Are her collabs really better than her solos?

[Ladle Ghoulash 24,725]

2 hours ago, PartySick said:

I think it's less about collab vs solo and more about genre.

Shallow, as a rock/love ballad, backed by ASIB's massive success and the media being abuzz about Gaga and Bradley's alleged affair, was destined to be a smash.

Die With a Smile is quintessential Bruno Mars. Sprinkle in Gaga's feature as a hook and just about everybody got ensnared in it...except for those of us who are put off by cheesy songs like this and most of Bruno's other hits  

Rain on Me was weird. It had a high peak fueled by nostalgia for Gaga's pop music and Ariana's pure popularity at the time but now? It's honestly so forgettable  if you ask most people if they've heard it you might get a "what song? Huh? Oh, oh yeah, I think I heard that playing at a Target in like 2022 or something"  

She absolutely has the capability to make songs like Shallow and DWAS on her own though and they'd probably smash too if given the proper push.

ARUTW could have easily been her biggest hit ever, it just didn't make sense to push a solo song from a soundtrack about Ally and Jackson's story.

Million Reasons' popularity and longevity cannot be denied. It may have not been a HUGE hit on the charts but it's still incredibly well known and could easily be one of her staple songs if she desired it to be.

Hold My Hand was a cute hit too but it was tied into the Top Gun promo so odds are if you didn't care about that movie, you didn't care about the song.

And a song like Abracadabra is the exception to all of this. I still believe its success is fueled by nostalgia for Gaga's classic pop songs but DWAS put the world's eyes on her so more people went "oh yeah, 'p-p-p-poker face, ra ra ah ah ah, abra ooh na na'  "

...now if she actually pushed a song like Vanish Into You then we'd have another smash on our hands but she's apparently busy trying to make the Taylor sounding song work despite it being one of her most mid tracks since Eh Eh  

 

Oh, girl be careful telling the truth about Eh, Eh…

 

Edited yesterday at 05:42 AM by Ladle Ghoulash

[ALGAYDO 32,647]

Gaga didn’t smash, collab did 

joke aside, the GP is so fickle, one second they want AC BalladGa, another second they want BM/Abra crazy Gaga. All of her songs are good, but having another artist’s fan base backing us up really does wonders for Gaga’s reach to those who aren’t super into CrazyGa. So obviously her lesser-Gaga songs will tend to do better. 

[Ivy 12,561]

Shallow and DWAS are singing along type ballads which gp often likes (which also Vanish Into You is but it's being ignored for single release )

Also I don't think Shallow would have done so well without the movie. DWAS and Shallow both have the romance/love aspect with her and a man which often adds interest and popularity, and  I feel it's even more so with her because she has amazing chemistry with most people

And as already said by others ROM and DWAS have benefits of 2 fanbases streaming

[Ivy 12,561]

5 hours ago, happymistake said:

exactly, i was just talking to one of my coworkers about her and she was like she's so talented i love her ballads and when i asked which ones she could only name Shallow 

I love your profile pic btw 

[princedeeblebleble 1,663]

Is McDonald's better than a Michelin star restaurant because it has more costumers? 

[PornoDanceFight 62]

I’m sorry, but no one is listening to Shallow to hear Bradley Cooper sing 

I think it’s a matter of timing, genre, and the narrative behind the songs.

Shallow - classic rock song/love ballad tied to her first big movie role.

Rain on Me - merging of Ariana and Gaga’s fanbases + a dance song that celebrates resilience and is sonically indicative of 2020s dance pop.

DWAS - a romantic duet between two of pop’s great writers and performers.

 

If Gaga had released Abracadabra before DWAS or Disease, properly hyped it and promoted it with tv performances and physicals, this narrative would be different. Abra’s tracking week being squished between Not Like Us’ Grammy sweep + Super Bowl (plus her not performing it at the Grammy’s, and respectfully so) is what limited its growth.

As others have said, ARUTW is still one of her most celebrated and listened to songs. I hear it at restaurants, bars, and even heard it from a car as I was commuting to work, so it’s not like her solo work is under appreciated. It’s a matter of proper timing, promotion, and having a narrative.

 

Shifting genre tastes also has a big reason behind dance pop’s decline too, so naturally any song she releases that isn’t a ballad or of a singer-songwriter flair will not do as well. But that’s not to say dance-pop tracks don’t have their pop cultural moments as Brat will surely attest.

[chathonnete 766]

Her solos are so much better, Gaga is just smart and collaborates most of the time with people who will really bring success to a song (Ariana, Bruno Mars, Black Pink, Beyonce are the biggest artists to collab with) 

[Oriane 21,101]

More mainstream is the term you're looking for.

[dopega 3,733]

chart success ≠ quality

[dynamite 59,405]

Just now, dopega said:

chart success ≠ quality

Especially considering how the charts have been full of junk for years now... and not the good kind 

[happymistake 22]

8 hours ago, Ivy said:

I love your profile pic btw 

thank youu, one of my favorite performances of hers 

[BornAsUnic0rn 2,098]

15 hours ago, HeAteMyh3art said:

million reasons and arutw???

Doesn’t matter in this argument. ARUTW was huge but far smaller than Shallow (a duet) on ASIB. And Million Reasons was on her least successful effort commercially, and no collab as a single.
 

As someone said earlier, I believe that it‘s easier for people to „digest“ her eclectic nature when it‘s „diluted“ and commercialized, in whatever form. And collaborations seem to be a great vessel for that. 

[Jill 30,247]

6 hours ago, dynamite said:

Especially considering how the charts have been full of junk for years now... and not the good kind 

Junk is what I've got between my legs

[dynamite 59,405]

1 hour ago, Jill said:

Junk is what I've got between my legs

That's what I meant by the good kind, Jizz 

[Jill 30,247]

4 minutes ago, dynamite said:

That's what I meant by the good kind, Jizz 

I don't think it's good I think it's overtly sexual