dear lady gaga

dear lady gaga, 

i love what you're doing with your music videos. they're fun, outrageous, theatrical, and there's so much going on. it's exactly what a pop video should be. you clearly have very fun people working for you. 

your music is okay. i admit, i listen to it and i dance to it. a lot. but it's on HOT 99.5 and it sounds like everything else on the radio. like all the other britney, xtina, mylie dance techno songs out there. 

you have the wacky, avant-garde fashion style that Bjork has, but the music of Britney. 

that's why you work, lady gaga. that's why you work. because if you had you're own sound, like bjork does for instance, you probably wouldn't be this huge. 

you sound like everyone else, your beats are current and satisfying for the month, and you have a very funky, (sometimes clunky, but we love you for it) new age/avant garde style, and that's why you work.  you work because you're not different at all, "but you are."

but you're really not. 

it upsets me, because you and your people and your label market you as someone so revolutionary. so talented. so cutting edge and inventive. 

no, no. you can't erase my history or feed me lies. i know my pop icons. 

and what you're doing has been done before. but, like any good artist, you steal from others what you like, re-shape them a little bit and fit them to your mold. 

but it sux being in the industry that you're in, becuase mtv and gossip blogs and 24hour cable documents every moment of pop culture and replays it constantly. so even though Madonna came out with her Sex book in 1992, and even though that's well over 10 years ago, trying to shock us with sex through pop music feels like yesterday and it's tired&old. the culture has been there and done that. 

you have a great set of pipes, ive heard you sing raw with your piano. don't get me wrong, i think you're talented and you have a lot of potential. but i can't help but acknowledge that you're still just some rich nyc jewish princess nyu drop-out, who- got- lucky. 

you're not reinventing jack shit. you and your people and your label are doing a fine job at building up this pop fantasy for you, and everyone has named you the 'it' girl, but why? because you're wearing freaky clothes, being loose in interviews, actually putting effort into your videos, and you're suddenly one of the most fascinating people, according to Barbara Walters, of 2009?  Where is the your individuality? where is your artistry?? where is your movement???

i don't see it in your music, and i don't see it in your overall style. (the outfits alone don't define a pop icon's style). i see the crazy outfits, but really, can you keep doing that alone for years and years to come?

dear lady gaga-- work on your music. that is the only thing that will have shelf life. and keep the dance beats. im not saying scrap it. but whatever it is, make it you. you are too much cookie-cutter-pop-icon right now. really, you are. you pretend not to be. but you really are. work on your music, make it you, whatever that is. and get away from this Fame/Celebrity obsession you're having with this current album. i know you're commenting on the concept of fame and celebrity in our culture blase blase, but REAL pop icons/artists (haha like im the expert) don't sing for 15 tracks about that shit. they have other pulses they want to hit. other fires they want to ignite. 

they start the fires. they don't bring back old ones. 

well, you are the same age as me. both born in 1986, you're a march baby and i'm a november baby. 

i'm curious to see how your career grows....

love, andrew

PS- this is ALL under the supposition that you want longevity. that you want shelf-life. i mean, if you're only trying to be a good dance hit for the moment, then by all means, jitterbug the zeitgeist while you can, then check out. i mean, we (by we i mean a lot of ppl my age), appreciate you and really like your music. but if you don't find your own groove, you won't have longevity. at the very least you'll provide 1) a great dance beat for "the now,"* (not later, or tomorrow), 2) a fun, inspiring soundtrack to the lovegames of "the now," (not later, or tomorrow), and 3) nostalgia, but that's when we're all old and crusty. 

* the now refers to right.now. like this instant. this instant on the dancefloor. this month when they play your hit and it feels right in our veins. the now next month will not be the now of now. there will be a new hit. probably by beyonce or someone. ya dig?