# Artpop
**Artpop** (stylized **ARTPOP**) is the fourth studio album by the American singer [Lady Gaga](https://www.edgepedia.org/lady-gaga), released on November 11, 2013 through [Interscope Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/interscope-records)[1](https://ladygaga.fandom.com/wiki/Artpop_%28album%29). Because Gaga's second release, *The Fame Monster* (2009), was an expanded reissue of her debut rather than a standalone album, some publications count *Artpop* as her third full-length record[2](https://www.metacritic.com/music/artpop/lady-gaga) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/artpop/1451767927). The album runs 14 songs in 55 minutes and blends EDM, R&B, disco, techno, and rock[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/artpop/1451767927) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/music/artpop/lady-gaga). Gaga framed it as an attempt to fuse high art with pop culture, describing the project as a "reverse Warholian expedition" in which art is imprinted onto pop culture rather than the reverse[4](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-interscope-records-8929508.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 11, 2013, Interscope Records[1](https://ladygaga.fandom.com/wiki/Artpop_%28album%29) |
| Length | 14 songs, 55 minutes[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/artpop/1451767927) |
| Singles | "Applause" and "G.U.Y."; "Do What U Want" featuring R. Kelly was also promoted[5](https://www.ladygaga.com/uk-en/music/artpop) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/lady-gagas-artpop-doesnt-live-up-to-its-avant-garde-ambitions/2013/11/11/f7916228-4ae9-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html) |
| Cover art | Designed by the artist Jeff Koons[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/lady-gagas-artpop-doesnt-live-up-to-its-avant-garde-ambitions/2013/11/11/f7916228-4ae9-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html) |
| Producers | Lady Gaga, DJ White Shadow, Zedd, Madeon, Infected Mushroom, Giorgio Tuinfort, will.i.am, Nick Monson, Dino Zisis, Rick Rubin[5](https://www.ladygaga.com/uk-en/music/artpop) |
| Commercial standing | About 5.8 million equivalent album sales, ranking fifth among Gaga's releases; 1.8 billion Spotify streams by August 2026[7](https://chartmasters.org/album/lady-gaga/artpop/?link_type=discography&pos=5&src_album=top-gun-maverick&src_artist=lady-gaga) |
| Later standing | Pitchfork's 2022 retrospective scored it 7.3 and called it Gaga's most divisive and conceptually ambitious album[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lady-gaga-artpop/) |
## Background and production
Gaga began working on the album while touring. Ten months into the [Born This Way Ball](https://www.edgepedia.org/born-this-way-ball) world tour, she exacerbated a hip injury while performing in Montreal and canceled all subsequent shows; what was reported as a labral tear was, by her own account, more severe, requiring surgery[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lady-gaga-artpop/). The hiatus reshaped the record's production, with much of it redone during her recovery[9](https://gagadaily.com/forums/topic/309720-the-development-of-artpop/).
The credited producers span dance music and beyond: Gaga herself with DJ White Shadow (Paul Blair), the German producer Zedd, the French producer Madeon, the Israeli psytrance duo [Infected Mushroom](https://www.edgepedia.org/infected-mushroom), Giorgio Tuinfort, will.i.am, Nick Monson, Dino Zisis, and [Rick Rubin](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-rubin)[5](https://www.ladygaga.com/uk-en/music/artpop). Zedd described an "experimental approach" to their collaboration in a 2013 interview with *Rolling Stone*[10](https://www.nme.com/news/music/lady-gaga-202-1248915).
The visual side was equally central. The cover was designed by [Jeff Koons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-koons), whose sculpture of Gaga appears on the packaging, and the album was promoted as a total artwork spanning music, fashion, technology, and digital art[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/lady-gagas-artpop-doesnt-live-up-to-its-avant-garde-ambitions/2013/11/11/f7916228-4ae9-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html) • [11](https://www.grammy.com/news/10-reasons-why-artpop-is-lady-gaga-bravest-album-anniversary-videos/).
## Music and themes
The album opens with "Aura," moves through the electro-R&B of "[Do What U Want](https://www.edgepedia.org/do-what-u-want)" with [R. Kelly](https://www.edgepedia.org/r-kelly), and closes with "Gypsy" and "Applause"[12](https://open.spotify.com/album/2eRJUtI7nXrQ5uYQ7tzTo9). Recurring subjects are sex, fame, drugs, and creativity; Billboard's summary, quoted by Metacritic, described Gaga as "coherently channeling R&B, techno, disco and rock music as a pop artist while discussing sex, drugs, lust, God, fame and creativity"[2](https://www.metacritic.com/music/artpop/lady-gaga).
The title track states the album's thesis directly: "My art pop could mean anything," a line two reviewers read as admitting it could also mean nothing[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-it-s-hard-not-to-feel-underwhelmed-8926676.html) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-interscope-records-8929508.html). "Applause" makes the framing explicit with the lyric "Pop culture was in art / Now art's in pop culture / In me"[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/lady-gagas-artpop-doesnt-live-up-to-its-avant-garde-ambitions/2013/11/11/f7916228-4ae9-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html).
## Critical reception
Reviews at release were mixed. Andy Gill of *The Independent* found the music "pretty much the standard modern electro fare" and judged the extra-musical elements, such as the Koons sleeve, more interesting than the songs[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-it-s-hard-not-to-feel-underwhelmed-8926676.html). Allison Stewart of *The Washington Post* called it "a middlebrow pop album with high-art ambitions that too often go unrealized," an "undisciplined sprawl of genres, personas and ideas" that is "sometimes intensely pleasurable and sometimes wince-inducing"[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/lady-gagas-artpop-doesnt-live-up-to-its-avant-garde-ambitions/2013/11/11/f7916228-4ae9-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html). Kevin Harley, also in *The Independent*, argued the record was simpler than its presentation promised but still splattered enough ideas to make some stick[4](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-interscope-records-8929508.html).
Reassessment has been warmer. Pitchfork's 2022 Sunday Review scored the album 7.3 and called it Gaga's most divisive and conceptually ambitious work[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lady-gaga-artpop/). At the end of 2013 the veteran critic [Robert Christgau](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-christgau) had defended it as "not only the rawk album of the year for me, it sounded fresh"[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lady-gaga-artpop/). A Grammy.com anniversary feature argued the album's interweaving of music, fashion, technology, and digital art became a blueprint for later alt-pop artists[11](https://www.grammy.com/news/10-reasons-why-artpop-is-lady-gaga-bravest-album-anniversary-videos/), and a 2025 *Atlantic* review of Gaga's album *[Mayhem](https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-lady-gaga-album)* noted that *Artpop* had triggered media mockery at the time but that its maximalist ethos now reads as prescient[14](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/03/lady-gaga-mayhem-review/681991/).
## Commercial performance
The album underperformed by Gaga's standards. *Time* reported that it "sold poorly (if only by Gaga's own standard)" and generated more headlines for a never-released [Terry Richardson](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-richardson) music video than for its songs[15](https://time.com/4224873/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-oscars/). The singles also charted below her previous leads: "Applause" peaked lower than "Just Dance," "[Bad Romance](https://www.edgepedia.org/bad-romance)," or "Born This Way" had, and the follow-up "Do What U Want" did not reach the top 10, while "Dope" entered the top 10 only through a Billboard decision to count streams of her YouTube Music Awards performance, then fell 63 spots to No. 71 the next week[16](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/142-did-lady-gagas-artpop-actually-flop/).
Longer-term, the album's numbers are substantial. ChartMasters places *Artpop* fifth among Gaga's releases with about 5.8 million equivalent album sales, and its Spotify catalog passed 1.8 billion streams in August 2026[7](https://chartmasters.org/album/lady-gaga/artpop/?link_type=discography&pos=5&src_album=top-gun-maverick&src_artist=lady-gaga). Gaga supported the record with the artRave: The Artpop Ball tour in 2014[17](https://los40.com/2025/03/06/lady-gaga-hace-las-paces-con-su-album-maldito-y-vuelve-a-hablar-de-el-tras-anos-de-silencio-no-era-facil-de-escuchar/).
## Later changes and legacy
One track has a separate history. The original release, which included "Do What U Want" featuring R. Kelly, was removed from streaming services on or around February 8, 2019 and replaced with a version omitting the track; [MusicBrainz](https://www.edgepedia.org/musicbrainz) records that Gaga requested the removal after viewing the docuseries *Surviving R. Kelly*[18](https://musicbrainz.org/release/790bb9c1-dda3-483d-b5bb-06181c77d91f).
Gaga had also planned a follow-up. She spoke during the era of releasing *Artpop* in two acts, the second holding less commercial material, and her producer DJ White Shadow later discussed the unreleased Act II material in a 2021 interview[19](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lady-gaga-producer-dj-white-175804384.html). No Act II album has been released.
The album's standing in Gaga's catalog has shifted from liability to touchstone. *Time* described the post-*Artpop* period as a reinvention through jazz duets with [Tony Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-bennett) and television work[20](https://time.com/4063969/lady-gaga-american-horror-story-2/), while later commentary treats the record as an early statement of the genre-clashing, art-referencing pop that younger artists now practice[14](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/03/lady-gaga-mayhem-review/681991/) • [11](https://www.grammy.com/news/10-reasons-why-artpop-is-lady-gaga-bravest-album-anniversary-videos/).
## References
1. [ARTPOP, Gagapedia](https://ladygaga.fandom.com/wiki/Artpop_%28album%29)
2. [ARTPOP by Lady Gaga, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/artpop/lady-gaga)
3. [ARTPOP, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/artpop/1451767927)
4. [Album review: Lady Gaga, Artpop (Interscope Records), The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-interscope-records-8929508.html)
5. [Lady Gaga, Music, ARTPOP, ladygaga.com](https://www.ladygaga.com/uk-en/music/artpop)
6. [Lady Gaga's 'Artpop' doesn't live up to its avant-garde ambitions, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/lady-gagas-artpop-doesnt-live-up-to-its-avant-garde-ambitions/2013/11/11/f7916228-4ae9-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html)
7. [Artpop by Lady Gaga, Sales & Streaming Stats, ChartMasters](https://chartmasters.org/album/lady-gaga/artpop/?link_type=discography&pos=5&src_album=top-gun-maverick&src_artist=lady-gaga)
8. [Lady Gaga: ARTPOP Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lady-gaga-artpop/)
9. [The Development of ARTPOP, Gaga Daily](https://gagadaily.com/forums/topic/309720-the-development-of-artpop/)
10. [Lady Gaga's new album is 'pretty fucking cool', says producer, NME](https://www.nme.com/news/music/lady-gaga-202-1248915)
11. [10 Reasons Why 'ARTPOP' Is Lady Gaga's Bravest Album, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/10-reasons-why-artpop-is-lady-gaga-bravest-album-anniversary-videos/)
12. [ARTPOP, Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/2eRJUtI7nXrQ5uYQ7tzTo9)
13. [Album review: Lady Gaga, ARTPOP, The Independent (Andy Gill)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-lady-gaga-artpop-it-s-hard-not-to-feel-underwhelmed-8926676.html)
14. [Lady Gaga Sounds Like Herself Again, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/03/lady-gaga-mayhem-review/681991/)
15. [Lady Gaga's Oscars Will Prove She's Pop's Reigning Champion, Time](https://time.com/4224873/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-oscars/)
16. [Did Lady Gaga's ARTPOP Actually Flop?, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/142-did-lady-gagas-artpop-actually-flop/)
17. [Lady Gaga hace las paces con su álbum maldito, los40](https://los40.com/2025/03/06/lady-gaga-hace-las-paces-con-su-album-maldito-y-vuelve-a-hablar-de-el-tras-anos-de-silencio-no-era-facil-de-escuchar/)
18. [Release "ARTPOP" by Lady Gaga, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/790bb9c1-dda3-483d-b5bb-06181c77d91f)
19. [Lady Gaga producer DJ White Shadow reveals the secrets of ARTPOP: Act II, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lady-gaga-producer-dj-white-175804384.html)
20. [Lady Gaga's American Horror Story Performance Is Her Greatest Reinvention Yet, Time](https://time.com/4063969/lady-gaga-american-horror-story-2/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Pop albums › 2010s albums › Second and third albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license