14 DAY TRIAL // Madonna covers this month’s issue of Rolling Stone to promote her most recent studio material, “Rebel Heart,” which will be out in stores later this year. In the interview, she talks about her former rival Lady Gaga, the genius of Kanye West and fighting against ageism in showbiz.
Word in the industry has it that Madonna and Gaga have been pretty much at each other’s throats since early 2012, when the latter ripped off the former’s “Express Yourself” for her “Born This Way” single, something she never really owned up to.
Madonna is convinced Gaga ripped her off
It wasn’t just the fans who drew this conclusion, that Gaga may have looked too closely for inspiration in Madonna’s classic hit: the Queen of Pop herself was convinced of this.
Not only did she say this out loud in several interviews, but in her next tour, she even included a big in which she performed both songs to show that they were one and the same. You can see it in the video below; the first one is a comparison of samples to illustrate the point that, no matter how much Gaga denies it, her song sounds almost exactly like Madonna’s.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Madonna says that this was her biggest issue with Gaga, that she took something from her and wouldn’t even credit her properly. On the contrary, she feigned outrage and passionately denied she would ever do such a thing as to rip a fellow artist off.
There’s no feud, though
But that’s where Madonna draws the line: even if she was upset at what Gaga did, she doesn’t hate her or fear her. They’re not feuding either, she explains for the publication.
The “feud” is a narrative made up by the tabloid media and celebrity bloggers, the same who can’t imagine that two artists in the same genre could co-exist without scratching their eyes out.
“I don’t think she wants my crown… We live in a world where people like to pit women against each other. And this is why I love the idea of embracing other females who are doing what I’m doing,” Madonna says, adding, “I do think she’s a very talented singer and songwriter.”
So that should settle it: Madonna has forgiven Gaga for stealing her song (and denying it) in 2012, and is willing to recognize that she’s an artist in her own right.
Madonna has similarly nice things to say about Kanye, criticizing him only for his inability to keep his mouth shut at awards shows. One should never attend one such gala and expect justice, she laughs.
