I do not understand the success of Lady Gaga in a way similar to how I do not understand the success of Lil’ Wayne, but there are some fundamental differences between the two that are impossible to ignore.

To be fair, I think I just don’t understand Lady Gaga as a person. For instance, did you know Lady Gaga is a well-trained musician? I sure as hell did not. Granted, the woman’s voice isn’t bad, but how the hell did she go from early admission to NYU’s Tisch School of Art to the stuff she’s cranking out now?

Her music rally isn’t that terrible, but it also isn’t that good either. Her lyrics are generic and most of what I’ve heard coming off her album sounds incredibly overproduced. Just because something isn’t terrible doesn’t mean we should be pursuing it.

It’s also hard to ignore her persona. Maybe this was on purpose (actually, I guarantee it was on purpose), but Gaga stands out from the crowd only because the things she wears and the way she does her hair happen to be particularly strange-looking. It’s not that she’s all that stylish. She’s just weird. In this respect, I kind of love her. You have to wonder what goes through the head of someone who thinks a giant bow made of their own hair is a good idea or, for that matter, someone who thinks that leotards are an acceptable replacement for street clothes.

At the risk of sounding like a concerned parent, I have to remark that she seemed to have so much potential and it has all gone to waste. In a sea of amazing music, she floats along like a gaudy, oversized cruise ship. Her passengers must have a hell of a case of food poisoning to be tolerating her music.

But it isn’t just teenagers and tweens that are latching on to what she does. People in their twenties and thirties seem to love her, too. Hell, my friend’s middle-aged father loves her (though that could be for reasons other than music). This is what sets her apart from acts like Britney Spears. Artists like Spears have a target audience and they cater to their tastes. Gaga is all over the map and I can’t figure out why. Her music isn’t amazing. Other than her aforementioned quirky taste in fashion, there’s nothing very unique about her.

I guess my real problem with Gaga stems from my inability to ignore her past as a well-trained musician and writer. Paris Hilton calls her a “pop icon.” I don’t know if I’d go that far, but she certainly stands for something: bad taste.