Lady Gaga’s 2013 album Artpop spawned some successful singles, and one of them was “Do What U Want,” which features R. Kelly. Since the airing of the Surviving R. Kelly documentary and Kelly’s ensuing legal troubles, artists who have worked with or have been associated with Kelly have made an effort to distance themselves from him. Gaga has done so as well, as their collaboration is no longer available on streaming services (although the version of the song that instead features Christina Aguilera is still online).
It looks like Gaga is removing the song from an upcoming physical release of Artpop as well. NME notes that pre-order pages for upcoming CD and vinyl re-releases of the album, from UK music retailer HMV, do not have “Do What U Want” on the tracklist.
Shortly after Surviving R. Kelly aired, Gaga apologized for working with Kelly on the song, writing, “What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible. As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life. The song is called ‘Do What U Want (With My Body),’ I think it’s clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time. […] I share this not to make excuses for myself, but to explain. Til it happens to you, you don’t know how it feels. But I do know how I feel now. I intend to remove this song off of iTunes and other streaming platforms and will not be working with him again. I’m sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner. I love you.”
