Image via: Girls.Sounds.&&.Colors

It’s that TIME of year again when the most influential people in the world are named. Topping the list of the most influential artists is none other than International Popstar Lady GaGa who also makes the issue’s cover. Although GaGa’s career in the mainstream has only been about 2 years, she’s grabbing major accolades. Cyndi Lauper honored GaGa by writing and complimentary article for the issue:

“I first heard the name Lady Gaga through a mutual friend. He couldn’t stop talking about her. Then I heard her music, and I thought, Wow, I love this kid.

An artist’s job is to take a snapshot — be it through words or sound, lyrics or song — that explains what it’s like to be alive at that time. Lady Gaga’s art captures the period we’re in right now. These days, you go to a club and wonder who all these kids are. They don’t seem to have jobs. How can they afford to be here? Her song “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” explains that scene. It’s about the New York prep-school party kids she grew up with. It’s where she came from. Gaga’s lyrics are incredibly literary. When “Bad Romance” starts, the music grabs your ear immediately. Then she opens with the line “I want your ugly/ I want your disease,” and all of a sudden you’re listening. Most of the stuff on the radio is not very clever, but Gaga presents her ideas in a sophisticated manner. She has an incredible pop sensibility.

People forget how young she is. She is barely 24 — much younger than I was when I became famous. It’s very tough being where she is right now. People are pulling her in all different directions. It’s hard to navigate that. Try to imagine what you were like at her age, if you still can. I can’t wait to see how she grows and what she decides her next act will be. She only has two albums out, but already she is inspiring other artists to go further in their own work.

“When I see somebody like Gaga, I sit back in admiration. I’m inspired to pick up the torch again myself. I did an interview with her once, and she showed up with a sculpture on her head. I thought, How awesome. Being around her, I felt like the dust was shaken off of me. I find it very comforting to sit next to somebody and not have to worry that I look like the freak. She isn’t a pop act, she is a performance artist. She herself is the art. She is the sculpture.” [SOURCE]

GaGa’s momentum is amazing and we make make our cracks here and there but there is no doubting that she is a force to be reckoned with. Our only issue is she is moving so fast and how does tat old saying go, “that which starts sweet ends bitter.” Besides her working in the lower eastside for a few years, once she hit the mainstream it was BOOM BOOM GO from there. Anyway, we just want her to have longevity.