Artpop (song)

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"Artpop"
Song by Lady Gaga
from the album Artpop
ReleasedNovember 6, 2013
Recorded2012
StudioRecord Plant (Hollywood)
Genre
Length4:07
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair
  • Lady Gaga
  • Nick Monson
  • Dino Zisis
Audio video
"Artpop" on
YouTube

"Artpop" (stylized in all caps) is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her third studio album of the same name. She co-wrote and co-produced the song with Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair, Nick Monson, and Dino Zisis. "Artpop" was the first song developed for the album and led the composers to pursue other avenues of musical production. Described as the backbone of the record, Gaga did not want to experiment with the production of "Artpop", as she believed it to have an infinite aspect in it.

A

guitars
and has computerized musical sounds interspersed in between. The lyrics have been interpreted in a multitude of ways, including a romantic relationship, Gaga's bonding with her fans, the merging of art and pop, as well as using them to portray her brand value and generate further interest in her. "Artpop" received mixed reviews from critics who praised the low-key composition of the song compared to other tracks on the album, but panned the lyrics and the dated production.

"Artpop" was used in a "

iTunes Festival performance. She subsequently performed it at her ArtRave album release party, on the Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular on ABC with singer Elton John, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It also served as the opening song to her 2014 ArtRave: The Artpop Ball
tour.

Background and development

DJ White Shadow

Development of Lady Gaga's third studio album,

Sirius XM Radio
, where she gave an in-depth analysis of each song from the album, Gaga explained:

'Artpop' is really an inferno and it's the only song on the record that I didn't really wanna go anywhere or explode or orgasm. Because then it would just be like composing something that would be just like every other sort of orgasm that I've ever had. And because its really the center of the record, I really wanted there to be a more infinite tone, to this concept of Art+Pop, that we can put art in the front and not have the corporate world to control in art anymore. How can we the artist back our ideas and for our visions to be the most important thing. The thing that's driving culture, driving these corporations. I didn't wanted ['Artpop'] to grow too much, I wanted it to kind of hypnotize people and become like a mantra.[8]

Recording and composition

Initial recording sessions for Artpop coincided with the Born This Way Ball.

beats per minute.[12] It is composed in the key of D minor with Gaga's vocals spanning the tonal nodes of F3 to A4. The song follows a basic sequence of Dm–Gm–F–C as its chord progression.[12]

The song was recorded at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California.

In a review for

New York Daily News believed that the love relationship was sidelined for that between art and pop with the lyrics.[22]

There are other dimensions to the lyrics, with Gaga playing off her image of self-promotion and criticisms directed at her with the line "I try to sell myself, but I am really laughing because I just want the music not the bling".[21] In a review for Artpop, Simon Chandler from Tiny Mix Tapes gave a detailed analysis of the lyrical composition. According to him, Gaga wanted to portray her music as boundless in its meaning with "Artpop", but it appeared to be arrogant since most of the conclusions derived about her music is from her public persona created and its media coverage. Chandler believed that the lyrics wanted to drive home a point about Gaga being the center for any discussion. With the previous lyrics, the implication is that Gaga's impassive personality utilizes her music to sell her brand name to the general crowd, and primarily fuels the public interest in her.[17]

Release and reception

A teaser for "Artpop" was previewed as part of snippets from the parent album until its final release on November 11, 2013.

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the video consisted of the material that Gaga created with them as promotion leading to Artpop.[24] The video begins with a nude Gaga uttering a monologue: "This album is a celebration. My pain exploding in electronic music. It's heavy, but after I listen to it I feel happy again. I feel lighter." Following these are the black-and-white promotional scenes from Artpop campaign announcement, the music video for the first single "Applause", the nude images for her interview with V magazine and the artwork for promotional single, "Dope".[24][25] Gaga shows a range of emotion in the film, including caressing a mannequin and applying dirt on her body, but most of the time she simply stares towards the camera.[26] Zayda Rivera from New York Daily News expressed her difficulty in understanding the film, but added that "hypnotic musical backdrop of her single 'Artpop' perfectly matches the artsy, bewildering and even disturbing images that run through the fast and slow editing." Gaga admitted that she had performed for 12 hours while making the film.[27]

"The bloopy title track boasts the great reveal that 'my Artpop could mean anything' and the impression of a pop star scrambling, post-hoc, towards coherence never goes away. Illusion, masks, bareness, posing: all are exercised as ideas, without Gaga really settling on a preference."

The track received mixed reviews from

Idolator called it an "obtuse synth track" believing the composition to be "ingenious" or "pretentious", and felt that Gaga's endeavors kept the pop music scene interesting.[20] Evan Sawdey from PopMatters believed that the vibe of the previous track on the album, "Do What U Want", carried off to "Artpop" which he described as "strange" and "hypnotic" and the best thing on the parent album.[29] Harley listed "Artpop" as one of the more aurally pleasurable tracks from the album.[15] Calling it a "standout" track, Andrew Barker from Variety compared Gaga's vocals to those of Debbie Harry, with their cold disposition.[30] Emily McKey from NME called the song "slow and purringly sexy", believing that the line "My artpop could mean anything" referred to the trivial concept of the album itself.[31] Critic Greg Kot from Chicago Tribune believed that "Artpop" was the only song on the album, where there was a hint of what the actual composition of the over all record should have been.[32] Justin Miller from Harper's Bazaar called the song more intimate that the previous tracks in the album, but felt it was a techno-ballad and the most diffused composition for Gaga.[14]

Negative reviews came from Holly Williams of

The Huffington Post called the song as "pretentious" and the least interesting endeavor on the album. She believed that "Artpop" failed to embody the concept of the album and was plagued with the same inconsequential lyrics that was visible during her Born This Way era. She concluded by giving the example: "Like a mad scientist trying to create life, Gaga's experiment to fuse ART and POP sometimes results in overly ambitious deformities with six legs."[40]

Live performances

Gaga performing "Artpop" at the 2013 iTunes Festival in London. She wears the characteristic sea-shell bikini and the blond wig.

Previous to the release of the album or the teasers, Gaga performed "Artpop" live on September 1, 2013, at the iTunes Festival in London. The song was the third performance that evening, from a set list containing eight tracks.[21] Following the performance of "Manicure" and a piano interlude, Gaga stripped off her clothes onstage until she was in a sea-shell bikini and an enormous blond wig, and started singing the song.[41] Ashley Percival from The Huffington Post complimented the performance, saying that the song "showed the most promise onstage".[21] A review at Capital FM website found the song akin to her 2009 single, "Paparazzi".[41] Jenn Selby from Glamour called the performance a "heartfelt piece of pop music accompanied with its own, YMCA-like arm dance."[42] Digital Spy's Copsey was confused with the performance, but enjoyed the downtempo composition of "Artpop" and rated it three-and-a-half stars out of five.[43] Writing for The Guardian, Kitty Empire criticized the absence of clothing but praised the overall performance.[44] Gaga next performed "Artpop" during her ArtRave party for the release of the album.[45] Gaga performed "Artpop" after opening the ArtRave concert with "Aura", the first track of the album.[citation needed]

Gaga performed the song on Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular, her second Thanksgiving television special which aired on ABC on November 28, 2013. She had invited singer Elton John as special guest star for the performance.[46] After a performance of John's 1974 single "Bennie and the Jets", the duo started singing "Artpop". They were seated opposite to each other on piano, and Gaga was ornamented in a dress made of Coca-Cola cans. During the chorus, they were joined by The Muppets who aided with background vocals.[47] Chris Willman from Billboard called John as the best guest performer of the special.[48] Maricela Gonzales from Entertainment Weekly was impressed with the performance, saying that although she did not understand the message behind the song, "[w]hat is clear is that Gaga and Elton John belong together. I'm serious, I want to go to that show."[49]

Gaga performing "Artpop" as the opening number of 2014's ArtRave: The Artpop Ball

She also performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on February 18, 2014. The performance was the restart of Gaga's emergence under media spotlight, following a self-imposed sabbatical due to depression and stories about betrayal surrounding the release of Artpop.[50] The singer wore a white dress and sported a platinum blond wig; the ensemble made her look like fashion designer Donatella Versace.[51] Starting the song as an acoustic version, Gaga played a crystal piano placed atop a ramp at the end of the stage. By the second chorus, the electronic beats of the song started and she descended to the front of the stage to complete the performance with a dance.[52] Carl Williot from Idolator complimented the performance, saying that it made him appreciate the track more.[50] It was praised by Melinda Newman from HitFix who said that "Gaga excels when it is just her at a piano performing the songs with the barest of accompaniment."[51]

At the ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour of 2014, "Artpop" was added as the opening song of the set list. The show starts off with a video introduction about the tour, followed by dancers appearing on stage with balloons and blue gazing balls. The video continues to play as Gaga emerges from beneath the stage, wearing a golden leotard with wings and a blue ball attached to her bosom.[53][54] Dry ice and confetti accompanied her arrival on stage, as Gaga sang the song standing atop two male dancers wearing scuba diving masks.[55][56]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Artpop.[11]

Management

  • Recorded at Record Plant Studios, Hollywood, California
  • Stefani Germanotta P/K/A Lady Gaga (BMI) Sony ATV Songs LLC/House of Gaga Publishing, LLC/GloJoe Music Inc. (BMI), Maxwell and Carter Publishing, LLC (ASCAP), administered by Universal Music Publishing Group and Maxwell and Carter Publishing, LLC (BMI) administered by Universal Music Publishing Group

Personnel

  • lead vocals, producer, piano, guitar
    , vocal arrangement
  • Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair – songwriter, producer
  • Nick Monson – songwriter, producer, guitar
  • Dino Zisis – songwriter, producer
  • Dave Russell – recording, mixing
  • Benjamin Rice – recording and mixing assistant
  • Daniel Zaidenstadt – recording assistant
  • Dino "SpeedoVee" Zisis – additional recording
  • Rick Pearl – additional programming
  • Nicole Ganther – background vocals
  • Natalie Ganther – background vocals
  • Lyon Gray – background vocals
  • Ivy Skoff – union contract administrator
  • Gene Grimaldi –
    mastering

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Artpop"
Charts (2013) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[57] 185
South Korea International (
Gaon)[58]
 64

References

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