Lady Gaga’s fans are scheming to improve the success of one of her old songs in the music charts, and it seems to be working.
The Little Monsters, as Lady Gaga’s fans are known, have been trying to get the song “Heavy Metal Lover” to rank higher in the streaming charts by claiming that it contains problematic lyrics.
However, the so-called “uncomfortable” lyrics do not exist, and the claim is a ploy to get people to listen to the song, maybe repeatedly, to hunt for any offensive words or phrases.
“I love Lady Gaga, but after listening to Heavy Metal Lover more carefully with headphones, I felt lowkey uncomfortable for a particular line that I heard in the background vocals,” one fan, known as Renx posted on X. “All of you should listen to it and see who you are admiring.”
One fan, named Joey Monda, also posted: “If people hear THAT lyric in 2023 it’s gonna be so bad for her.”
Renx’s post garnered 302,000 views, and Monda’s 204,000. Both generated dozens of reposts and quote shares.
“Heavy Metal Lover” was featured on Gaga’s 2011 album “Born This Way” but, back then, wasn’t a massive hit compared to other singles from the album such as ” Marry The Night” and “Judas.”
However, it started trending on TikTok a week ago when it was overlayed on a video of a dancer, and amassed more than 170,000 likes.
Since then, the song has started to creep up the streaming charts.
“I can’t believe this line was allowed on radio waves!” reads one quote-post. “There are CHILDREN listening. Everyone needs to stream and become aware of this issue.”
One fan said it would be “over” for Gaga if the general public found out. Another noted she “crossed the line this time.”
The replies and shares were full of people in on the strategy, but also quite a few who were confused. Some said they had listened to the song multiple times and combed through the lyrics, not finding any issues.
Often fans would respond, urging them to listen one more time.
“It’s literally the most controversial thing she has ever said,” one fan wrote. “I don’t want to be suspended for typing it out but if you listen to it you can hear it in the background.”
The plan, as well as the boost from TikTok, seemed to pay off. The X account Lady Gaga Views, which has been collecting data on Gaga’s songs since 2015, posted an update on November 16, saying “Heavy Metal Lover” had its biggest day on Spotify ever, amassing 117,093 streams.
On Spotify, “Heavy Metal Lover” now stands at about 29,346,000 streams.
Insider has reached out to Gaga’s reps for comment.
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