Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem” Album Is a Return to Her Roots, Driven by Personal Transformation

Lady Gaga is back, and her new album ‘Mayhem’ is evidence of her personal and artistic transformation. After taking a break from the spotlight to rediscover herself, the 38-year-old singer-songwriter has reclaimed her place as an artist with her edgier pop genre that fans have come to love.

Five years prior, Gaga had entered a New York City bar that she would frequent back in the early days, and the memories came flooding back. Back then, she was writing songs with a sense of being disconnected from herself. Today, however, she was refreshed and at peace, a testament to how far she has come since those uncertain days.

In the past few years, Gaga took a break from the pressures of fame, breaking away from superficial friendships and distancing herself from those who only had her interests to further. This newfound calm and authenticity is found in ‘Mayhem’, which consists of 14 tracks, among them number-one singles like “Disease,” “Abracadabra,” and the Grammy-winning “Die With a Smile,” which she produced alongside Bruno Mars. The album is a return to her dark pop origins, the second installment following the jazz-influenced ‘Harlequin’, tie-in album to the film ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’.

Gaga, who is a 14-time Grammy and Oscar winner, claimed ‘Mayhem’ came about due to self-discovery. “I re-take control as an artist,” she declared. “When my life was centered on self-promotion, I lost all my passion. When my life was about family, about partner, and music, it brought back the genuineness to me.”

The album has already been well-received, and Gaga has taken it upon herself to be the mistress of her own fate, not letting people define her. She talked about how, in the early days of her career, critics would downplay her contribution to her stardom, crediting producers and stylists. With ‘Mayhem’, Gaga is determined to prove that her talent is the cause of her stardom.

“Ain’t happened many times in the past as a woman in music, blaming somebody else. You’re a commodity, you’re made, in a way. This time I took it for myself,” she said.

The internal transformation within ‘Mayhem’ also released Gaga from the draining nature of fame. She was stuck in transactional relationships, and the more her records sold, the more she realized the importance of staying true to herself and to her creative spark. “I lost the thing that I would teach my child, which is to sit alone with your thoughts and write a song,” Gaga explained.

Now, with an established home life with fiancé Michael Polansky and their four-footed pets, Gaga has enjoyed the luxury of being able to focus on her music and that which is actually most important to her. “This is the first time I’ve done interviews without makeup, and it’s great,” she said. “I don’t feel pressure to entertain for you in any other way than as a female artist.”

Upcoming, Gaga has a year to go. She headlines Coachella in the next month and performs a free show on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach in May. She also prepares to host and perform on ‘Saturday Night Live’ again, where she can flex her chops on both sketch comedy and music.

For Gaga, ‘Mayhem’ is more than an album, but a statement of artistic independence, and proof that she is the master of her own destiny.