She’s no stranger to leaks of her work, so when Chromatica’s lead single “Stupid Love” leaked in January 2020, Lady Gaga’s fans were shocked to say the least. When people hear Gaga’s name, they understand that her role as an artist is polarizing. The supporters embrace Lady Gaga’s outsider-turned-pop star stories that reconcile with her personal insecurities, conceptual explorations, and anthems of resilience. I come from a community of Little Monsters (the name of her fan base) who grew up hearing Gaga’s “LoveGame” and “Poker Face” on the radio in elementary school and I immediately connected with both her lyrical innuendos and an urge to dance. I asked people around me for their thoughts on “Stupid Love” and I heard some say it reminded them of “Bad Romance.” This was a promising moment for me in anticipating how the rest of the album would sound.
Chromatica (May 2020) and its corresponding musical tour were postponed because of COVID-19, so we had few details about the full project except that it is named after either the spectrum of colors or notes available to an artist in their creative palette. It’s a fitting title because Gaga, also known as Mother Monster to her Little Monsters, has inspired a generation of pop stars who are risk-takers in sound, style, and message. Chromatica sounds like a celebration, and the record also carries heavy content with songs about substance addiction, the freedom to create with music and dance, art as a metaphorical weapon or tool in healing, and love songs that solidify pop music’s place as the hallmark of capturing human emotion.
What is unique about this record is that Gaga collaborated with Kibby / White Sea to make three electronic instrumental interludes titled “Chromatica I, II, and III” because Gaga wanted her record to sound as cinematic as possible. She alludes to this idea that perhaps her life is a manufactured production of luxury, but much of this identity associated with Gaga comes from society’s opinions on her life (“Plastic Doll”). “Replay” was written about the experience of PTSD and traumatic triggers, an existence that she refuses to let define her. Crying through her pain shouldn’t be a bad thing either, so Ariana Grande and Gaga come together on “Rain on Me” to emphasize being there for your friends when they need to cry.
I do a lot of reflecting on relationships like any other artist, so I admire when artists like Lady Gaga are transparent about how difficult it is to stay happy when all I really need is a helping hand. Her music urges me to reach out to the people I love even when I’m in a bad mood (“Fun Tonight”). I admire how Gaga wants “Stupid Love” because it’s the thing that keeps us coming back to one another at the end of the day. Without love we really can’t even say that we like each other, and then who wants to live in a society overrun with pessimistic narcissists who don’t like dancing or music or other people. Gaga reminds me that even though love is difficult and we are often judged for how we partake in the experience of love, I define for myself how I use my energy and wear my human need to be loved.
Songs like “Sour Candy” are ripe with innuendos in the lyrics like “take a bite, sour candy, come come unwrap me” as if comparing the juxtaposition of a sweet & sour treat with the visceral pleasures of life, whether that be money, intimacy, and death. Chromatica moves in the direction of reconciling with her personal stake in life’s celebrations and hardships. Her new music leans into the realm of reviving electronic genius with collaborations between Elton John, Ariana Grande, and BLACKPINK. Gaga’s latest dose of truth gives me a pop star who has carried the weight of making our latest decade’s worth of electronic club pop music. I’m really happy I grew up with Mother Monster.