A US university is offering a course on Lady Gaga. Starting next Spring, professor Mathieu Deflem from the University of South Carolina will be teaching a course on Lady Gaga. The course, entitled ‘Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame,’ to a class of 50 students. The focus will be on the ‘sociologically relevant dimensions’ of Gaga’s fame. Deflem, who completed his MA at Hull University, has set up a blog dedicated to Gaga, owns more than 300 copies of her albums and has seen her perform 28 times since April last year. He said that ‘if you don’t like her, you probably shouldn’t take the course,’ also adding, however, that ‘the better fan will not necessarily be the better student.’ The professor, who also specialises in the subjects as the sociology of law, counter-terrorism, international policing and abortion policy, will draw on his 30 years of experience studying and teaching sociology for this course.
Underground grime rapper turned household name Tinie Tempah spoke to the Oxford Union before the last stop of his UK tour at the O2 Academy Oxford. He discussed his view of success, which he called ‘subjective,’ and answered questions from students, one of whom later commented that ‘it was cool to have someone who is our own age and who is on a par with people here.’ The rapper, 21, said that his own education was ‘fantastic’ due to the teachers ‘on my shoulders, every minute, making sure I was doing what I was doing.’ He did not comment on what it was he was doing. The Union, which has close ties with Oxford University, is known for its high-profile speakers, including the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein, as well as its variety of guests – in the week following Tinie Tempah’s appearance, the renowned pick-up artist Neil Strauss, and the President of Albania both spoke before the Union.
Limewire, the popular ‘peer to peer’ software program that has allowed morally dubious people to illegally download music for the last ten years, has been shut down after a federal judge ordained that its service was illegal. Access to the company’s website has been blocked and the most recent version of the software has stopped functioning. In a statement, Limewire’s CEO said that he was ‘disappointed’ but also ‘excited about the future’ in which he hopes to work with ‘artists, songwriters, publishers and labels,’ presumably after making amends about the copyright infringement. The ‘Limewire Store,’ a service that offers single songs for 99 cents, will continue to function, and the company hopes to beat out the lightweights such as iTunes and Amazon with this more expensive, more complicated service.
Kanye West has released a 35-minute video to accompany his upcoming album, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,’ entitled ‘Runaway’. Also the name of his lead single, ‘Runaway’ is the story of a phoenix that crashes to earth and is rescued by Kanye West’s character. He grooms her by keeping her in his garden with his other pets (a sheep, a rabbit and a deer) and exposing her to impromptu, beautifully choreographed ballet sequences. The highly polished film, which incorporates nine of the eleven songs from West’s new album, is being compared (by Kanye West) to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’. West has said that the colours of the film – vivid reds, greens and whites – are symbolic, and the imagery has drawn comparisons (by himself) to Picasso and Matisse. The music and the imagery take centre stage, although the strength of West’s acting in the few scenes with dialogue has prompted comparisons (by himself) to Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee.