The Art of Fan Wars: Let’s Not Fight Over Tastes in Music

Lady Gaga’s “Little Monsters” are known for their wild side, but recent attacks on music video director Joseph Kahn have been brought to Gaga’s attention, and the Queen of Eccentricity is not pleased. All Joseph did was praise Katy Perry’s new song ‘Roar’ on Twitter. He innocently stated: “Katy Perry’s #ROAR is a great pop track. That’s how you do an anthem.” Because of Khan’s defense of Perez Hilton (Hilton and Gaga had a little Twitter feud recently), this Tweet sparked a shocking amount of racist, homophobic, and straight up antagonistic attacks on the film director. Apparently, liking music that is not Gaga’s is not okay.

I love Lady Gaga. I love that she’s back with a new single; “Applause” is awesome, catchy and showcases her infinite talent. With that said, “Roar” is my unofficial summer anthem and I love it to pieces, as well. As a dynamic individual, I’m totally allowed to like both songs. In fact, I can like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Led Zeppelin. And Jay-Z.  I can like anyone I want, and so can Joseph Kahn. Tastes in music shouldn’t be territorial. There shouldn’t be gang wars over who likes who. Gaga’s fans went overboard when they tried to protect her; just because Kahn enjoys other music, doesn’t mean he is an enemy of Gaga.

In a letter to her fans, Lady Gaga expressed her opinion about the way her fans are treating others:

“Sending threats of any kind, using hateful or abusive language, and the provoking of others on the internet is not supported by me or anything that I stand for. What I’ve seen transpiring is wrong and upsetting to me, and I’ve made it very clear how I feel about equality and compassion.”

This Lady may be loud, proud, and outrageous, but it doesn’t mean her fans need to channel that energy towards negativity. By providing her fans with this positive message and reinforcing her beliefs (she and her mother founded the Born This Way foundation which encourages individuality and acceptance), Gaga is being an amazing role model. Also, she probably realizes she was being kind of dramatic when she called Perez Hilton a “stalker”. Way to own up, girl.

Similarly, there has been some turmoil and crazy disrespect happening in the hip-hop world. Big Sean recently released a track called “Control” that features Kendrick Lamar, who completely disses every single rapper he’s worked with. Basically, his message is that “he’s the best, his peers are weak, he’s gonna steal their fans, they better up their game” (Rolling Stone).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaMreUKk5Fk?rel=0

WARNING: Lyrics NSFWObviously, the hip-hop community is not cool with his digs at the artists. Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B, King Los, and Cassidy have even responded with their own “Control” verse, essentially telling Lamar to back off.

So, why can’t we all just get along? The thing about music, which I have always loved, is that it doesn’t judge. Music is so versatile and personal that it’s unfair to pin one musician up against the other. It’s insane witnessing singers, rappers, and fans fighting over the legitimacy of their work, but it’s also refreshing to see someone either call them out or at least address the problem. Like Lady Gaga says in her message, “music is about love, and is about sharing in the magic of theatre.”

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