Thoughts on Gaga's growth and maturity?

[StrawberryBlond 14,619]

I love the maturity that she has now. She seems to not be so eager to impress anymore, which gives her such a cool vibe. There's a real sense of assurance when an artist is who they truly want to be. Gaga seemed so sad at one point and I no longer feel that, even though she's no longer with Taylor. It's like she deals with her pain differently now, isn't so destructive. And I'm actually looking forward to seeing her perform dressed 'normally' and looking a bit different to what we're used to. I think all the endless costuming was starting to exhaust her and potentially took time away from the actual music creating. Now she's less likely to be called superficial and someone who hides behind smoke and mirrors.

37 minutes ago, Bradley Cooper said:

I also think she started to overlook artists who don't match up to the standard she perceives as adequate, I mean she might be friends with some of the contemporary artists that are currently popular but she NEVER approaches them for collaboration. I think people wanted to work with her but she probably turned them down. She hangs out with Elton John, Tony Bennett, Mark Ronson, Kathy Bates, Bradley Cooper whereas Taylor Swift hangs out with Selena Gomez and her entire Bad Blood squad. I'm not saying Taylor's friends are unworthy people but obviously their artistic achievements are limited.

I love this restriction too. There was a time when she used to want to be friends with everyone and acted like everyone's music was amazing, even when it clearly wasn't on her level or even sounded like something she would like. Being part of Taylor's squad would certainly have given her more exposure but it would have reduced her artistic credibility. She's much better off hanging out with legends who are her age or older, not young starlets trying to make it. That way, she isn't caught up in what she could be as a modern artist (becoming more commercial for sales), but is instead learning from those who have been in the game a long time and can give her guidance on how to achieve longevity. I really didn't like how she worked with will.i.am and David Guetta on AP. Such a collab just wasn't acceptable for someone of her talent and placement in the industry. I don't think she was too happy with it either.

 

[bumblebee 2,528]

 

I was expecting this change in her public behaviour ever since she delivered the key message at the SXSW fetstival in 2014, where she was deliberately open about the position she got into after the G.U.Y. single release. I didn't pay much attention to the details of the Cheek to Cheek era interview because it was obvious that Gaga was adressing a different audience with that record, but I was curious about how she would behave when she were to promote her own new music. 

I understand that 'Gaga' has never been a 'persona' issue - to me, it has always just been her stage name. It was expected and even natural in some way for the public and even for her fans to begin to assosiate "Gaga" with the style in Gaga's artistry, with her fashion choices, her performance tactics and her stardom weirdness. But it felt to me that in 2013 this whole perception pressure reached some psychological peak for her.

Following her surgery, when she was back with ARTPOP, her first album in two and a half years, the journalists, the critics and even so many people from her fandom were paying excessive attention to how Lady Gaga is trying to switch back from being a "Born This Way" Gaga to a more GP-friendly artists. I remember that Applause was the first track from her dicography whose chart performance was covered on Gagadaily as if it was a non-stopping broadcast of some breaking news. Red updates, green updates, white updates were all over the place; people were freaking out and burning their stan cards over the negative radio updates and spamming to interscope executives complaining that title of her lead single sounded "so floppy". We were arguing over her promotion calendar and promo approach, and taking a look at her from the perspective of her commercial appearance to the charts. The media sometimes were analyzing her more from a marketing standpoint rather than judging her music professionally. 

Gaga, in the meantime, was going through corporate hell. I don't know the full story behind her professional break-up with Troy, but it seems that they didn't part as friends. The reports about Troy leaving Gaga or Gaga firing Troy emerged as early as in August of 2013, and they officially quit working together on the eve of releasing her new album. And it seems that Troy left, taking large part of the stuff and contacts with him, since Gaga was herself scheduling meetings with radio DJs  It was probably the hardest time for her as a pop star, because she could not be properly managed, which for her always meant less opportunities to create exciting experiences for her to share music with fans. And when she was in such gloomy and sinister place professionally, all her fans seemed to care about was the flopping single G.U.Y. on the radio. 

I am not trying to place and blames, because we didn't know the full story and we could have acted differently had we known about how hurt she felt at those times. But when I thought of the parts of the autumn 2013 pictures come together, I did understand what made her stage that SXSW performance and compose that keynote message. Somehow, the combination of all the misconceptions about her as an artist, as a musician and as a person grew to such an overexposed extent that she had to say goodbye to the game she had been playing since she first took the disco stick into her hands  She had to say goodbye to pop music at SXSW - but she didn't mean to quit TOP 40, but she wanted to change the rules of the game for her. She always had strength to get through all the bullsh*t people kept sending her way when they saw her in an haute couture dress, or in high heels, but somehow the strengths to keep up with the pressue left her in the spring of 2014. 

Why did the pressure finally get her? We can only guess. Maybe it's due to the fact that she was a bit tired: what many fans not often realize is the fact that she has been touring every year since 2008. She was opening for Pussycat Dolls and New Kids on the Block, then in 2009 she had The Fame Ball Tour and the first shows of The Monster Ball Tour, then 2010 was her most extensive touring year, and in 2011, 2012 and 2013 she always headlined an arena tour. That could be exhausting. Maybe there were other reasons, but whatever triggered her choice back then, she wanted to be appreciated for her music firstly. In other words, it was at SXSW that she thought to stop focusing on making a cultural (fashion+performances+extravaganza) and a musical impact at the same time. She chose to be a musician first. 

Her first appearances at the radio stations in the UK proved it all right. She is a bit more serious now, probably because she's too nervous, she's funny and all that but she is a different person now. And although I miss the crazy Gaga sometimes, but I like her more mature approach now because it'll eventually help her with the longevity of her creativity and creative choices. As Alice Cooper once said: a musician can be as outlandish artistically as long as his music is good. It seems like Gaga wants to prove to herself, once again, that she can still write amazing music before looking for her disco-stick again. 

[Bradley 58,663]

10 hours ago, PhillipBagshaw said:

She also didn't know what that phrase meant, after she said, "thank you" she asked, "wait, do you mean that I sound sick?"

She knew what it meant. She just wanted to be sure.

[Bradley 58,663]

10 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I love the maturity that she has now. She seems to not be so eager to impress anymore, which gives her such a cool vibe. There's a real sense of assurance when an artist is who they truly want to be. Gaga seemed so sad at one point and I no longer feel that, even though she's no longer with Taylor. It's like she deals with her pain differently now, isn't so destructive. And I'm actually looking forward to seeing her perform dressed 'normally' and looking a bit different to what we're used to. I think all the endless costuming was starting to exhaust her and potentially took time away from the actual music creating. Now she's less likely to be called superficial and someone who hides behind smoke and mirrors.

I love this restriction too. There was a time when she used to want to be friends with everyone and acted like everyone's music was amazing, even when it clearly wasn't on her level or even sounded like something she would like. Being part of Taylor's squad would certainly have given her more exposure but it would have reduced her artistic credibility. She's much better off hanging out with legends who are her age or older, not young starlets trying to make it. That way, she isn't caught up in what she could be as a modern artist (becoming more commercial for sales), but is instead learning from those who have been in the game a long time and can give her guidance on how to achieve longevity. I really didn't like how she worked with will.i.am and David Guetta on AP. Such a collab just wasn't acceptable for someone of her talent and placement in the industry. I don't think she was too happy with it either.

 

I agree with most of the things you say except I think Fashion! doesn't sound too bad actually. Yeah I agree will.i.am isn't really a legend of her league but Fashion! was a great dance song.

[Bradley 58,663]

9 hours ago, bumblebee said:

 

I also think her relationship with the American Horror Story cast changed her perspective towards the entertainment industry. Unlike musicians, actors seem to not care about success that much as musicians do, and that laid-back personality, is I think something Gaga wanted but was prevented from accessing when she was constantly under the media's scrutiny and under the company and comparison of her rivals like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Beyonce, etc. I think she felt a relief when she was acting, because she could put aside musical concerns and truly dwell into a different persona that was the Countess and now in season six. And I'm very glad for this fact because I enjoy the show and I think it's something healthy for someone living such a hectic life like Gaga.