some leeway in her expression of her authenticity, I don't think she was a puppet, yet I think she conformed to her label's requirements to some extent (making her songs more radio-friendly and commercial). Her music wasn't solely what she herself created, there were probably tweakings made by her label, but it's not 100% artificial either, there was a heavy element of her involvement.

I do believe that this album is going to be less obedient towards her label and more expressive according to what Gaga wants.

ARTPOP was too abstract for the people it was intended to critique. People too busy analysing lines to actually read between them.

I think the new album will be more confrontational. And confessional. It will be like a greatest hits album. It will be all about Gaga and her fans, the Little Monsters, and the special place she is in right now.

[Killa 14,939]

This and VMagazine issue, but mostly the making off were the things i loved the most about this year.

I was conflicted with this before, i also don't love the narrative she follows and i feel that she uses us, i get tricked but then i start thinking a bit more and notice the truth, but deep down i'm already hooked. So i hope she stays true to that. Use me as much as you want mommy. I just felt Lg5 would be a great record.

[kizurl 1,776]

I feel like she doesn't have to be an artist anymore. She's perfectly happy living the life she wanted. More importantly, I don't feel like she has anything more to say or offer. I'd rather her live her life fully in other new territories than churn out uninspired banal records just for the sake of obligation. Or rather, wait until she has something substantial in her life causing her to write music compelling enough for a record. I don't know, at this rate I'm just waiting for a clear sign from her. If she's embarking on LG5, good for her but i hope she's ready. If she's not, I wish her the best.

 

[Sara 1,128]

2 hours ago, Didymus said:

So the point is: she always has this "I was unhappy, but now I'm not" narrative when she's promoting something lately, and it's just suspicious (to me), especially because every single time she uses it to validate her work.

The point is: we can just never know if she's being real with us or not. She lied about so many important things so many times, that I'm just not buying this whole "now everything is going perfectly" current she's presenting rn.

I partly agree, but on the other hand she's only guilty of what a lot of people are guilt of:  Lying about their feelings when that would get in the way of what they are trying to.   This is especially true if you suffer from depression and have really dark moods that drag you down.   You can't be on the promo schedule for your album saying "I want to quit.  I want to give up.  My label is pissing me off." in your interviews.   You have to be more like "Rah rah this is going to be good" because you want to give your work its best shot at success.

As others have said in this thread, she does want success AND genuine work.  And when those things are conflicted, it's going to be stressful and it's so hard to know when to do what and when to let the label do things their way, because they are supposed to have good ideas too right?

And if she is prone to mood swings, then I'm sure some times she was generally happy, and other times not.
 

I don't fault her for any of this.  She's just being human.  I went through a deep depression many years ago, and I told nobody that I worked with.  I pretended to be all excited for the projects we were working on.  Does that make me a liar?  Technically yes, but not in a way that I would fault people for as much as some other types of lying.

 

[Didymus 33,814]

20 minutes ago, Sara said:

I don't fault her for any of this. 

I don't either. But on the other hand observation is observation. She lied about a good many things, and whether or not that's human, it makes it doubtful (for me) that I can trust her now, and it influences my behavior towards her. That's something that would have an exact parallel if Gaga was a close friend of mine.

I get that this is a controversial topic, but Gaga is not just some person who didn't talk about her depression. She actively tied a fanbase to her to support her financially on the premise that she was a real artist who was 100% genuine, authentic, and cared about nothing but her artistry, and would never allow anyone to change that. That was the message that was supposed to be empowering, that was the image that led to thousands upon thousands of fans buying her products, and some more thousands to build an emotional relationship with her through social media (something Gaga is now bashing as disingenuine projection, which is true, but if she realized that back in 2010 she's nothing but a cold, manipulative trickster where her fans are concerned). That successful manipulation is the only reason fans are still here saying "aww, Gaga, I'm so glad you're happy!" instead of "this bitch ****ing lied to us for two eras straight", and not just a lie about how she was feeling, a lie that directly upped her bank account.

That's what it's about. Whether she's human or not, meant well or not, at a certain point people who support you through your bs are going to have enough when you keep contradicting the statements you routinely make to put yourself on a pedestal. That has nothing to do with "punishing" her for being human, that has everything to do with investing in a relationship where one side isn't being respected. This poisonous idea that fans want/have to emotionally support Gaga mainly through buying her products is the secret to Gaga's success (and a lot of other pop stars) but it's also unbearably hideous, and for someone who is notorious for saying she doesn't care about money it's been going on for ****ing long enough now.

Her saying now that she's finally happy and being able to really breathe artistically is nothing less than a slap in the face of her fans and if I'm the only one who sees that, fine, go ahead and make excuses for her as if she's just a friend who kept secrets, but if I'm not getting some reward with LG5 for accepting that she not only pissed on her entire early career philosophy ("oh, my crazy costumes are just things I wear when I'm depressed, when I dress casually I'm more myself"), that she, between 2010 and 2013 wasn't true to her own artistry despite saying she was, and that after cashing in on her fan connection she feels entitled to chill out in a Malibu mansion, a place she swore she'd never live, then I'm out, not because I despise her, but because I'd walk out on any "friend" who'd act like that.