Lady Gaga
Popular music in the 21st century is no longer just about the lyrics, the music, or the presence of the artist. It is about the combined "show" -- using media, lights, sound, special effects, costumes, make up and above all, an entertainment experience. One of the most visible and influence in the pop, dance and electronic fields is the artist Stefani Joanne Angelia Germanotta, more commonly known as Lady Gaga. Born in 1986, LG is not just a singer and performer, but also a producer, activist, fashion designer, actress and philanthropist. She was born and raised in New York City, did some brief music studies, but concentrated on her career in Manhattan's Lower East Side, then signed to Streamline Records when she was just 21 (Herbert). But this musical phenomenon is much more than a popular singer, with impressive philanthropic interests she is truly what one might call a modern Renaissance Artist.
Lady Gaga debuted with an album The Fame in 2008. It was an immediate critical and commercial success and was followed with The Fame Monster in 2009. The success of this release allowed her to take an 18-month long tour, called The Monster Ball Tour which became the highest grossing concert tour of all time. She continues to be successful with her singles, music videos, and commitment to the arts (Waddell).
Lady Gaga is hard to put into one style. She was heavily influenced by a host of performers, some popular before she was born: David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, and even Britney Spears. When one tries to define her style, we see that she is flamboyant, diverse through fashion, performance, and of music videos. This has made her extremely popular, selling 23 million albums and over 64 million singles; 5 Grammy Awards, and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Even such mainstream publications as Time Magazine have named her one of the most influential people in the world...
Music in the 21st century was accused of being increasingly derivative and irrelevant. Interest in individual performers, in the era of iTunes, was being relegated to the sidelines as teens assembled their own 'mixes' rather than sought to embrace the output of an individual artist. It was said that the era of the great soloist and the great musical concept album was dead. With her first album The Fame in
"Lady Gaga in part because she keeps us guessing about who she, as a woman, really is. She has been praised for using her music and videos to raise this question and to confound the usual exploitative answers provided by 'the media'… Gaga's gonzo wigs, her outrageous costumes, and her fondness for dousing herself in what looks like blood, are supposed to complicate what are otherwise conventionally sexualized performances"
" There is nothing plaintive in Gaga's voice as she sings. It is an upbeat tune with a light, pop accompaniment. Gaga is not sad. It happens, sometimes, she says, that relationships end. One person meets someone else, and it is time to move on. She does not regret that it happened and feels entitled to her new happiness with her new man. She does not have to grieve for
Another research article in the International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology delves into a thorough overview of "smart textiles" (Tang, et al., 2005). The authors insist that the clothing industry can "potentially be revolutionized with the commercialization of the latest 'smart' textiles research," just as certain advanced fibers, yarns and fabrics have been developed for use in the automotive industry, in space travel, civil engineering and the medical field. Tang
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