Lady Gaga debuted at #1 with “Born This Way”

Born This Way Lady Gaga

Writer(s): Lady Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen, DJ White Shadow (see lyrics here) Released: February 11, 2011 First Charted: February 13, 2011 Peak: 16 US, 11 BA, 14 DG, 11 RR, 22 AC, 7 A40, 3 UK, 17 CN, 11 AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.94 UK, 10.45 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 380.65 video, 516.95 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Born This Way” was the lead single from Lady Gaga’s second studio album of the same name. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top in more than 25 countries. It set a Guinness World Record for fastest-selling single on iTunes with more than a million copies solid in its first five days. WK It also set a record for its first week airplay audience of 78.5 million. SF Gaga called it “her freedom song,” explaining to Billboard that it harkened “back to the early ‘90s, when Madonna, En Vogue, Whitney Houston, and TLC were making very empowering music and the gay community.” WK The lyrics “talk about empowerment, while the chorus talks about making no apologies and accepting one as themselves.” WK The Guardian’s Michael Cragg said “Born This Way” an “almost disco anthem” and that the music’s “campiness” made the lyrics sound less serious than they were. WK Artist Direct’s Rick Florino called it “an immediate pop classic.” WK Forbes’ Meghan Casserly referred to as “the next girl power song.” WK Digital Spy’s Nick Levine said it as a “life-affirming equality anthem, a straight-up club pumper and a flat-out fantastic pop song.” WK The song did garner some criticism in the Asian and Hispanic communities for using terms deemed offensive and deragotary. SF Spin’s Kevin O’Donnell pointed out lyrical similarities to Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” and criticized her, saying “imagine what she’d come up with if she’d spent more than ten minutes writing.” WK It was also pointed out that it had “similar chords, same uplifting, girl-power theme…[and] same tempo” WK as Madonna’s “Express Yourself.” Gaga defended her song, saying “the only similarities are the chord progression. It’s the same one that’s been in disco music for the last 50 years.” SF The Daily Telegraph’s Neil McCormick said the reworking was “a bit too much Madonna for someone who is trying to establish her own identity as, er, new Madonna.” WK Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/2/2021; last updated 7/24/2023.

Madonna’s Like a Prayer album hit #1

Like a Prayer Madonna

Released: March 21, 1989 Peak: 16 US, 12 UK, 16 CN, 4 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.2 UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: dance pop

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Like a Prayer [5:41] (2/27/1989, 13 US, 13 CB, 13 RR, 3 AC, 20 RB, 13 UK, 14 CN, 14 AU, platinum single) Express Yourself (Madonna, Stephen Bray) [4:37] (5/9/1989, 2 US, 11 CB, 3 RR, 12 AC, 5 UK, 12 CN, 5 AU, gold single) Love Song (with Prince) (Madonna, Prince) [4:52] Till Death Do Us Part [5:16] Promise to Try [3:36] Cherish [5:03] (8/1/89, 2 US, 11 CB, 12 AC, 3 UK, 12Dear Jessie [4:20] (12/10/89, 5 UK, 51 AU) Oh Father [4:57] (11/4/89, 20 US, 15 CB, 18 RR, 16 UK, 14 CN, 59 AU) Keep It Together (Madonna, Bray) [5:03] (1/30/90, 7a US, 32 AC, 66 RB, 8 CN, 15, gold single) Spanish Eyes [5:15] Act of Contrition [2:19] Songs written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 51:16

Rating: 4.352 out of 5.00 (average of 31 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “This is the moment Madonna peaked as a pop star and mass media manipulator. First, the manipulation. In the title’s track’s video, Madonna kisses a saint, shows off some self-induced stigmata and dances in a field of burning crosses. Caving in to protests from religious groups, Pepsi pulled out of a Madonna sponsorship deal (she held on to a $5 million payday) and the whole episode generated enough publicity to ensure the album’s debut at No. 1. Brilliant.” TL “As it happens, so was the record.” TL “Out of all of Madonna’s albums, Like a Prayer is her most explicit attempt at a major artistic statement. Even though it is apparent that she is trying to make a ‘serious’ album, the kaleidoscopic variety of pop styles on Like a Prayer is quite dazzling.” AMG “Madonna displays a commanding sense of songcraft, making this her best and most consistent album.” AMG “Like a Prayer was a genuinely soulful first single” TL and “Express Yourself merged Madonna’s dance sensibility with her strongest feminist message.” TL Alongside the “deep funk of ‘Express Yourself’ and Keep It Together” AMG and “the haunting Oh Father” were a “few middling tracks” TL “rescued…with production” TL from “Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard and Prince (yes, that Prince)…that elevated Madonna’s voice out of its early bubble gum phase and into something resembling a real instrument.” TL Notes: A 30th anniversary edition added additional material such as remixes of “Like a Prayer,” “Express Yourself,” and “Keep It Together” as well as an extended version of “Cherish” and the single version of “Oh Father.” The song “Supernatural” was also added.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Madonna AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine TL Time Magazine (11/13/2006). “All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/26/2008; last updated 12/2/2021.

N.W.A. released Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton N.W.A.

Released: January 10, 1989 Peak: 6 US, 9 RB, 35 UK, 8 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.3 UK, 3.3 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Straight Outta Compton Fuck tha Police Gangsta Gangsta (3/25/89, 91 RB, 70 UK) If It Ain’t Ruff Parental Sicretion Iz Advised 8 ball Something Like That Express Yourself (8/5/89, 45 RB, 26 UK) Compton’s in the House I Ain’t tha 1 Dopeman Quiet on tha Set Something 2 Dance 2 Total Running Time: 60:16

Rating: 4.053 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Quotable: “Virtually all gangsta rap remains a response to or an elaboration of this one album” – Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light, Time Magazine Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Straight Outta Compton “is one of the most seminal albums in the history of rap and greatly influenced countless gangsta rappers.” AMG “N.W.A didn’t invent gangsta rap – Ice-T and Schooly D had already embraced first-person narratives focusing on the harsh realities of ghetto life – but the L.A. group made it even more violent.” AMG As a result, N.W.A’s “unapologetically frightening” AMG Straight Outta Compton “was the hip-hop shot heard ‘round the world.” TL “N.W.A’s name – that’s short for ‘Niggaz with Attitude,’ in case you forgot – was the first sign that this was no ordinary group.” TL They “took listeners on an arresting journey through L.A.’s tough Compton ghetto. Critics of this highly controversial album contended that N.W.A was glamorizing Black-on-Black crime – the rappers countered that they weren’t encouraging violence, but rather were presenting an audio documentary of life as they knew it growing up in Compton.” AMG The album is awash with “wicked rhymes by Ice Cube” AZ with his “unflinching ghetto reportage.” TL There’s also the “jittery, cinematic production” TL “courtesy Dr. Dre,” AZ “group founder Eazy-E’s oddly menacing high-pitched snarl, and support from MC Ren and DJ Yella.” TL “It made for a true gang-bangin’ all-star team.” TL It all comes “barreling into your face, just daring you to ignore the streets of Compton (or any American city) even one day longer.” AZ “From Fuck tha Police (which earned them a warning letter from the FBI),” TL “to the angry, unflinching realism of Gangsta Gangsta, to the pro-free speech Express Yourself, this is slammin’ and ruthless.” AZ “Almost twenty years later, virtually all gangsta rap remains a response to or an elaboration of this one album.” TL Unfortunately, the genre would “subsequently…be plagued by numerous soundalike MCs who lacked even a fraction of N.W.A or Ice-T’s originality. But in the innovative hands of N.W.A., it was bold, inspired and arresting.” AMG Notes: “Straight Outta Compton was released in an edited version with all of the profanity removed, and instead changed around so that the album became a parody of edited albums by using hilariously silly replacements for swears and graphic descriptions.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for N.W.A. AMG All Music Guide review by Alex Henderson AZ Amazon.com review by David Cantwell TL Time magazine (11/13/2006). “All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light Last updated 4/19/2022.