Pre-Gaga Gaga.

Deleted: The first time I heard of Lady Gaga it was from Krisztianna. At the time I thought her fandom of Miss Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was delusional or maybe even ironic. As it turns out, Lady Gaga actually has quite a lot going on for her. She’s worked hard, and for many years to create an identity and aesthetic that is musical, outlandish, controversial, and to many, incredibly entertaining.

For those of you who have written off Gaga as yet another vapid pop princess, I present you with a video from before she was Lady Gaga. This is a young woman who has clearly been practicing her piano and singing.

If you’re compelled by that, and are curious to know more about her story and theories about her and her work, check out:

• Growing Up Gaga: The self-invented, manufactured, accidental, totally on-purpose New York creation of the world’s biggest pop star – this is a great history about her from when she was still Stefani. It feels like truth to me.
• Metafilter thread with some interesting observations on the influence of Andy Warhol on her art
• The Music Video Is The Advertisement: Lady Gaga Goes Post-Mccluhan On Us All
• How Miracle Whip, Plenty of Fish Tapped Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’
• Sometimes art can inspire conspiracy theories: Lady Gaga, The Illuminati Puppet and The Hidden Meaning of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”

Read the “Growing Up Gaga” article. You’ll appreciate much more her rocky road to fame, and the hard work she put in to get there.