Why Lady Gaga is the most important artist in the last 10 years

When I was in college I had a conversation with my journalism professor about who was the most significant artist of the 2000s. With a decade that was mostly memorable for government miscues and a growing infatuation with technology, it seemed like an arduous task to single out one artist with sprawling influence. A few names were thrown out there. Coldplay, Justin Timberlake, even Sufjan Stevens were mentioned. We came to the conclusion that inaugural American Idol Kelly Clarkson for better or for worse defined the decade that no one was quite sure what the proper name for it was.

More than a year has passed since this conversation and one artist has left an impact pop music and overall society that few could lay claim to. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, also known as Lady GaGa, catapulted to stardom with a combination of stark originality and shameless pilfering from her idols. Her debut record "The Fame" has sold over 8 million copies worldwide, impressive in a Rapidshare-ravished music industry.

The concept of Lady GaGa is a rather simple one. Sex and materialism coupled with over-the-top aesthetics, and a focus on fame and celebrity worship so engrossing it borderlines on scathing parody. The songs are straightforward as well, "Poker Face" and "Lovegame" are simple odes to fucking dressed up in metaphors for radio airplay. She is a piano prodigy with an amazing voice that is often lost in her overly produced material. A quick search on Youtube for stripped down versions of her hits showcase how truly talented of a performer she is.

It's the bizarre sexuality that Madonna and Bowie built their careers on, but it's arguable that Lady Gaga is operating on a more difficult level. She's performing for a generation that is becoming progressively horrified with human interaction. With every act of expressionism being a major risk Gaga embraces standing out. Her performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was a spectacle in every sense of the word. Gaga had backup dancers clinging to her limbs, pounded away at an ivory piano like a Jerry Lee Lewis with cotton candy hair, and mocked internal bleeding in front of a handpicked crowd that wasn't sure just how the fuck to react. 

One studio album in may be too early to call Lady Gaga the most important artist in the last decade, but the impact she has made in such a small frame of time makes me believe that we are seeing something special.