Do what u want

The singer began work on her new album, Artpop, shortly after the release of Born This Way (2011). The concept of the album appeared the following year after collaborating with producers Fernando Garibei and Paul Blair ^{[1] [2] [3]} . The original tune was sent to Gage during the first working sessions on the Artpop album, which took place at the same time as The Born This Way Ball Tour ^[4] . During the year, the singer wrote about fifty songs for the new album ^[5] . By May 2012, singer’s manager Vincent Herbert hinted that the recording of the album had come to an end and included “crazy and magnificent songs” ^[6] . In the same month, Lady Gaga introduced the compositions of the record company and wanted to announce the name of the new album in September ^[7] , however, she did it a month earlier ^[8] .

“Do What U Want” was written by Lady Gaga with Paul Blair, Ar Kelly , Martin Bresso and William Grigatsin ^[9] . The producers of the song are Paul Blair and Lady Gaga; vocals recorded with the participation of Ar Kelly ^{[10] [11]} . Paul Blair described the melody as “sound from the space R&B era of George Jetson” and shared his memories of how two years ago his friend Martin played a partial beat from his remix project, which Blair liked and was offered to the singer ^[11] . Lady Gaga praised the music and began to write lyrics while touring in Europe ^[12] . Work on the song was suspended, however, a month before the release of Gaga and Blair began a discussion of new ideas about the composition. Blair deemed it necessary for Kelly to be a guest artist. Later, Gaga and Kelly discussed the details on the phone and decided to record a song ^[12] . "Do What U Want" dance R&B composition. The track has a pulsating club beat, with the sound of synthesizers in the style of the 80s. In terms of lyrics, the composition is an “open letter” to all critics who have too focused on the singer’s body.

On September 3, 2013, the singer started a Twitter poll asking fans to help her choose the second single from the Artpop album. The poll included “Manicure”, “Sexxx Dreams”, “ Aura ” and “Swine” ^[13] . On September 20, 2013, Gaga announced that she would select the second single from the list of songs not performed at the iTunes Festival ^[14] . On October 10, 2013, Gaga announced that Venus was selected as the second single ^[15] . Also, the “Do What U Want” snippet was used in headphone ads on Best Buy / Beats on October 17, 2013 ^{[16] [17] [18]} . After commercial success as a promotional single, the label of the performer decided to release the track as a full single ^[19] . On the Italian radio “Do What U Want” appeared on October 25, 2013, and five days later on British Radio. In America, the single was released on radio on November 5, 2013. Some critics noted the situation with the single changing with a similar situation in 2011 with the singles “ Judas ” and “ The Edge of Glory ” on Born This Way . Judas was released in April 2011, showing average charts. For this reason, the label released the third single “The Edge of Glory” the next month, which became popular all over the world.

On the promo photo for the single, the singer was depicted in a dark wig and artificial moss, which covered the intimate parts of the body ^{[20] [21]} . The official cover was presented on October 21 ^[22] . Some critics compared the cover to a series of “polaroid” images of Andy Warhol ^[23] . Lady Gaga explained the choice of photo for the cover with a desire to show that some people primarily look not at the singer’s work, but at the look. The singer added that the cover refers to lines from the song.

On the night before the release of the song, Gaga left several aggressive messages against critics ^[24] . She published a line from the composition and added rumors that “went” to the media (including the rumor that Gaga was a hermaphrodite). The singer also wrote about her comparison with Madonna and that the single " Roar " by Katy Perry , bypassed the single Gaga " Applause " on the charts ^[25] .

After the release of "Do What U Want" received positive reviews from critics. They praised the simplicity of the song, and also compared Gaga's vocals with the performance of Tina Turner and Christina Aguilera. Eileen Zafar from BuzzFeed called the song “sexually playful.” ²⁶ Popjustice gave the track 8 out of 10 points, drawing a parallel between the single and the sound of the tracks on The Fame Monster. ^[27] Alex Camp of Slant Magazine described the song. as "a lively, electronic composition about love." Lars Brendel of Billboard described Do What U Want as perfect for radio and noted that Gaga is in good vocal form. Lipschitz from the same publication noted the difference between the single from all previous Gaga songs and emotional lyrics. Kevin Fallon from The Daily Beast called the song “a radio hit,” and praised the clean pop sound. ^[28] Carl Willot from the Idolator website described the song as “a flawless piece of R&B.” ^[29] Latif Muhammad of Black Entertainment Television noted that Ar Kelly was out of his “comfort zone,” but he did a good job of “ musical genius ” ^[30] . Jim Farber of New York Daily News gave the track 4 out of 5 stars, praising Gaga and Ar. Kelly for creating the hit and opening Gaga with new sides to his voice ^[31]. John Walker from MTV News jokingly noted that the track might one day be called “the reason for the sudden surge in overpopulation in July 2014.” ^[32] Aisha Harris from Slate magazine noted that “Do What U Want” mixes the sound of 80s music and lyrics about sex ^[33]. Barbara Pevon from “Dose” expressed the opinion that the song does not have an eccentric inherent in Gaga, and also added that ar. Kelly made the song better. ^[34] Tanya Garmani called the single "seductive" and inspired by the eighties. ^[35]

On January 10, 2019, Gaga made a statement after the release of the documentary Surviving R. Kelly , in which Ar Kelly was accused of sexual abuse. The singer admitted her regret over working with Kelly, explaining that her thinking was clearly distorted at that time. Gaga vowed to support abused women, and the next day the track was removed from iTunes and all streaming services. ^{[36] [37] [38]} Keith Caulfield of Billboard said that even remixes featuring Kelly cannot be played on Spotify, Apple Music and other platforms, there is only a version with Christina Aguilera. He suggested that since changes in digital music services take time, Gaga’s team is working and will gradually remove the song from all mediums. ^[39] After Gaga made a statement and just hours before the song was deleted, sales of “Do What U Want” grew 13.720% in the US to 2000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. ^[40]

• Digital download ^[41]

1. "Do What U Want" featuring R. Kelly - 3:47

• Digital download - remix single ^[41]

1. “Do What U Want (DJWS Remix)” featuring R. Kelly and Rick Ross - 4:19

• Digital download - remix single ^[41]

1. "Do What U Want" featuring Christina Aguilera - 3:36