FROGGO

I erased my comment specifically because I had a change of heart (read: I wanted to keep my sanity intact) and decided that I didn't want to keep going on with this. By all means, if you want to, go ahead. I just won't be replying If you're that hung up on my comment, here it is in all its glory:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. We're on a forum. We DISCUSS THINGS. I happen to think it makes the forum a far more interesting place to frequent as opposed to only talking about music releases and photos and appearances and tours.

And as always, you are completely missing the mark of my response and are replying with irrelevant things. It would benefit you to learn how to frame and construct proper arguments.

These statements are too inane to warrant a proper response and explanation from me. I wasn't addressing you, my dear fellow hijabi!

I have no idea what you're talking about. You're not a visible minority.

Cue those that are one or more of the following: caucasian, not a visible minority in the western world, not a part of an oppressed/disenfranchised people (perhaps the oppressors being white) and/or not caucasian and living in their home country making jabs at any possible mention of criticism claiming cultural appropriation. Check your privilege.

6 / 29 / 47

She's not very good either. #BASIC It's nice to see you posting on the forum though. I take it you're lurking around to steal exclusives and then fail to give credit for them as always?

NO. After the monstrosity of the LDRakaLG and Kill Kill album/EP art, Lana is NOT ALLOWED to use Chuck's shitty photography as the future album art. I expressly forbid it.

My thoughts on the matter, even though it's been talked about to death: Being bitter about someone's success is never a good look. While it's understandable that Lizzy may have been frustrated about her own stagnant career and most likely wrote this song in a sort of therapeutic attempt to get these feelings out, I sincerely doubt that this was the extent of her reasons for penning this, like @@TrailerParkDarling claims. I think she was specifically mad at Gaga, the pettiness of the lyrics coupled with the argument with Arthur over her gives me this gut feeling tells me otherwise. Girl was PRESSED. I'm not a Gaga fan -- I don't mind her though -- but I really don't like this song because of the nature of its lyrics and I'd rather I never heard it. (Granted, it was never supposed to be heard anyway). It's too petty a song for me to enjoy. As for the Gaga-Lana comparisons, @@SitarHero did a really good job of shutting down the poorly-thought ~criticism~ of Gaga. It was laughable that those comparisons were even made! I don't know too much about Lady Gaga (Sitar can attest to this, seeing as I can't even pronounce her name properly ) but I always had the impression that despite the seemingly "huge ego", i.e., pretentiousness, being ~avant garde~, Born this Way being the album of the decade, etc, that for the most part, these are calculated acts and I think Gaga possesses a lot more self-awareness than she is given credit for. I don't think Gaga thinks that she's the be-all and end-all of pop music. She's far more self-aware and intelligent to truly think that, but in the same vein as @'s speculation: it's a part of a marketing strategy, whether intentional or not: if you call yourself x or y enough times, your fans, and in turn, the media, picks up on it. I don't know if any of you follow Beyonce's career, but she has the words "(future) legend" following her in the media, and why? Her team purposely marketed her as A LEGEND. So while Beyonce is a now undisputedly a ~legend~ in the media, Gaga is ~the saviour of pop music~ and all sorts of other huge titles. It's cool and I respect that. I don't think Gaga herself honestly buys into huge hype surrounding her, but rather feeds the machine because it gets attention and sales. I don't think she really, truly believes a lot of the outlandish statements she makes, where as I read Lana saying something like this: and I think she 100% believes it. Gaga might say something akin to that but it's a part of an act she's too smart to believe or buy into. TL;DR: Lana thinks she's this special snowflake poet but appears to be more grounded due to a more restrained attitude with the media, Gaga talks herself up like she's a God of Pop Music but possesses the self-awareness to realize that in essence, she's just another artist turning the gears in the media/music-industry machine. (And why not do it under the guise of pretentiousness and a larger-than-life-ego?) I wouldn't take each artist at face value. Feel free to disagree.

HOLY SHIT THERE'S A CASSIE FAN ON HERE AND ONE PERSON I DIDN'T HAVE TO BEG TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC I love RockaByeBaby, such a strong and cohesive mixtape, Paradise is so good

I definitely remember this.

I definitely agree with you on this, I just had a really visceral reaction when I heard about the Rolling Stone cover/feature.

I highly doubt it.

Sorry, I didn't see this! Yes, I would think differently of the article were he black or asian. I would welcome an article that extends the need to understand the social/psychological/environmental/underlying issues behind a heinous act that white males in Western societies are often afforded to a visible minority. Too often we get slapped with labels like ~ANGRY BLACK MAN~ or ~DISGRUNTLED IMMIGRANT~ or whatever, completely dismissed, and the cases are not examined with the same understanding that white people get. I would love an article like this were this the case. IMO, it's a grave mistake not to examine race/color in these issues. It doesn't make one any more enlightened or just if one chooses to exclude race from the equation when studying the portrayals in the media, the justice system, etc. There is a disgusting amount of bias and privilege in these areas; how can one be critical if you dimiss a huge aspect of mistreatment? In the eyes of the media, we are not all equal. We are not all treated the same the media. A black man will nearly always be shown in an unfavourable light when compared to a white man. A pretty white woman that is missing while jogging will not command the same attention from the media as a missing Aboriginal woman. We need to acknowledge these differences, not dismiss them and say that "race/color don't matter", "we live in a post-racial world" (LOL, a favourite of mine), etc. To do so, in my eyes, undermines the credibility of your arguments and points. It's not an "easy way out", the easy way out is ignoring it entirely, as you've chosen to do. Issues of race/color need to be examined in conjunction with social/"economical"/political/psychological reasons, it is not enough to solely focus on the latter. We need to understand intersectionalities and privilege to truly be critical when examining these matters and having a more complete understanding of the issues at hand.

I don't really care about the cover and I take no offense to it. I just strongly believe that were he Arab, the likelihood of an article presumably written with the stance of "misunderstood", "is it really their fault when society/environment made them do this", or even "grappling with mental illness" or any other variant or shoddy attempt to "understand" under the guise of humanizing someone for the explicit reason of them being white would be dramatically lower. ~What went wrong with this bright young man with a great future ahead of him??~ This is one instance I think him being Muslim takes a backseat -- were he Palestinian and of the same complexion (as many Palestinians are) -- instead of a European Muslim, I don't think he'd be treated to the same attempts to ~understand him~. Let's be real, I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of Americans know jackshit about Chechnya, let alone it exists and is largely Muslim. (I use Palestine to compare as I think of the Chechens as the Palestinians of Europe, for obvious reasons). The fact he is European, and from an area that people are uneducated about is enough to override his being Muslim, IMO. Americans don't think Chechnya and then "MUSLIM", the way that one might do with a Palestinian. Most don't even know of it's existence! (Americans are poorly educated in world affairs and conflicts, besides, any education is skewed and biased in favour of ~American exceptionalism~.) For this reason I would argue that he's not primarily seen as "Muslim" and so it is not as large a piece of puzzle portrayed in the media as it potentially could be. He's just another white European that happens to be Muslim, instead of a MUSLIM, if that makes any sense. Anyway, my apologies for detracting from the discussion of the cover and it was not my intent to oversimplify this into a race issue. I only meant to point out another facet of a complex issue.

Oh look, another instance in which the American media is trying to humanize white killers. I'm not here for this shit.

Fuck you. Seriously.

Does it have a title? Does it have album art?

Basically the unofficial title of this thread, tbh

Ooops, I can see how that could be misconstrued for sarcasm... I was being serious, I use Sitar's playlists too and am actually helpless without him, I was poking fun at myself for not being able to add a song or make any changes without consulting him first

SITAR I NEED YOU TO SHOW ME THE ORDER YOU PUT THE A CAPPELLA SONGS IN BECAUSE I NEED YOU FOR EVERYTHING LANA-PLAYLIST RELATED AND AM INCAPABLE OF DEVISING MY OWN PLAYLIST OR BEING SELF-SUFFICIENT IN GENERAL PLEASE SPOON FOOD ME I'M HUNGRY

#38 on iTunes! CRACK THAT TOP 40, LANA

#42 iTunes! Looks like it's bound to crack the top 40 really soon

Holy shit, that was such a pretty music video! I haven't made up my mind on the song, so I'll give it a few listens before I post again