Suck It Up and Survive," which she sings in an unnervingly shrill soprano. But this song doesn't make it through the first verse; Gaga asks her audience to count backwards. After about twenty seconds, she stops. "Sorry I had to cut out, but can I ask why you cut off before the song started?" she asks. "Why did you stop counting?" This time the video doesn't kick off with a song; the music begins once we see a close-up of Gaga and her bandmates in all black wearing black ski masks and their trademark red lipstick. It's difficult to discern exactly what they are doing onstage — they are performing an interpretive dance in front of a projection of what looks like an EKG and heart monitor, with blood pulsating out of Gaga's arm. There is something menacing about the scene, something disturbing that Gaga seems able to pull off thanks to her natural androgyny. Unlike Lady Gaga, a girl who dresses like a man, Beyoncé, a man who dresses like a woman, or Beyonce, a drag queen who's a man pretending to be a woman, Gaga actually is a man — and she's got the body to prove it. As the song begins, the men strip naked, exposing the "narcissus" inside of them. Their naked bodies are placed in a line; there's not a stitch of fabric between any of them, including Gaga. The men are then joined by the women, who start stripping as well. Gaga sings: "Oh, I am so high / My addiction is so strong / I'll cut your tongue out if I tell a lie / I am so high / I am so high / I'll cut my tongue out if I tell a lie." Gaga and the other men in front of the projection keep cutting out a series of pictures of women — a young woman in a bikini, a middle-aged woman in a tube top and a grandmother — and throwing them out the window. It's hard to tell whether it's an act of love or a cry for help, but there is no question that it is a very disturbing image. As we see Gaga and the other male dancers pull on female parts of their outfits — including bras and underwear — before stuffing their mouths with the other men's genitalia, we get an even clearer picture of what they're up to. At one point, a bearded man appears, with his head replaced by a dog's head and his genitals replaced by a pair of lips. The only way to survive is to break through this wall of sex. This "Suck It Up" video is a stark contrast to Gaga's previous video for "Sexual Revolution," which starred a very unglamorous Sarah Jessica Parker. The choreography and staging in "Sexual Revolution" was deliberately awkward, like it was trying to be "low-budget" and unpolished. The video seemed like a parody of what many people might perceive as a very clichéd music video. But what about the "Just Dance" video? When Gaga's on-screen alter ego, RoboCop, comes down to Earth and dances his way around with a group of similarly dressed black men, what are we supposed to take away from that? Gaga is an accomplished dancer, and the people she dances with are excellent dancers as well. It's hard to imagine that these people are part of a new wave of dancers who have given up on being in the spotlight. In interviews with the press, Gaga has repeatedly emphasized her connection to black performers, particularly Billie Holiday and James Brown, as important influences. "I think I’m channeling Billie Holiday and James Brown a little bit. Just seeing them live was a thing of real beauty," she told Style.com. "Their live shows were amazing. And I actually saw them both in concert two months apart from each other. So their influences are all over this album, not just the costumes. I just love so much about that era." While Gaga uses these influences to bring her videos to life, it's impossible to ignore the fact that her music videos have actually brought newfound attention to many white artists who have released great music, but haven't gotten much of a boost from their publicity teams. In this age of the remix, it's even more important than ever to credit the person or people who actually created the original tracks or artwork. What Gaga's done is given a lot of these artists a second look, and that's wonderful, but let's be fair about who's going to get a second look by giving credit where it's due. Who really put all the pieces together to make the video for Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" the best of 2010? If you follow Gaga's music, you might find yourself wondering whether it's her own song, or a remix, or some completely original material. She is clearly the original voice of this song, but there's no question that she is benefitting from this track. Gaga is the queen of the remix. That being said, if you want to make the case that Beyoncé can sing and dance, just turn on the television. If you want to show how men dressed like women can put on a good show, tune in to "Saturday Night Live." And when you're looking to capture the magic of James Brown, don't you have any Michael Jackson videos lying around? While some might see remix as a crutch, Gaga is using it to get noticed. When you watch her music videos and read the many articles about her, it's easy to forget that she is one of the most versatile performers out there today. She's got a new show on MTV and a feature film coming out on September 21st. It's no wonder that Gaga has so many influences to pull from — she's always innovating, and she's bringing it all back home. But at the end of the day, Gaga was the first person to say "yes" when MTV asked her to make a video for the album and song "Just Dance," and she did it better than anyone else could have. She's a real artist, and you're the real Gaga. "I'm a free thinker, the kind of person who follows her heart," Gaga has said. Now she's giving you something to think about — and that's nothing new.