What's Hot

Madonna in 1990 and the late Malcolm McLaren
Getty Images/Frank Micelotta; Carlos Alvarez
.
Madonna and Lady Gaga have been having it out these days …. and let’s be real, all of these mean swipes and attention getting tactics have been getting on our nerves just a wee bit.

Recently, Madonna “implied” that Gaga’s “Born This Way” is a rip off her 1989 hit “Express Yourself” … and performed a “Born This Way”/”Express Yourself” mash-up as a not-so-subtle dis of our Mother Monster. At the end of the mash-up, Madonna chanted “she’s not me” — the refrain from a song that appears on her 2008 album “Hard Candy.”
.
As you may know, Madonna is not immune to artistic thievery herself — and we came upon a little nugget of proof.
.
In 1989, the late Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren — who was known for his innovative style of music (he once re-did the opera “Madame Butterfly” as a pop song) — released a song called “Deep In Vogue.” Yep. It was exactly a year before Madonna released “Vogue.” The two songs (and videos) are so similar that we did a double take. It may be important to note that neither artist “invented” vogueing — it was a dance craze in Harlem in the 1960s. But guess whose version hit the top of the charts? Yep.
.
Here’s Malcolm McLaren’s video of “Deep In Vogue” — note its musical similarities …
.

.
And here is Madonna’s 1990 hit video for “Vogue”:
.

.
Our point? Nothing is new. Everything is recycled. Artists and singers have been ripping off each other since the beginning of time. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery … and Madonna is just as guilty for what she claims Gaga has done. Calling Gaga out is just a tad hypocritical.
.
And as Gaga said during a recent performance of the song “Hair,” the times they are a changin’ — and there’s no way a song released over 20 years ago (“Express Yourself”) can have the same relevance as “Born This Way.”
.
in response to Madonna’s critical “mash-up,” Gaga said: “Things are really different now than they were 25 years ago and that’s what makes ‘Born This Way’ so relevant for me, is that I really want you all to notice this tremendous place that we’re in right now. We’re just socially in a completely different place and it’s OK, we don’t all have to slice and hate each other anymore.”
.
Gaga even kind of admits that she borrowed from Madge — she told NME, “The only similarities [between "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself"] are the chord progression. Just because I’m the first f***ing artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn’t mean I’m a plagiarist, it means that I’m f***ing smart.”
.
We don’t know why Madonna’s being so bitchy — could it be that she is feeling a wee bit threatened by Gaga? She’s not only attacking Gaga, but also acting out like a child for attention, which for a 53-year-old mother of three seems a bit sad.
.
At any rate, please stop this spat, ladies — there’s plenty of room in the pop world for both of you.
.