It looked like Gaga was counting on Do What U Want to save Artpop, her overwhelmingly middling new album, from being dismissed entirely as a certified flop. The album version featured R Kelly, here replaced by Christina Aguilera. It could merely be an innocuous ploy at double-dipping, re-recording the track to piggyback off a recent US talent quest finale appearance. But there’s a chance something else might be at play. When Artpop dropped in early November, R Kelly was cool. He headlined Pitchfork Festival. Cool. He joined Phoenix onstage at Coachella. Cool. Twenty-somethings had fond nostalgia for Ignition (Remix). Cool. Cool equals dollar signs in the music industry. Getting R Kelly on Artpop seemed like a safe bet. Then in mid-December the world was reminded that R Kelly was not cool. Far from it. The internet’s gaze was captured by Jess Hopper’s interview with Jim DeRogatis, who has been reporting on R Kelly’s predatory behaviour in regards to young girls. It was confronting. Is the substitution with Xtina on Do What U Want damage control from camp Gaga? Or just a stop-gap while the revived R Kelly controversy subsides? There’s an R Kelly-featuring, Terry Richardson-directed video in the can, and I’m guessing it won’t be laid to waste. There’s money to be made, after all. Social responsibilities be damned. Same goes for the cashed up new gatekeepers. Just as they championed R Kelly in 2013, Pitchfork made a push for Mystikal’s return in late 2012 without mention of sexual battery convictions. Hey, we haven’t even spoke about the song itself yet. But therein lies the problem with Artpop – the majority of discourse pertaining to its failures and the repercussions of such.
Lady Gaga feat. Christina Aguilera : Do What U Want
