Dope (Lady Gaga song)

"Dope"
Song

"Dope" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga for her third studio album, Artpop (2013). It was released on November 4, 2013, by Interscope Records as the second promotional single from the record, following the release of "Venus". It was written by Gaga, Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair, Dino Zisis, and Nick Monson and produced by Gaga and Rick Rubin. Following her hip surgery and cancellation of the Born This Way Ball tour, Gaga became addicted to drugs, which helped her get relief from the pain of surgery and also to cope with her sabbatical. "Dope" was written about this addiction and was the evolution of fan song, that gradually turned into a personal confession for the singer. It was added to Artpop because Gaga felt the album needed something more autobiographical.

An electronic rock lament, in the vein of Irish folk ballad rue, "Dope" is a bittersweet song centered around a dark theme. It has minimal production and is only composed off Gaga's vocals sung in an intoxicated slur about substance abuse and the yearning for a long lost love more than drugs. The singer had been promoting "Dope" before its release, with wearing a snapback featuring the word DOPE, as well as posting its lyrics on Instagram, triggering the social media website's concern. The artwork featured Gaga with a big blazer, her face covered with a hat and a grill that made her teeth appear larger. Media outlets found the picture to be "odd" and compared it to different horror films.

The song received positive reviews from music critics, with reviewers complementing its simplistic production, the songwriting and Gaga's vocals. After its release, "Dope" charted at number 20 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and at number 12 on the Irish Singles Chart, while also entering the charts of Australia and Netherlands. Gaga performed the song at the 2013 YouTube Music Awards, wearing a red shirt and playing the piano, while tears streaked down her face. Her performance received mixed reviews, with one group favoring the execution for its emotional quotient, while others panned the direction.

Background and writing

"I was just numbing, numbing, numbing myself then sleeping it off, then getting on stage, killing it in pain, then getting off and smoking, smoking, smoking, not knowing what pain was... F**k, if I know what hurts the most, you know? I would break the habit and it would sneak back in and I would break it and sneak back in."

—Gaga talking about her addiction to drugs.

In February 2013, Lady Gaga suffered labral tear of her right hip, resulting in the singer canceling the remainder of her Born This Way Ball tour dates, which she had embarked to promote her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). She underwent surgery and had to be on rest for the next six months. The singer later recalled in an interview with Attitude magazine that she had serious marijuana addiction during that time in order to bear the pain of the surgery. "I would break the habit and it would sneak back in, and I would break it and sneak back in," Gaga confessed, adding that her life had become a smoke-filled cycle: sleep, sing, smoke. Having cancelled the tour and taken a sabbatical, Gaga started working on the songs for Artpop.

Following her comeback with lead single "Applause" from the album, Gaga performed few songs from the record at the iTunes Festival in London in September 2013. One of the songs known as "I Wanna Be with You", was performed as an acoustic version on the festival; Gaga called it an ode to her fans and about how much she had missed them while recuperating from the surgery. The song, later renamed to "Dope", was written by Gaga, Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair, Dino Zisis and Nick Monson and produced by Gaga and Rick Rubin. Described by Gaga as an electronic ballad, "Dope" was revealed to be "the evolution of a fan song that became a deep confession in me." In an interview with Kiss FM (UK) Gaga said that "Dope" was the most personal song she had ever created. Feeling that the album needed something more autobiographical and confessional and a song which would show her vulnerable side, Gaga worked with Rubin who let her do the song in the way she wanted and just assisted in recording it. "'Dope' is actually about me battling all sorts of addiction since I was growing up", she explained to the interviewers.

Recording and composition

"Dope" was recorded at Shangri-La Studios, Malibu, California, by Jason Lader, Ryan Hewitt and Sean Oakley, with Lader also working on the digital editing of the song and playing keyboards for it. Bill Malina completed the additional recording for the track at CRC Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois with Steve Faye. The mixing for "Dope" was performed by Manny Marroquin at Larrabee Sound Studios, North Hollywood, California, with assistance from Chris Galland and Delbert Bowers, additional mixing being done by Andrew Scheps at Punker-Pad Mobile Studios. Other instrumentation for "Dope" included piano by Gaga and Adam MacDougall at keyboards. Finally, Gene Grimaldi did the audio mastering at Oasis Mastering Studios in Burbank, California.

According to Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine, "Dope" is an electro-rock lament, in the vein of Irish folk ballad rue. For PopCrush's Amy Sciaretto, "Dope" sounded like a "dramatic, piano-driven power ballad", with a bittersweet theme, described by her, "It sounds like she woke up after a visit from her musical muse, sat down at her piano without brushing her teeth and took a swig from a bottle of whisky and started singing. It sounds that natural and that raw." "Dope" finds Gaga in a dark mood as she plays the piano and utters the lyrics. She begins the song with intoxicated, slur-like vocals and the lines, "I promise this drink is my last one / I know I fucked up again / Because I lost my only friend". The composition and the musical elements associated with the track recalled Gaga's own song, "Hair", from Born This Way (2011) with its contemplative nature, and singer Rihanna's 2013 single, "Stay", with the piano driven melody and the powerful vocals. It is more like theatrical music, but devoid of any genre. There is not much instrumentation accompanying the singer's vocals, except for piano sounds and distant synths, making Gaga's singing the focal point of "Dope". In order to give the production an intimate feeling and make it emotional, Rubin did not apply any pitch correction to Gaga's vocals, as noted by Jon Pareles from The New York Times.

The lyrics talk about substance abuse and the yearning for a long lost love more than drugs. "Just one last puff and two last regrets/Three spirits and 12 lonely steps", Gaga sings, before uttering the hook, "I need you more than dope". The lyrics meant that the singer wanted her lost love more than an addict pines for drugs. Sciaretto believed that the line, "I feel so low / From living high" is one of Gaga's best lyrics since it talks about self-realization which is difficult to achieve according to her. The lyrics provide many layers of analysis complemented by the melancholic melody the song is composed off. "Dope" is one of the most personal songs of Gaga, according to Joe Lynch from Fuse. With lines like "I promise this drink is my last one / I know I fucked up again / Because I lost my only friend", Lynch believed that Gaga was referring to her former assistant Jennifer O'Neil who had months ago moved to court against the singer for unpaid wages.

Release and artwork

Gaga was seen wearing a snapback with the above NASA logo, altered to read DOPE instead. She wore the cap during the performance of the song also.

Gaga had posted two handwritten notes of the lyrics to "Dope" on social media site Instagram. The verses, then believed to be from the song, included references to drug intake with lines such as "Been hurtin' low from living high, Toast one last puff and two last regrets" and "each day I cry, I feel so low, from living high", along with the hashtag #DOPE. The images raised concern from Instagram who felt that Gaga needed help and decided to reach out to her. They mailed the singer with the following message: "Hi, Members of the Instagram community have raised concern for your well-being after seeing posts you’ve shared. We’re re reaching out to provide you with some important safety information." Gaga mockingly responded to the letter and was dismissive of their concern; she posted on her Twitter account about the mail from the social media. Following the release of the full tracklist for Artpop, Gaga posted an image of herself on Instagram, wearing a snapback hat, emblazoned with the NASA "meatball" insignia, but replacing the word NASA with DOPE, referring to the design label with the same name.

On October 31, 2013, Gaga revealed via Twitter that "Dope" would be the final song available for purchase before the release of Artpop, accessible for digital download from November 4. The single's cover art was also revealed, depicting Gaga wearing a black floppy hat with her brunette hair falling over her shoulders, an oversized "boxy" double-breasted blazer, sheer underwear, one black leather boot and a grill that made her teeth appear larger. Her eyes are covered by a scarf and she has bruises on her belly and around her crotch area. Idolator writer Mike Wass named the cover art "a cross between Frankenstein and Michael Jackson". Matthew Jacobs from The Huffington Post found the cover to be relatively modest than the previous single artworks of the songs from Artpop. John Walker from MTV News compared the cover to director Tim Burton's works and called it "terrifying". He described Gaga's face and the grills as "[resembling] the gum-less teeth of a long-buried skull cast in titanium" and believed that the hands and legs were prosthetic. Walker concluded by saying that the cover reminded him of a "bizarro world" version of singer Janet Jackson's infamous shot for a 1993 Rolling Stone issue. Lily Harrison from E! Online complimented Gaga for taking the fashion of grills to a "whole new level". She commended the singer's ability to portray her toned figure in spite of the "odd ensemble". A writer for Metro felt that the singer was as "peculiar as ever" on the artwork. Emma Kelly from Daily Star called the cover "creepier" than any horror film and felt that the wide jacket made the singer appear as a rugby player. She compared the digitally altered smile to the cover for electronic musician Aphex Twin's EP, Come to Daddy (1997) where similar inflated grills were present. Fashion website Refinery29's Leila Brillson felt that the artwork was more of a surrealist move which made Gaga look like a "nightmarish" version of virtual band Gorillaz. Brillson was also unclear if the bruises were related to the song.

Critical reception

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine gave a positive review of the song. He had been dismissive of the version performed at the iTunes Festival due to its "bland" arrangement and "elementary" melody, but reacted well to the new version on Artpop, saying: "Gaga has been very public about her supposed battle with addiction, and whether or not it's just an another costume for the singer to wear, she's nonetheless composed a convincing anthem of remorse." Amy Sciarretto from PopCrush gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, complementing the song for its "raw" and simplistic nature, which allowed Gaga's voice to be "the focal point and the centerpiece". She concluded by saying that "Dope" was "confessional pop at its very best". Idolator reviewer Christina Lee believed that with "Dope", Gaga had found another novel way of stripping herself down in the song, and complimented the singer's vocals in the song. Michael Cragg from The Guardian, who was granted an early listen to Artpop, felt that the song was an emotional highlight of the album, denoting it as the record's "one real moment of calm" and "the album's most tender moment". However, Cragg was skeptical about the line "I need you more than dope", feeling it to be a less impressive comparison. Jon Pareles from The New York Times found similarities in the song, with the piano ballads by singer Elton John.

Georgina Littlejohn from Entertainmentwise called the track "a passionate love song that proves that Gaga is as much a songwriter as an entertainer." Alex Young from Consequence of Sound praised Gaga's vocals and deemed the track "easily the best track to surface from Artpop thus far". Jason Lipshutz from Billboard called the song a "Broadway show-stopper", adding that Gaga's broken vocals are brilliant and bruising. Jim Farber from New York Daily News felt the song expressed "great need in the lyrics while displaying only bravado in her delivery." Bradley Stern from MuuMuse found the "wailing piano ballad" to be among the weakest tracks from Artpop. Rolling Stone's Kory Grow felt that the emotional high point of "Dope" is its chorus, and is a turning point for the song. While reviewing Artpop, Jerry Shriver from USA Today commented that among the loud music of the other songs, "Dope" sounds like "too much of a slog" to provide any change of pace while listening. Leila Brilson from Refinery29 felt that with "Dope" Gaga allowed her "operatic voice" to soar; the song itself is a heart-aching ballad and an unforgettable moment on Artpop. This view was shared by Spencer Kornhaber from The Atlantic who added that the song was "a histrionic piano ballad". London Evening Standard's John Aizlewood criticized the song's lyrics for being submissive, instead of Gaga's empowerment themes.

Commercial performance

"Dope" debuted at number 34 on the Australian Singles Chart for the issue dated November 9, 2013. In New Zealand, "Dope" debuted at number 20 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, for the week of November 11, 2013, and on the Irish Singles Chart the song entered at number 12. Dope debuted at number 8 thanks to 8 million views of her performance at the YouTube Music Awards.

Live performance

Gaga performed the song at the 2013 YouTube Music Awards on November 3, 2013. She arrived on the red carpet of the event wearing black top hat, black shades and a black leather shirt, while wearing the same pair of rotten, yellow teeth she wore on the cover art. John Walker from MTV News analyzed Gaga's look to be a combination of the snake from Tim Burton's 1988 fantasy film, Beetlejuice, the Scarecrow character from DC Comics and to rocker Marilyn Manson. During the performance, the singer was dressed in a flannel shirt, a brown wig and a snapback with the NASA symbol altered to read DOPE and her face was devoid of any make-up. She performed a piano only version of "Dope", without any other instrumentation and with tears falling down her face. Shot in dim light, the ending of the performance found the singer facing towards the audience, uttering "I need you more than dope / I need you more than dope" Gaga exited the stage while shaking hands and hugging the members of the audience. Nidhi Tiwari from International Business Times favored the performance, calling it "stupendous" and "emotionally draining". Gil Kaufman from MTV News found the performance to be pensive, saying that "leave it to Lady Gaga to go completely the other direction [than the tone of the show]". Jon Caramanica from The New York Times complemented Gaga's "easiest-to-consume" performance for being "taut and focused" without any error in its execution. A review in Spin called it one of the most bare performances of the show. Conversely, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard was critical of the performance, feeling that it "failed to be the emotional stunner it desperately deserved to be". He believed that although directors Spike Jonze and Chris Milk kept the focus on Gaga's tear-stricken face to give it an intimate feel, the screaming of the audience ruined the performance. Liam O'Brien from The Independent reported that around 4,000 people left the online stream during Gaga's performance, although the number of audience streaming the show was not much.

Track listing

• Digital download

1. "Dope" – 3:41

Credits and personnel

Management

• Recorded at Shangri-La Studios, Malibu, California and CRC Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois
• Stefani Germanotta P/K/A Lady Gaga (BMI) Sony ATV Songs LLC / Haus of Gaga Publishing, LLC / GloJoe Music Inc. (BMI), Maxwell and Carter Publishing, LLC (ASCAP)

Personnel

• Lady Gaga – songwriter, lead vocals, producer, piano
• Rick Rubin – producer
• Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair – songwriter
• Nick Monson – songwriter
• Dino Zisis – songwriter
• Jason Lader – recording, digital editing, keyboards
• Ryan Hewitt – recording
• Sean Oakley – recording
• Eric Lynn – recording assistant
• Joshua Smith – recording assistant

• Dave "Squirrel" Covell – recording assistant
• Bill Malina – additional recording
• Steve Faye – recording assistant
• Manny Marroquin – mixing at Larrabee Sound Studios, North Hollywood , California
• Chris Galland – mixing assistant
• Delbert Bowers – mixing assistant
• Andrew Scheps – additional mixing at Punker-Pad Mobile
• Adam MacDougall – keyboards
• Ivy Skoff – union contract administrator
• Gene Grimaldi – audio mastering at Oasis Mastering Studios in Burbank, California

Credits and personnel adapted from Artpop album liner notes.

Charts

Charts (2013)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	34
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS	34
Ireland (IRMA)	12
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	30
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	20
Portugal Digital Songs (Billboard)	27
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	15

See also

• Lady Gaga discography
• Rick Rubin production discography

External links

• Lady Gaga Unveils 'Dope' Artwork on Twitter, MTV UK
• Lady Gaga Confirms New Promotional Single 'Dope' for Release Ahead of 'ARTPOP' Launch Capital FM