Lady Gaga

02/02/2009

Chart-topping pop princess tells us how she's going to re-define womanliness

by Laura Kelly
Having found a precious few minutes to herself away from the hectic schedule of her first UK tour – supporting the Pussycat Dolls – Lady GaGa is telling The Big Issue how she plans to start a revolution with her Andy Warhol-inspired ‘pop art music’. “I’m trying to redefine through music what it means to be a woman,” she explains, entirely straight faced.

A little swagger can be forgiven of the 22-year-old Italian-born New Yorker, who is  lording it over the UK charts and taking the world by storm with her insanely catchy ode to getting wasted, ‘Just Dance’ – but GaGa has more than just a little swagger. The sexy blonde formerly known as Joanne Stefani Germanotta makes ‘80s-era Madonna look shy with her outré announcements and bulletproof self-belief.

“I want to be a commercial artist that writes about commercial art and is taken seriously as a fine artist,” she continues, before explaining that no one has ever translated the ethos of Warhol’s Factory into pop music before.

The Velvet Underground and David Bowie might have something to say about that but it doesn’t bother GaGa. “It’s not just about the music, it’s about performance, the fashion. I’ve directed films for the Pussycat Dolls tour and they’re great.” Granted, the music doesn’t quite live up to this over-egging (it’s hard to imagine what could) but it’s slick, efficient pop and all the more attractive for its mouthy exponent.

If the likes of Madonna and Gwen Stefani, to both of GaGa owes a big debt, have taught us nothing else, it’s that a powerhouse performer can have an alchemical effect on otherwise average goods. That, and showing your knickers, is the surest way to the paparazzi’s hearts. This is a lesson that’s already paying dividends for GaGa, who since her arrival in the UK has been a hit with snappers thanks to her tendency to buy fish and chips wearing a leotard and leave her hotel in her diamante pants.

Despite this, GaGa insists she is not courting the tabloids, instead she sees her life as performance art. “I’m an artist, not an heiress,” she asserts, apparently getting a dig in at her former schoolmate Paris Hilton (they both went to Manhattan private school Convent of the Sacred Heart). “It’s no disrespect to Paris,” she backpaddles when called on it, “she’s a lovely girl and so is her sister. Who they are is wonderful, but it’s not who I am.

“I don’t want what people to think about me by my relationship with the paparazzi. I want what people think about me to be my art.”

As a former burlesque dancer in New York’s lower east side, GaGa sees no contradiction between being a strong “working lady” and taking her clothes off for money.

“I’m not a feminist,” she blurts out, although she’s not been asked. “Young women equate feminism with man hating and not embracing any tradition as a woman, and I think it’s okay to embrace tradition. Look after your man and take care of your father; be good to your mom and dad; cook sometimes at home.”

Judging by this, GaGa’s reinvention of womanhood may as radical as her “revolutionary” take on music – but since when did pop culture reject a sexpot with great tunes and the ability to cook top-notch meatballs? She’s gonna be huge.