Lady Gaga's Most Hip-Hop Moments

Image via Complex Original

When: 2006

Lady Gaga was making a name for herself in the underground scenes around clubs in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Her live shows and solid songs like “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” drew prospective managers and label heads.

L.A. Reid invited her to the Island Def Jam offices, where she impressed him by playing the piano and simultaneously drumming on a table. Reid didn't hesitate to sign Gaga, inking a $850,000 deal that kicked off her music career. Shortly after, one of the tracks she produced did not get a positive reception during one of Reid's meetings. She was later dropped from the label.

When: 2007

Akon was pleased with Lady Gaga’s talents during her early music career when she first started doing reference vocals and songwriting at Interscope. He signed the up-and-coming star in to KonLive Distribution, supporting Gaga’s potential as a solo artist. So far, the rewards have been monumental. “She's pretty much retired me," Akon said to the Huffington Post in February 2010 after her career took off. “She was definitely a blessing. She came at the right moment. I'm glad I believed in her, boy. That goes to show you, if you believe in something strong enough, it will pay off."

When: 8/19/2008

Before Lady Gaga’s most famous hip-hop collaboration, she teamed up with Flo Rida on “Starstruck.” The dance song, featured on her debut album The Fame, didn’t get as much attention as her chart-topping singles, “Just Dance” and “Poker Face,” but the song was a sleeper hit that ended up becoming a fan favorite.

When: 4/14/2009

Wale was prepping to release his Interscope debut, Attention Deficit, back in 2009. To build a considerable buzz for his album, he surprised the music world by announcing a collaboration with Lady Gaga. “Chillin’” was an upbeat club-ready single inspired by the Go-Go scene popularized in Washington D.C.  Despite its lukewarm reception by critics, it was definitely a profound statement. "If Jay-Z can work with Coldplay, then Wale should be able to work with Gaga," he told MTV.

When: 6/9/2009

Kid Cudi was the first known MC to rap over a Lady Gaga sample. Kanye West, who produced the record, said he was inspired by her acoustic performance of “Poker Face” on YouTube. The sampled vocals together with scratches from DJ A-Trak gave “Make Her Say” an airy backdrop for Cudi, 'Ye, and Common's raps about female conquests. It was an extroverted hip-hop cut that heightened the anticipation for Cudder’s debut, Man On The Moon: The End of Day.

When: 9/12/2009

By 2009, it was clear to everybody that boldness was merely a habit for Lady Gaga. This was no more apparent than during the 2009 VMAs, where her fashion choices were eccentric, to say the least. However, she didn't grab attention just because of her clothes. When Eminem and Tracy Morgan presented Gaga with the award for Best New Artist, she thanked her fans and stated that "This is for God and for the gays." When Lady Gaga reps, she reps hard.

When: 10/1/2009

In September 2009, Lady Gaga and Kanye West announced a major nationwide tour dubbed “Fame Kills.” When word of the tour first broke, West insisted that they were doing joint performances on the same stage. “She's talented and so incredible that she's not an opening act. We're doing it together, with no opening act,” he told Rolling Stone. Once the tour dates were announced, the show became one of the hottest concert tickets for the fall.

Later, in October, Gaga and West decided to cancel the tour, drawing speculation that it was because of poor ticket sales. In actuality, Gaga wanted to embark on her own headlining tour, while West planned on taking time off after his Taylor Swift incident at the MTV VMAs. Lori Ann Gibson, Gaga’s longtime choreographer, claimed that it was because of “creative differences.”

When: 11/27/2009

Just a few weeks after her mega-tour with Kanye West was cancelled, Lady Gaga announced a new tour which would feature Kid Cudi as the opening act. Cudi was dropped from the tour after a couple of weeks because of a physical altercation with a fan, but the fact that he was picked in the first place showed great taste on Gaga's part.

When: 11/23/2009

In an interview with Fuse TV, Lady Gaga called out hip-hop for being "blatantly homophobic." Gaga went on to say that when "one of the most famous rappers in the world say something homophobic on the radio" she wants there to be a significant backlash. Although she wouldn't name names and later said this was a problem in other genres as well, it was a strong message. The same sentiment has been echoed by rappers like Kanye West and A$AP Rocky.

When: 1/9/2010

Trina had a special guest in store for her fifth studio album, Amazin', but due to leaks, her Lady Gaga collaboration, “Let Them Hoes Fight,” hit the Internet months before its proper May release date. The song was written by Gaga, had her on the hook, and featured a short rap verse by the pop star at the end. No wonder the song came out prematurely—Gaga rapping doesn't happen often.

When: 5/7/2010

Gaga continued her quest of offering sexually charged lyrics on unreleased song, “Ribbons.” Kicking off the record with a few metaphorical bars—“ All the girls, they like their presents, like their presents/When boys wrap 'em up in ribbons, ribbons, ribbons”—about contraception, Gaga showed that even as a rapper, she can make the boys melt.

When: 9/13/2009

If PETA was pissed at Kanye for the name drop ("Tell PETA my mink is dragging on the floor"), just imagine how pissed the organization was at Lady Gaga in 2010. The songstress sported a dress made of raw meat to the VMAs. Offensive to some, but to Drake, the accompanying accessory looked delicious.

When: 2/1/2011

There is some history behind Dr. Dre’s Detox single, “I Need A Doctor.” The vocals, sung by Skylar Grey, were originally supposed to be Lady Gaga’s. In an interview with HipHopDX last July, she said while penning the hook to “I Need A Doctor,” the label wanted to put Gaga’s vocals on the song that also featured Eminem. 

“Somebody in the room suggested we get Lady Gaga to sing the hook on 'I Need A Doctor' and [Eminem] stood up for me and said no, because he wanted to keep my voice on the song," she said. Thanks to Em’s support, Skylar got a major look, but we can’t help but wonder what Gaga's version would have sounded like.

When: 9/8/2011

Steve Stoute is one of the best ambassadors that hip-hop has. His experience and knowledge manifested itself in his book, The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. To promote the book, Stoute did a series of web interviews with Jay-Z, Pharrell, Jimmy Iovine, and Lady Gaga. That's enough to convince us of Gaga's hip-hop cred.

When: 4/10/2012

Although Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have both worn over-the-top costumes, they are not one in the same. Minaj recently let out her feelings on the ongoing comparisons to Gaga in the New York Post, stating that the Fame Monster does not inspire her style or music. She even went as far as saying that the comparisons are “getting tired now to me,” and they have both created their own lanes, but never crossed paths. Basically, Minaj is a rapper and Gaga is a pop star.

When: 4/23/2012

"Marry The Night" was a a club sensation when the single dropped, so of course, we got tons of remixes. The hit had a 10-track EP of straight remixes, but Flo Rida thought that wasn't enough and also decided to get on the track.

When: 7/16/2012

These two been feeling each other recently. First, Gaga showed her love for Kendrick in a series of tweets about their phone conversation and how she admired his music. After Kendrick confirmed that the two were close friends, Gaga was spotted watching his performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival. The new BFFS took their friendship to Twitter again in a back-and-forth exchange. Gaga shouted out Kendrick's songs "The Recipe" and "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and Kendrick responded with an inside joke. Hopefully, they can find some time for a collab.