I agree that he probably doesn’t own the publishing. But if he does, refusing to let it be used would be perfect sabotage for the film: the knock-off Aaliyah tracks help sinked that horrible bio-pic. Hearing “No More Lies” adds authenticity to Michel’le’s pic, which is the last thing Dre would want to do. A simple…

How in the hell did they get the music rights for this? I would have sworn that Dre would have blocked it, considering he co-produced and co-wrote her hits. I guess the billionaire wasn’t smart enough back then to own the publishing: I can’t see him allowing “No More Lies” to be used here if he did.

Dialing it down was what the whole past two years was about: the album and tour with Tony Bennett, the Sound of Music performance at one Academy Awards ceremony, doing the Star-Spangled Banner at a Super Bowl and then the Diane Warren collabo for the following Academy Awards. Even the cover art of “Joanne” is dialed…

Actually, the live performance on the link sold me on “Perfect Illusion”. But Gaga’s lead singles tend to be weaker than her follow-up releases: “Just Dance” was passable compared to “Poker Face”; and “Born This Way” was blah compared to “You and I”; and “Applause” was so-so compared to almost everything else on…

Kudos to him, then. Fashion shows are still commercials, though. The art excuse still does not fly. But thanks for the correction...

I was with you on most points except for e) “...it’s not fair to hold artists responsible for the double-standards of White society at large.”

I concur. Shade is the implied insult where the target fears retaliating - because in retaliating, the target acknowledges that the insult has merit.

No need to apologise about being Canadian. I might become one if Melania becomes First Lady here...

So you were fine with Melania Trump on the cover?

Regarding pregnant women riding subways: please hold your belly to give me a sign that you got one in the oven. So often have I looked at a woman and wondered, “Is she pregnant?” and wanted to offer her my seat - but feared that if she wasn’t, I’d seriously piss her off. If a woman’s obviously pregnant (as Wilde is,…

Um, the people who immigrate are not always the most educated: they are often the poorest in their home country, which creates the incentive to leave for better economic opportunities. Think about it: have immigrants to the US always been the most educated throughout our history? So your brain drain charge is dodgy.

Japan currently has a serious problem with its graying population, largely due to its strict immigration policies. Immigrants usually are the ones who have children, just as those lowest on the economic totem pole do. Once a group begins to rise in earnings, they have fewer children (chiefly because women have more…

If you had voted for FDR over his more right-wing opponents, you would have gotten someone who started the New Deal (and gave us Social Security) - but also approved Japanese internment camps. If you had voted against LBJ, you might have gotten us out of the quagmire of the Vietnam War - but you would have screwed…

Inwood is farther north than Washington Heights, by the way (I live there in a one-bedroom whose rent is a little more than what your rent was).

So...any of the above (except the cat and the naughty bits) can give to charity that don’t directly do something for them. And many do. There’s this thing called empathy that many humans possess. The cynical idea that all human acts are transactional is, as Trump would say, sad. Often, the feeling of having done…

Receipts, please.

Nope. “Alejandro” was bad Ace of Base. And “La Isla Bonita” was tacky appropriation of the 80's “Latin” craze. Witness this track from 1983, four years before “La Isla Bonita” (Madge was always sure to nick from sources less popular than she):

Yes. Gaga copied Madonna by getting an Oscar nomination for best original song. And doing a Grammy-winning album of jazz standards with a living legend. And having a solid singing voice that draws praise from industry veterans like Tony Bennett, Julie Andrews, Patti Austin and Elton John.

Gaga has pinched from Bowie (a lot), Freddie Mercury, Leigh Bowery, Warhol, Cher, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Annie Lennox and loads of others. And having a better voice has helped a lot, too. People who harp on the Madonna thing forget how much Madonna stole back when the Internet wasn’t around to check her thefts…

As though Madonna was original. Much of the reason she’s considered a pioneer is because the Internet wasn’t around documenting everything she stole (“Vogue” blatantly rips off Inner City’s “Ain’t Nobody Better”, “Justify My Love” rips off Public Enemy’s “Security of the First World”, etc.). And Gaga has a better…