Born This Way – Album Review

by Kevyn

I’m doing this because I’ve had this album on repeat for the last week and I should get all my initial reactions out. Plus, I have a feeling another member may write about it and I need to be the first one to write about it…Just because.

Me with my newly purchased album!

The album has been promoted so heavily by GaGa. I give her big props on going out everywhere promoting the hell out of it. The album sold 1.1 Million copies in its first week (however, there was some speculation as how it came that way) . But enough about that, it’s all about the music with GaGa, so here’s a quick review of each track. I purchased the deluxe edition with a total of 17 songs as opposed to the standard of 14.

1. Marry The Night – A really good song about GaGa’s love for NYC and how she’ll never be a Hollywood girl. Best part is the chorus with the “M-M-M-Marry the Night” parts. Very “P-P-P-Pokerface P-P-Pokerface”.

Is Lady Gaga Racist?

by Steven

I did not know what racism is until I immigrated to this country at the age of 9.  As soon as I moved here, it seemed like racism bitchslapped me in the face.  For example, my elementary school principal who was fired from another school district for being racist toward some Latino kids refused to place me in accelerated math classes even though my math skills were about 2 years ahead of everyone else (schools in Asia teach math at a much faster pace than here).  His decision made no sense and I highly think it’s racially motivated given his background.  One time in junior high school, a group of kids followed me home, grabbed my belongings and started harassing me by calling me a “chink.”  Most recently, I got into a verbal altercation with someone in a gay club because he was spewing hateful comments about Asians (the topic of gays and racism is worthy of a separate blog post!).  These are just a few examples but there are many more.

Born to Copy

by Steven

So Lady Gaga’s new song “Born This Way” came out a few days ago.  After my first listen, I got a bit teary-eyed by the end of the song.  It is a very empowering song and its relevance to the recent wave of gay teen suicides struck an emotional nerve for me.  How I wish that this song was available back in my teenage years when I was struggling to accept my sexuality.  After that first listen, I read through the comments made by listeners and a large number of them complained that the song is a rip-off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself.”  Yes, you can definitely hear similarities between the two but guess what, musical imitation has been happening for hundreds if not thousands of years.