Lady Gaga Says 'All Music is Black Music'

It's been a pretty major year for Lady Gaga, and apparently, it was supposed to be bigger. The consummate professional and all-around performer released her sixth studio album Chromatica this year. With it came the video for her dance hit "Rain On Me," a standout performance at the virtual Video Music Awards, and a bevy of new merchandise including jockstraps and thongs. It was a pretty amazing release considering the unprecedented moment we are in, but apparently, we were robbed of "one of the best rollouts planned for an album ever."

In a new cover story for Billboard, Gaga and her team address how the ongoing global pandemic and the resurfaced fight against racial injustice have changed her rollout plan. John Janick, the chairman and CEO of Interscope Records made the aforementioned claim about the original schedule which included an iHeartRadio Music Awards performance, a surprise Coachella set, a bevy of music videos, brand campaigns, and the Chromatica Ball stadium tour. In the place of those plans came the VMA performance, the One World: Together at Home special which raised well over $100 million for the pandemic, and plans for a surprise performance at a drive-through drag show featuring Aquaria, Jaida Essence Hall and others was canceled because of the Chainsmokers. But given the moment, Gaga also addressed conversations surrounding race.

When you're born in this country, we all drink the poison that is white supremacy," she said. "I am in the process of learning and unlearning things I've been taught my whole life." The star said that she is, rightfully, trying to listen more than she talks in these instances. That would explain why over the summer she has given her platform to a variety of Black folks to discuss issues surrounding race. But more than that, she's also given her financial resources.

"What do I think about [posting] a black square?" she said, referencing Black Out Tuesday, where social media users posted a black square on Instagram in a bid to show solidarity with Black communities. "I think everybody has a different feeling about a black square. Do I think there's such a thing as performative activism? Yes. Do I think there's been true activism that's been very important and needed? Yes. Do I believe Black lives matter? Yes. Do I believe this is going to get louder? Yes. Do I believe it should? Yes."

But for Gaga, her greatest platform is very likely in her music, and within that she also engages in these conversations. Given Chromatica is a house and dance-heavy album, it is important to her to point to its history and origins -- ahead of the album's release, Gaga's team put together a playlist of music that inspired the album including Black queer house innovators like Frankie Knuckles.

"All music is Black music," Gaga said. "That's just a fact."

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