The Fame

So, let’s pretend the year is 2008. It’s summer and you’re making a huge transition in your life. For me, it was the fact that I was growing up at an alarming rate. High school would be approaching me in the fall, so it felt like my last summer to be a kid. Luckily, the summer after middle school was one of my favorites. Personally, I met some of the most important people in my life, and had a close knit friend group with amazing memories. One of the things we would do together was listening to music. I didn’t see it then, but the time we were living in was what I had previously coined “The Golden Age Of Pop.” Around this time, pop queens Katy Perry, Kesha and Lady Gaga would reign supreme. As new artists, they each brought something unique to the pop scene and it felt like they knew so much about who they were. Among these artists, I’d say that Lady Gaga was especially self-aware. Her debut album The Fame is still one of the most ambitious dance records out there. To be honest, I haven’t really heard anything like it since its release, and I do believe that’s one of the major things that has catapulted Lady Gaga into one of the biggest names in music.

2008-2009 is an integral year in my life. I just graduated from college and I was about to embark on a journey to the corporate world. The sudden need to commute to work on a rush hour can be daunting that’s why having my iPod mini as a companion in train and jeepney rides kind of helped. I tend to stick to my old favorites, but during that time, I got interested with a newbie pop singer named Lady Gaga. She is a protégé of RedOne whose songs were all over the place that year. When I saw her music videos on TV and the sort-of brand new YouTube, I just thought that well, she has it. But I never thought that she will be THAT big. Let’s be honest here: Most of the female singers who were big those days where either band members embarking on a solo route (Gwen Stefani and Fergie) or those who took a while before they scored that big hit (Rihanna and Katy Perry). When you go to the dance-pop route with no public history, you really need to exert a lot of effort to be noticed and to gain loyal followers. Ladies and gentlemen, Lady Gaga is one of the few brave artists who chased fame by singing about it.