Lady Madonna make everyone go GaGa.

Lady Madonna makes everyone go GaGa.

I was reading the Rolling Stone interview with Lady Gaga* and it struck me that she really is Madonna. Their backgrounds are strikingly similar, they both have an obviously strong work ethic that includes "anything to be famous for my art" and both are honest to God pop stars. I shudder to voice it out loud, but Madonna / GaGa appropriate a lot of Bowie's tricks, allowing their inner chameleon to come out and embrace whatever modern sounds are tickling their fancy at that moment. Trust me, I don't think she's some kinda feminist icon or anything, just that she's using what she got to get what she wants.

I'm just dashing this out, and really do have a lot more to say on the subject, but for now I'll leave it at this: Lady GaGa is a pop star manipulating everyone around her for her own gain. She's outrageous, unapologetic, brash and shocking in a total college art student manner, and it's quite possible that once the dust has settled, if she can continue to reinvent herself, there's a good chance she might have a Madonna-length career. We'll see.

For now, though, I offer to you the absolute best Lady GaGa songs by other artists. The first features her guest turn on a Wale track that's been in my DJ sets since it was emailed to me a month or so ago. The other samples GaGa to provide Kid Cudi with some porn rhymes, Kanye with some B.M.O.C. swagga, and Common with, um, some backpackin' smut with a sly smile?

MP3: Wale "Chillin'"
MP3: Kid Cudi (with Kanye West and Common) "I Poke Her Face"

*A subscription has been arriving unbidden at my door for the last few months. I can only guess they put me on some mailing list in hopes of increasing their circulation numbers if not their subscription revenues?