Lady Gaga reveals new album Mayhem was inspired by this classic queer film
Lady Gaga has suggested that ‘Mayhem’ is inspired by ballroom culture. (Frank Lebon)
Pop icon and “Abracadabra” hitmaker Lady Gaga has once again confirmed she knows her LGBTQ+ history, revealing that her upcoming album Mayhem was partly inspired by legendary queer film, Paris Is Burning.
Speaking to InStyle, Mother Monster described herself as a “student of” the 1990 documentary film, which chronicled the lives of queer and trans performers, many of African-American and Latino heritage, and their submersion in New York’s ballroom scene.
At the beginning of her recently-released music video for “Abracadabra”, Gaga pays tribute to the underground ball scene, purring: “The category is… dance, or die.”
The music artist, who is bisexual and has been vocal with her trans allyship throughout her career, described being inspired by the “resilience” she saw in the subculture.
“I grew up in New York City and I also was a student of Paris Is Burning when I was really, really young. And I was always inspired by the tremendous amount of grace, freedom, expression, and joy of ballroom culture,” she shared.
“I was lucky enough to be around some dancers that were a part of that life. Being a part of the dance community is a privilege. And there are these spaces in the world where there’s an ability for the community to express and experience joy, even when life is not treating them that way,” she continued.
Gaga went on to confirm that her adoration and respect for ballroom did influence her making “Abracadabra” and her new record, Mayhem.
“I am still so inspired by it and to this day, it felt like a relevant thing to bring up in the video because it’s about resilience,” she shared. “I can’t think of a place where I’ve seen more resilience than in a ballroom.”
Little Monsters now have less than two weeks to wait until Lady Gaga returns, and she’s recently unveiled the full tracklist for the album – her first in almost five years.
In addition to her history-making collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile”, and the LP’s lead single, “Disease”, Gaga has now dished on two other important songs – “The Beast” and “Perfect Celebrity”.
She described “The Beast” as her “singing to a werewolf” and teased the lyrics: “You can’t hide who you are, 11: 59, your heart’s racin’, you’re growling, and we both know why.”
“Somehow that gothic dream is not just about me in a relationship with this person that’s about to turn, but what if I was to just sing it to myself and the beast is Gaga? It’s all these twisted dreams,” she shared.
Gaga gave a little taster of the lyrics for “Perfect Celebrity”, too: “I’ve become a notorious being, find my clone, she’s asleep on the ceiling”.
“It’s this idea that we all, in a way, have our real selves and then our clone version that we project to the world,” she hinted to InStyle.
Lady Gaga’s Mayhem is unleashed on the world on 7 March.
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