Madonna has reportedly laid into Lady Gaga and ex-hubbie Guy Ritchie in songs which could end up on her new album.
Leaked lyrics from the track Heartbreak City allegedly slam Ritchie for:
"Getting what [he] came for, a bit of fame and fortune, and I’m no longer needed." Though the lyrics have yet to be confirmed, multiple news sources corroborated that the song seemed to call out Ritchie. And, although Ritchie is not named, the lyrics seem very much from the heart.
While Gaga, who has praised Madonna as a major influence on her work, is the apparent target in the song Two Steps Behind Me, in which Madge sings:
“You’re a copycat, where is my royalty?Did you study me hard enough? You're never gonna be, you're just a wannabe me. Like a sister all messed-up, who's gonna help you out? In your fantasy, you can try it all. But you can't be me.
'You can walk the walk, even talk the talk. But you'll always be two steps behind me.”
The both songs were recorded with Avicii, but that no final tracklist for the album has yet been decided. More than one track on the album is about the ending of their three year relationship which left Madonna more vulnerable than most people might think.
Neither track may actually end up on the new album, but the lyrics show that The Queen of pop, who celebrated her 56th birthday earlier this month, has not lost her touch.
After originally finding fame in the '80s with hits like Papa Don't Preach and True Blue, Madonna has gone on to have hits across four decades, establishing herself as one of the biggest musical icons of all time.
In a new interview with Attitude, Lady Gaga addressed her conflicts with the Queen of Pop over the Gaga song "Born This Way."
"I have to be really honest, I was completely kind of floored that Madonna was singing my song on her stage every night! I'm certainly not thinking about anybody but me and my fans when I'm on stage," Gaga said to Attitude, referencing the fact that Madonna took to performing a mashup of "Born This Way" and her own song "Express Yourself" during live concerts last year. (The songs share a similar beat and melody.)
"The fact that I was on her mind at all. I mean, Madonna's ... she’s Madonna. I looked up to her for a long time. I'm not quite sure what her intention was -– to do that in the show, but I don’t really care," Gaga continued. "I think playing into the gossip of the tabloids and, I guess the fodder of the competition, that's just not what I'm about. She chooses to use her voice the way she chooses to use hers and I choose to use mine the way I use mine. All it meant to me was that Madonna Ciccone was singing my song on her stage and I'm 27! And as a punk-rocker from New York, I've basically been hoping that I would become so good that one day I would piss off Madonna!"
Lady Gaga's ARTPOP finally leaked on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, at least for Lady Gaga's legend of critics, the album isn't a complete disaster. Unfortunately, for her decreasing fan base, it also isn't a very good album either.
The main problem for Gaga is that she is still trying to pass herself off as artistic and original, although she trails far behind the artists that she tries so hard to emulate, especially Madonna and David Bowie.
Lady Gaga continues her 2nd-rate Madonna clone act with a handful of songs on the album. "Fashion" sounds eerily similar to "Holiday," while "Venus" copies the same vocal inflections of many of Madonna's biggest hits. In "Sex Dreams," Gaga's unsexy spoken parts are trying (but failing) to coo the listeners as Madonna's sexy spoken vocals did with "Justify My Love."
When Gaga isn't trying to imitate Madonna, she is trying to emulate David Bowie. She uses the Bowie-inflicted accent on the semi-flop "Applause," and even evokes some of his style in "Manicure" and "Venus." On "Swine," she is in full Joan Jett mode until the EDM beat kicks in. Then, she sounds like P!nk. In fact, the whole ARTPOP album sounds like a kitchen-sink reference to other artists.
Many of the songs show promise. "Gypsy" starts off as a touching ballad until turning into a dance floor anthem it was never meant to be. "Do What You Want" has a good beat, but is ruined by Gaga trying too hard to sound just like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera. The "ARTPOP" song starts off as a dreamy electro chiller, until Gaga starts singing such cheesy lyrics as "We belong together. We belong togeather. ARTPOP!"
It seems like Lady Gaga is trying her best to separate herself from all the Madonna comparisons. But she may not want to steer too far from the Madonna formula that she has exploited just as much as a prostitute exploits sex. It is important to consider that after five years in the music industry, Madonna was putting out some of the most memorable pop anthems ever. After five years in the music industry, Lady Gaga has become a parody of herself. She has turned what could have been a good album into a disjointed (but sometimes listenable) EDM mess.
Lady Gagahas blasted critics who compare her to Madonna in a series of tweets. The singer, who will release her new albumARTPOPnext month, posted the messages to her over 40 millionTwitterfollowers on Sunday (October 20), addressing not only the Madonna controversy but also reports of her alleged drug abuse and rumors that she is an "hermaphrodite". Addressing comparisons between her 'Born This Way' aesthetic and a picture of Madonna wearing a high ponytail in the '90s, Gaga tweeted: "LADY GAGA IS A REDUCTIVE MADONNA COPY! SHE'S OVER NOW! #WriteWhatUWant #SayWhatUWantBoutMe #ImNotSorry."
Gaga also posted a 2012 interview with Cynthia McFadden in which Madonna described her work as "reductive", adding: "I don't need anybody's permission to be remembered. I will be. Whether they like it or not."
Finally, she addressed her recent chart feud with Katy Perry, citing criticisms for her single 'Applause' not debuting at number one like Perry's 'Roar'.
The singer wrote: "... #UWontUseMyMind I write for the music not the charts."
This week I came across an item on HuffPost Gay Voices, a petition by Lady Gaga fans against Madonna presenting a GLAAD award to Anderson Cooper, because, as they put it, she was the cause of so many gay men dying of AIDS in the '80s and '90s. I scratched my head a bit and didn't comment on the post, despite the fact that I generally defend anything and all things Madonna-related and would have normally left a comment. (Full disclosure: I have been a Madonna fan since I was 13 years old. Actually, like many gay men of my generation, I was a little obsessed with her.)
Instead, I was transported back to an earlier time. The year was 1983. I was a scared seventh grader starting puberty -- a time when most adolescents are confused -- and I was attending an all-Catholic school in ultra-conservative and religious San Antonio, Texas. My father was a deacon in the church, and my mother made the sign of the cross more times daily than a Real Housewife of New Jersey. Oh, and I was realizing that I'm gay, or at least that I was not like other boys.
It was a scary time for me, not only because I was realizing that I was gay in unfriendly territory, but because I had started seeing news reports of a disease that was killing gay men. The disease was called GRID, or gay-related immune deficiency. Perfect, I thought. I am gay, and I am going to die alone of a horrible disease. Irrational thoughts like these really can mess up a person for life. Believe me.
So I went through all the usual thoughts: Maybe it's a phase! Maybe I can pray it away! Maybe I will have to become a priest! Yes, that crossed my mind. And in the years to come, even suicide crossed my mind. Somehow I got through it, but it wasn't easy. The funny thing is that around the same time, when there was nobody to look up to as a gay role model, or even any real straight allies, I found someone I could relate to: a beautiful, irreverent and talented artist who sang of dancing and taking holidays, of leaving all your troubles behind, and so I did, as silly as it sounds. Madonna was my generation's beacon of hope. She befriended gays and preached tolerance when it was not the popular thing to do. She rallied to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS when even the president of the United States would not utter the word "AIDS" publicly. She never had to literally tell me that it was OK that I was "born this way," because I just got it by what she showed me. I must admit that I am also a fan of Lady Gaga, and I'm not one to live in the past (except for every time I go to a Madonna concert; I haven't missed a tour in 20 years), but I felt compelled to write this post because I felt that it had to be said. I felt that this was a Julia Sugarbaker moment for me, and Marjorie is all those "little monsters" who are just too young to know.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-866-488-7386 for the Trevor Lifeline, or call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Who's the Queenest of them all? Opening the Euro stretch of her Born This Way Ball tour with sass, Lady GaGa gave fans in Helsinki, Finland a peek at her bum in an apparent dig at Madonna. As you know, her Madgesty has been covering GaGaloo's Born This Way during her MDNA tour. And many speculate this to be a spike in the diva domination war following her comments that the GaGa single was a "reductive" homage to Express Yourself.
But Gaga clearly just doesn't give a f*ck! With a flash of her thong she told the crowd:
"I don’t give a f*ck what people say. We don’t give a f*ck — we know the truth!"
And then, in true diva fashion, she went right into playing a move of Madonna's own game and covered the Queen's Like A Prayer. So not only did GaGa take Madonna's signature thong flash, she covered one of her own singles, obviously in response to Madge covering her own. Oh and in case you missed it — Madonna has a song entitled I Don't Give A on MDNA. So GaGa's introduction to the chess move was LOADED!!
And while GaGa also says the rebellious line in Bad Kids, the fact that one of Madonna's recent songs holds the same title is still an interesting note speculated by MANY in connection with GaGa's thong flash. Just sayin!
UPDATE: Despite reports claiming she covered Like A Prayer, other sources insist that is not the case. Seeing as there is no video of the performance, we're forced to believe the latter.
You may have noticed that Madonna has been in fine form lately – at least when it comes to acting like an insufferable, disrespectful asshole. The pop singer has somehow shifted from years of creating and releasing genre-bending, though-provoking music that empowered a generation of young girls to searching for the best way to aimlessly push everyone’s buttons. And to what end? What can Madonna possibly have to gain from purposeful nip slips and slapping swastika’s on people’s foreheads? Her recent actions while on tour supporting MDNA have raised questions about whether there’s a difference between being cutting edge and just throwing tantrums just to get attention.
Madonna is now claiming songwriting credits for Lady Gaga‘s ‘Born This Way’, the very song she previously deemed “reductive”. Madge’s admission came during a recent Brazilian interview where she spoke about her ‘M.D.N.A.’ tour among other things. Madonna is heard saying: “I’m a really big fan of ‘Born This Way’, and I’m glad that I helped Gaga write it”. The saga continues.
Madonna needs to let go of this “Born This Way/Express Yourself“ plagiarism argument. It’s tired. Plus, it’s been an overstated fact that the tracks are uncannily similar. No need to keep singing the same tune in interviews. What she needs to do now is slap herself for making ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ as a single and then start brainstorming music that will prove worthy of her legacy.
Courting controversy has been in Madonna's bloodstream since the genesis of her career. From the iconic 1984 VMA performance of "Like a Virgin" that found her writhing seductively in a wedding dress to her much-maligned foray into soft-core with the release of the aptly named 1992 coffee table book, Sex, she's been ruffling feathers and challenging social conventions throughout her three decades as a pop idol.
Lady Gaga is much newer to the game, and while nobody could accuse her of being a wallflower, she seems more inclined to get attention for wild wardrobe choices (meat dress, anyone?) and arty publicity stunts (her 2011 Grammy red carpet entrance in a giant egg comes to mind) than acts of moral provocation.
On Tuesday night Madonna brought her MDNA tour to England, performing a show in Hyde Park that was witty, narrative and relentlessly energetic, as well as the ridiculous spectacle you would expect from the Queen of Pop. After emerging on stage from a confession box brandishing a firearm, she wasted no time in introducing slackline walking, video screen cameos from hip-hop heavyweights, a troop of military drummers suspended from the ceiling, and much more.
My friends and I were enthralled throughout the two hour experience, screaming and clapping at Madonna’s various gymnastics, jokes and the moments of meritable vocal performance, agreeing in the post-concert buzz that the vibrancy and cleverness of MDNA leaves her previous tour lying in the dust.
Aside from the fair point that the sound could have done with being a great deal louder, criticisms of the concert have been overwhelmingly predictable. Renowned antagonist Piers Morgan, whose never-ending throwing of cheap insults at Madonna in a bid for column inches to boost his plummeting American TV career, is echoed by others who seem to have adopted his trite view that Madonna is too old to attempt business-as-usual in her pop career. This view fatally overlooks the artifice of any pop personality. You do not go to a gig to find out about a real individual, their favourite food, their personal details – indeed, their age. When Eminem murders his mother in a music video, do we really think he is at high-risk of committing matricide? When Rihanna sings “chains and whips excite me” do we really believe that she is a depraved frequenter of S&M dungeons? No, we do not.
As many a Madonna fan and Little Monster know, the Queen of Pop is set to use her ‘MDNA’ tour set to tribute pop diva Lady Gaga by performing a mashed-up version of the latter’s ‘Born This Way’ with her own ‘Express Yourself’. Immediately coming under fire after its early 2011 release for sounding nearly identical to Madge’s 1989 hit, Gaga dismissed the claim of copying while her pop predecessor labeled it ‘reductive’.
Now, as audio has surfaced of Madonna’s intent to fuse the twin pop tunes on her latest live trek, we who thought the flame had cooled see it may be readying to reach higher heights. Take a listen below and you tell us:
If this is intended to be a jab won’t really be known until the visual accompanies the audio. However, knowing Madonna, the intent is questionable. Gaga, who has been pretty silent regarding Madge’s comments, has remained so while the ‘Like a Prayer’ pop diva has continually pushed the issue.
Madonna (and fans) have substantial evidence of what could be considered “copying”. But, like Madonna – the older, more established artist – has continuously been the most vocal about the issue.
From the sounds of it, I picture a cheerleader/marching band dance off between two teams, similar to the Super Bowl performance with Cee-Lo.Let’s hope this is all in fun and that Madonna is not stooping the level of Gaga’s ‘Little Monsters’.
Why does this feel like Gaga is trying to go head to head with her idol Madonna just to see who can gather up the most momentum for their respective tours? I can’t say her tour excites me. I did not enjoy the ‘Born’ era so you can bet I am totally over it. I am just ready for her to put out a brand new album and to totally take me by surprise. Lady Gaga unveiled the poster for her‘Born This Way Ball’ world tour last night on twitter. She wrote: “You know, I work on so many art projects all the time when I see you guys online. I feel like we’re all doing homework together”. Gaga previously described the forthcoming world tour as an “electro pop opera”. Several reports suggest that she aims to break U2‘s record for the highest grossing and most attended tour with a historic trek of 450 dates. Tour dates are set to be announced later today. Peep the design for her stage below. OOOohohohooo SO ScaryyYY!
Yes, it would seem that DJ White Shadow- responsible for much of Lady GaGa‘s work on ‘Born This Way‘- has had quite enough of being labelled a copy cat by Pop icon Madonna.
For, in response to the veteran’s claim that GaGa copied her hit song ‘Express Yourself‘ to create ‘Born‘s lead single of the same, the Chicago based beat maker has shared his uncensored thoughts on the issue.
Taking to his Twitter page, he ranted:
Someone should take there old lady meds before they are allowed to talk in public. No memories having motherf*cker.
I obviously do not hate Madonna, or belittle her talent or achievements, however, if she thinks we stole a song from her she is wrong.If you don’t like what I have to say, unfollow me, f*ck off.
Ouch!
Though there really is no denying that ‘Born This Way’ was indeed ‘inspired’ by ‘EY’, we are very glad that White Shadow decided ‘expressed himself’ in such a public way.
For, it is hilarious if not down right annoying that Ciccone has the cheek to condemn anyone for copying her, when she herself has shamelessly ‘swagger jacked’ the likes Cher, Marilyn Monroe, Cyndi Lauper, and dare we say Bananarama, at various points in her career.
Only time will tell just how this ‘drama’ will play out, and if GaGa herself will ever respond to Madonna’s claims.
