Artpop

For the genre, see Art pop

Untitled

Artpop (stylized as ARTPOP) is the third studio album by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released on November 6, 2013 by Streamline and Interscope Records. Work on the album began shortly after the launch of Born This Way (2011), and consumed much of 2012. Gaga recruited a variety of producers to help engineer Artpop, including Madeon, Zedd, and longtime collaborators RedOne and DJ White Shadow. It also features guest appearances from R. Kelly, T.I., Twista, and Too Short. Initially planned for release in early 2013, a hip injury Gaga sustained during the Born This Way Ball delayed the project for several months.

Described as a "a celebration and a poetic musical journey", Artpop represents a musical departure from Born This Way. Its lead single, "Applause", was released on August 12, 2013, and peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Do What U Want", was released on October 21, 2013.

Background and recording

Development of Artpop began shortly after the release of Born This Way (2011), and by the following year, the album's concepts were "beginning to flourish" as Gaga collaborated with producers Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow. Initial material "so crazy" was sent to Gaga to test for the first recording sessions of Artpop, which coincided with the Born This Way Ball. Up to fifty songs were constructed and considered for inclusion. By May 2012, manager Vincent Herbert insisted that the project was taking form, being composed of "insane, great records". Meanwhile, Gaga introduced tracks to her record company and hoped to reveal the album's working title by September, a revelation that instead was announced one month in advance. The artist felt Artpop was her first "real" effort that emulated a "phoenix rising from the ashes", reflecting her heightened confidence in writing material for the album compared to her previous efforts.

Gaga recruited Jeff Koons into the project in early 2013, but the two had previously met at a Metropolitan Museum of Art fashion event three years earlier, where Gaga provided a live performance. According to Koons, Gaga "just kind of grabbed ahold of me and gave me a big hug around my waist " and replied, "You know, Jeff, I've been such a fan of yours, and when I was a kid just hanging out in Central Park I would talk to my friends about your work."

Following hip surgery in February 2013, the singer had six months to recuperate, during which she studied literature and music with her creative team as well as discussed "creative gifts that [they] had to offer each other". The injury allowed her to review and enhance her creative direction, which she admitted to be a meticulous "gazing process". "I have to gaze into the work for long periods of time for it to be good," adding that upon analyzing her ideas, she received "that wonderful feeling" which told her "that's the one". In early July 2013, Interscope Records sent a mass email to major media outlets updating them on their current releases, eventually revealing an August 19 release date for "Applause" and a music video; however, it was released a week earlier on August 12 due to leaking snippets.

Composition

Production

Artpop is a synthpop album, its sound is textured with trap, industrial, R&B, techno, disco and rock. Its electronic landscape was initially tailored for Born This Way before Gaga and Garibay opted for a rock-influenced sound. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine claimed the singer "continues to be a student" of Madonna as she mirrors Confessions on a Dance Floor and "Holiday" with songs such as "Applause" and "Fashion!", and furthermore heard Artpop as a pastiche of Gaga's previous efforts. Adam Markovitz from Entertainment Weekly concurred, writing that "most of the songs here would fit right in" with The Fame and Born This Way. Mof Gimmers from The Quietus noticed a "tremendous juggernaut of pop" within the album's frame, while Helen Brown from The Daily Telegraph quipped "it's like wandering drunk around a vast, labyrinthine club, and peering into a disorienting series of darkened rooms in which she tries on various musical genres as if they were hats" in reference to the album's busy soundscape. Ben Kelly of Attitude described Artpop as a "relentless odyssey of electronic sounds" pierced by "strong melodic refrains". John Aizlewood from London Evening Standard said it was built to inspire "hair-waving, body-shaking routines at stadium shows", pinpointing "stentorian keyboards, clattering electro-percussion and thumping backbeats" as the bedrock of the album's production.

Concept

Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus is seen in the album cover's background and influenced Gaga's image throughout Artpop.

Gaga described Artpop as "a celebration and a poetic musical journey" that displayed a "lack of maturity and responsibility", contrary to the dark, anthemic nature of Born This Way, and ultimately subscribing to what she called a "reverse Warholian" formula. She told V magazine in an August 2013 interview that she underwent a "cosmetic experience with words" as she examined potential names for the project. "Popart" was initially favored as a prime candidate, but as Gaga questioned potential marketing ploys, "the cultural implication of the words", and the title's evolution post-release, she soon found a "nice ring" to "Artpop".

With Artpop, Gaga attempts to inject a sense of vulnerability into her persona in light of public backlash deriding her credibility as an artist: Pierrot and Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus painting have both been cited as muses of Gaga's creative vision. The singer admitted to being increasingly self-conscious at the apex of the Born This Way era, and when asked about the decision to refine her image, she responded:

For Artpop, I, in the most metaphorical explanation, stood in front of a mirror and I took off the wig and I took off the makeup and I unzipped the outfit and I put a black cap on my head and I covered my body in a black catsuit and I looked in the mirror and I said: 'OK, now you need to show them you can be brilliant without that.' And that's what Artpop is all about. Because I knew that if I wanted to grow, if I really wanted to innovate from the inside, I had to do something that was almost impossible for me.

The album's themes primarily revolve around fame, sex, and empowerment, whilst briefly exploring gender roles and marijuana. Spencer Kornhaber from The Atlantic saw Artpop as an "attention-freak's manifesto", and interpreted the album's exploration into carnal desire as a facet of the broader idea of "owning up to one's own desire for attention". Aizlewood felt songs such as "Do What U Want" and "Dope" highlighted Gaga's "curiously submissive" tendencies as a lyricist. Jason Lipshutz from Billboard commented that the album "naturally abides" to her "far-reaching ambition" to "re-think the 'pop album' as an entity". Jerry Shiver from USA Today observed the lyrics to foretell "the exploits of an empowered, sexy siren who wrestles with fame", something he expected from Gaga. John Pareles from The New York Times argued that with Artpop, Gaga reasserted "her need for the love of her audience and announced her new pivot to align herself with the [visual] art world".

Release and artwork

In August 2012, after getting a matching tattoo, Gaga announced on Facebook and Twitter that the record would be titled Artpop, and stated that she prefer it capitalized for stylization. It was originally expected to be released in early 2013, but was indefinitely postponed after Gaga developed synovitis and a labral tear to her hip that required surgical correction, for which Gaga cancelled the remainder of her Born This Way Ball. In July 2013, Gaga confirmed that Artpop would be released on November 11, 2013 in the United States, in the traditional CD and digital mediums, in addition to an application developed by the Haus of Gaga technology division, TechHaus. It will be available for all personal computers and Android and iOS-running mobile devices, and will feature bonus content. It will be the third album-app to be released in mainstream commercial markets, the first being Björk's Biophilia (2011) and Jay-Z's Magna Carta... Holy Grail (2013). The album and app pre-order was initially supposed to begin on September 1, 2013, however, Gaga later announced on her Facebook page that "due to public anticipation", pre-orders for the album and the app will now be available on August 19, 2013. This was pushed up to August 12 due to the release of "Applause".

American artist Jeff Koons designed the album cover.

On October 7, 2013, Gaga unveiled the album cover on Clear Channel billboards around the world. Created by Jeff Koons, the image features a nude sculpture of Gaga with a blue gazing ball in front of her. The background consists of art works including The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, which inspired Gaga's image through the creation of Artpop, including in her music video for "Applause" and the VMA performance of the song. Jeff Koons explained the meaning of the cover to MTV:

"With the cover, I wanted to have Gaga there as a sculpture, as a three-dimensional type of form and with the gazing ball, because the gazing ball really does become kind of the symbol for everything — and this aspect of reflection that when you come across something like a gazing ball, it affirms you, it affirms your existence and then from that affirmation, you start to want more. There's a transcendence that takes place and eventually it really leads you to everything. So that aspect's there. But I didn't want Gaga there just kind of isolated, so in the background there's [Gian Lorenzo] Bernini's 'Apollo and Daphne' — and that's the work where Apollo chases Daphne and she turns into a tree. And so there's just glimpses of Daphne's face and of Apollo. Apollo is the god of music and whenever Apollo would perform music he would transcend, he would change; his being would become more feminine. And that's the transcendence that you can experience through art and life. Your being can change, your possibilities can change, your perimeters can change. And also in this triangular shapes that go out is Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus,' presenting Gaga of course in the role of Venus — of the nature of the continuation of life's energy and the pursuit and the enjoyment of aesthetics and of beauty. And of the desire to continually have transcendence."

Will Gompertz from NME wrote that "this is a classic cover. When you're listing the 100 best covers of the 21st century, this will be right up there. Typographically it's an AA+, visually it's AAA". Later, Gaga also revealed on her Facebook page that "the first 500,000 physical copies of ARTPOP are crafted with LADY GAGA + ARTPOP cut out of hot pink metallic foil + silver foil. The foiling represents the true design of the cover as imagined by the artist Jeff Koons, who hand collaged the typography himself." The track listing was unveiled in a series of fan posts retweeted by Gaga with pictures of a painted mural made by the fans who waited her outside of the studio in Los Angeles on October 9, 2013. Originally, the track listing was supposed to be unveiled on September 29, 2013. In a Twitter post, she said the tracklist was late due to two songs fighting for the twelfth place on the album.

Singles

"Applause" was released as the first single from the album. It was supposed to premiere on August 19, 2013, however, due to multiple clips of the song leaking online, the song was released early on August 12, 2013. It officially impacted mainstream radio stations in the United States on August 19, 2013. Its music video was premiered on Good Morning America on August 19, 2013. The music video was shot in Los Angeles by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, who also created the artwork for the single.

On September 3, 2013, Gaga started two polls on Twitter asking fans to help her choose the second single, the first poll asked to choose between "Manicure" and "Sexxx Dreams" while the second poll asked to choose between "Aura" and "Swine". On September 20, 2013, Gaga gave an update about the second single, stating that it will be released before the album's release; adding that: "There is a lot of choices, I want to choose something thats totally ME! for me its about choosing the best song". She concluded by saying: "There's a chance you have not heard the next single". On October 10, 2013, Gaga revealed that "Venus" had been chosen as the second single.

Promotion

Gaga performing "Artpop" at the 2013 iTunes Festival, London

On December 25, 2012, Gaga announced a documentary celebrating "life, the creation of Artpop + you", which she described as a gift to her fans. The documentary is still in production, with film direction by Terry Richardson, a previous collaborator on the photography book Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson.

A public announcement, posted on July 12, 2013, revealed plans for an "artRave" event the night before the release of Artpop, unveiling projects Gaga had been working on in collaboration with the Haus of Gaga, Dutch photographer duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson, performance artist Marina Abramović and artist Jeff Koons. Its accompanying image features the singer covering her bare breasts with her arms—with her forearm "Artpop" tattoo in plain sight—and wearing a visor designed by London College of Fashion alumna Isabell Yalda Hellysaz. Another promotional image sees Gaga with long brown hair, sporting a pair of spectacles, and sitting completely naked on a chair crafted from motherboards as she displays her unicorn thigh tattoo.

Gaga opened the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards with a performance of "Applause", dissecting her career through a series of colorful costumes and wigs. She then headlined the iTunes Festival on September 1, 2013 and performed seven songs from the album before a crowd of 5,000 people. T.I., initially apart of the gig, was unable to participate in the festival after being denied entry to the UK. Gaga again presented audiences with a taste of Artpop while hosting an October 24 promotional listening session in Berlin, where she provided a live rendition of "Gypsy". The singer then made a surprise appearance at London's G-A-Y nightclub two days later and performed "Venus", stripping naked in the process and provoking a frenzy on social media. On October 27, Gaga once more played "Venus", this time alongside "Do What U Want", on the tenth series of The X Factor in the UK. Her risqué performance prompted a barrage of complaints to ITV and industry regulator Ofcom (Office of Communications), who are currently investigating the complaints. Gaga returned to the United States the following week for a modest performance of "Dope" at the inaugural YouTube Music Awards. On November 16, she hosted and served as musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Kenan Thompson appeared in several sketches with her, and she performed "Do What U Want" with R. Kelly, as well as "Gypsy." She will appear in her second Thanksgiving Day television special, titled Lady Gaga and the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular, on November 28, 2013.

An October 4 trailer for Machete Kills, Gaga's screen debut, previewed the studio version of "Aura". The song's lyric video, directed by Robert Rodriguez, was uploaded to Gaga's official Vevo account five days later and again featured scenes and dialogue from the film. Excerpts of the studio versions of "G.U.Y.", "Artpop", and "Mary Jane Holland" were released periodically over the course of two weeks from October 14 to October 28. Two promotional singles were released from Artpop preceding the album's release: "Venus" on October 28, and "Dope" on November 4.

Artpop app

In July 2013, Gaga announced that an Artpop app will be available in conjunction with the album's release. Gaga said about the software: "The app itself is a musical and visual engineering system that combines music, art, fashion, and technology with a new interactive worldwide community — 'The Auras'. Altering the human experience with social media, we bring ARTculture into POP in a reverse Warholian expedition." There has been controversy surrounding the app, with many stating that it is nothing more than an elaborate way for Gaga to boost sales of Artpop. The assumption was that each time a fan downloads a single track through the app, Billboard would count it as an album sold. On July 31, 2013, Billboard editorial director Bill Werde took to Twitter to set the record straight on how the Artpop app will affect sales:

As we understand, Gaga fans will get [the] Artpop app for free and can buy the album [through the] app. Albums purchased this way would count on Billboard charts, however, [speculation that the purchase of a single track through the app would count as an album sold is not true]....[also], concerns about self-reported data by Gaga's [team] seem unfounded - sales will be fulfilled and reported by existing digital retailers.....[and], for those who may ask: This is obviously different from Jay Z's Magna Carta/Samsung [deal] which - via an app - gave [his album] for free [and] had no option for fans to buy.

In October 2013, during a Q & A session, when a fan asked Gaga why "Brooklyn Nights" was not on the album, she replied: "I wanted to spend more time on it. It will come out [via] the app sometime during the album cycle".

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	61/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	C–
Consequence of Sound
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
The Independent
Los Angeles Times
PopMatters	4/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	6/10

Artpop received generally mixed to positive reviews upon its release from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews." Jim Farber from New York Daily News believed many of the album's tracks made Gaga sound distant; he awarded 3/5 stars, calling the album "catch[y]." Adam Markovitz from Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B, stating that many of the album's songs were "enjoyable but well-worn." Markovitz praised the album for being "well-executed" and praised its "strong melodic lines", however noted that Artpop generally failed to make an impression. Jerry Shriver from USA Today gave the album 2.5/4 stars, stating it was "undeniably relentless" but not "consistently entertaining". Shriver stated that the album was scarce of "sing-along choruses" and found its "rhythmic pounding" to be "exhausting"; concluding that the album was ready for the "dance floor" but was mostly intended for Gaga's fans and not general listeners.

James Shotwell from Under the Gun' praised the song Dope, commenting that it "surpassed her previous efforts". Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine gave the album 3.5/5 stars, commenting "when Gaga revisits more conventional pop sounds and structures, the results are often sublime—and surprisingly revealing." Jason Lipshutz from Billboard gave the album a rating of 84/100, praising Gaga's effort to make "absolutely certain that every inch of her craft evolves and innovates".

Robert Copsey from Digital Spy commented that "thematically, stylistically and lyrically it's all over the shop", and that several songs sounded like "half-finished plagues"; although felt the album contained more "hits" than "misses". Ed Potton from The Times noted that the knives were out for Gaga following the "Madonna rip-offs" and "less on decent tunes" of her previous album Born This Way. However, Potton praised the artist, commenting "washed up? Far from it", and awarding Artpop 4/5 stars.

Helen Brown from The Daily Telegraph criticized Gaga's choice to do another album "themed around her own stardom" (after The Fame and The Fame Monster), and commented that although Gaga tries different genres of music, "she doesn't do anything wildly original with them, but she has fun". Brown however praised the album as "great for dancing". Alexis Petridis from The Guardian suggested there was "some decent pop" on the album but thought the art was "rather harder to discern"; awarding 3 out of 5 stars. Andy Gill from The Independent gave the album 3/5 stars and commented "It's hard not to feel underwhelmed by ARTPOP", though praised the tracks "Swine" and "Artpop". Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone gave the album 3/5 stars, calling it "a bizarre album of squelchy disco" and "sexual but not sexy".

Commercial performance

Artpop was tracking towards sales of 260,000 physical units in the United States as of November 17, 2013, about 75% less than its predecessor, 2011's Born This Way. On the first day of sales in Japan, charts provider Oricon reported Artpop selling 18,109 physical albums, reaching the number-two position. This was 5,000 copies underneath Jin Akanishi's #Justjin and, out-performed Avril Lavigne's self-titled album by 4,000 copies. It went on to sell 58,493 copies to debut atop the Oricon Albums Chart. In Australia, Artpop debuted at number two on the ARIA album chart, with sales of 15,685 copies, being kept from the top spot by rapper Eminem's eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 which held atop the chart for a second week with sales of 20,096 copies. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 65,608 copies, making Gaga the third female solo artist in chart history to top the chart with each of her first three studio albums, following Lavigne and Susan Boyle.

Potential sequel

In October 2012, Gaga called Artpop "a bit more modern" and stated "You never know if radio is ready, I can't decide how to tracklist [the album] yet. Sort of thinking that volume one should have all the commercial songs and save the experimental material for volume two". Following this statement, fans were confused on whether Artpop would be a double-disc set or if it would be split into two separate volumes. MTV News' emailed her reps to seek clarification but they were not present at press time. This was confirmed one year later, during a Q & A session on Twitter, with Gaga stating that she has "lots of songs for Act 2".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Aura"	Lady Gaga Anton Zaslavski Amit Duvdevani Erez Eisen	Zedd Infected Mushroom Lady Gaga	3:55
2.	"Venus"	Lady Gaga Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair Hugo Leclercq Dino Zisis Nick Monson Sun Ra	Lady Gaga Madeon[a]	3:53
3.	"G.U.Y."	Lady Gaga Zaslavski	Zedd Lady Gaga	3:52
4.	"Sexxx Dreams"	Lady Gaga Blair Martin Bresso William Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga	3:34
5.	"Jewels n' Drugs" (featuring T.I., Too Short and Twista)	Lady Gaga Blair Monson Zisis Too Short Twista Clifford Harris, Jr.	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	3:48
6.	"Manicure"	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	3:19
7.	"Do What U Want" (featuring R. Kelly)	Lady Gaga Blair Bresso Grigahcine Kelly	Blair Lady Gaga	3:47
8.	"Artpop"	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	4:07
9.	"Swine"	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	4:28
10.	"Donatella"	Lady Gaga Zaslavski	Zedd Lady Gaga	4:24
11.	"Fashion!"	Lady Gaga Giorgio Tuinfort William Adams David Guetta Blair	Tuinfort will.i.am Guetta Lady Gaga	3:59
12.	"Mary Jane Holland"	Lady Gaga Leclercq	Madeon Lady Gaga	4:37
13.	"Dope"	Lady Gaga Blair Monson Zisis	Rick Rubin Lady Gaga	3:41
14.	"Gypsy"	Lady Gaga RedOne Leclercq Blair	Madeon Lady Gaga	4:08
15.	"Applause"	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson Bresso Nicolas Mercier Julien Arias Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	3:32
Total length:				59:04

Walmart bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Applause" (DJ White Shadow Electrotech Remix)	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson Bresso Nicolas Mercier Julien Arias Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	5:49
17.	"Applause" (Viceroy Remix)	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson Bresso Nicolas Mercier Julien Arias Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a] Viceroy[b]	4:27
Total length:				69:20

Japanese edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Applause" (DJ White Shadow Electrotech Remix)	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson Bresso Nicolas Mercier Julien Arias Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a]	5:49
17.	"Applause" (Viceroy Remix)	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson Bresso Nicolas Mercier Julien Arias Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a] Viceroy[b]	4:27
18.	"Applause" (Empire of the Sun Remix)	Lady Gaga Blair Zisis Monson Bresso Nicolas Mercier Julien Arias Grigahcine	Blair Lady Gaga Monson[a] Zisis[a] Empire of the Sun[b]	4:08
Total length:				73:28

International deluxe edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Aura" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
2.	"Manicure" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
3.	"Artpop" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
4.	"Jewels & Drugs" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
5.	"Sex Dreams" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
6.	"Swine" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
7.	"Dope (listed as "I Wanna Be with You")" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
8.	"Applause" (Live at iTunes Festival 2013)
Total length:		1:00:26

Japanese deluxe edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
9.	"Video Interview" (Japanese original)

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• "Venus" contains samples from "Rocket Number Nine" written by Sun Ra and "Rocket n°9" by Zombie Zombie.
• "Sexxx Dreams" and "Jewels N' Drugs" are titled "X Dreams" and "Jewels N' *****" on the edited version of the album respectively.

Charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	2
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)	3
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	4
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	3
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)	30
Irish Albums (IRMA)	2
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	38
Scottish Albums (OCC)	1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	6
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	2
UK Albums (OCC)	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)	Platinum	80,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label
Japan	November 6, 2013	CD CD+DVD digital download	Universal Music
Australia	November 8, 2013
France		Digital download
Germany		CD CD+DVD LP digital download
Italy		Digital download
United Kingdom			Polydor Records
Australia	November 11, 2013	LP	Universal Music
France		CD CD+DVD
United Kingdom			Polydor Records
United States		CD digital download	Streamline Records Interscope Records
Italy	November 12, 2013	CD CD+DVD	Universal Music
Poland		CD
France	December 30, 2013	LP
United Kingdom			Polydor Records