Lady Gaga-The Future of Disco?

Flashy sunglasses, neon colored tights and animal printed dresses. Hard-partying, heavy drinking and high pumping music vibes. Poker and unconditional body contact (a lot of body contact!). And let’s not forget the famous disco ball. Has the disco era been revived? It certainly seems so especially in Lady Gaga’s new video, “Just Dance”. Featuring Colby O’Donis and Akon, this hype new video has a combination of undying disco with a dash of modern pop culture. It is impossible to pull of something this big –the emergence of music genres- but not for the 22 year old crazy retro dance freak.

She has ears made of classic-rock, a voice of the 60s, and the moves of a Brit-Disco queen. If she had it her way, retro would be a noun, and pop just a cute name for soda--not a dirty word. She's a tiny person with a big voice and a lot of love to spread as she ushers in a whole new era of music coated old-day music.  Madonna would certainly be proud of her; Lady GaGa is provoking and daring in the way she appears in her videos and on stage. In terms of her style in fashion, she is definitely crossing borders between past and future. Almost all of her on-stage outfits are self-made. Clothing fashions both sprang from and had influence on the various youth culture groups of the time which diverged and evolved as the decade progressed.

“Just Dance” and “Poker Face” welcomes the society of people who live in this generation but are not living beneath toadstools. Meaning that they are open to possibilities. People are so hooked on the material world that many tend to drift away from their culture. In a way Lady GaGa provides listeners with a sense of closure to the era that they never would engage with. Disco as we see it gave birth to many other musical genres: soul /jazz rock/funk and even to heavy metal and punk rock. Disco transcended these other forms of music by turning into universal appeal. Disco arouses the public with its music. The public determines what is good for them, not the critics.

The public's complete acceptance of this style of music gives it the power to call itself art. Lady GaGa’s music seems to be flooding with this style and she is most definitely an icon of the precedent.  She represents the Godfathers –and Godmothers- of the Age of Disco. Disco has been felt by all walks of live and its longevity has made its mark on music as determined by the artists/producers and the industry itself who keep reinventing itself and satisfying the public and their thirst for such music. Today Disco is everywhere and as Lady GaGa puts it…”Just Dance!”

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