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"I've been living in Chicago and spending a lot of time there, and that's where R. Kelly hails from. I was working on ''Artpop'' and I wrote ['Do What U Want'] on tour. It was about my obsession with the way people view me. I have always been an R. Kelly fan and actually it is like an epic pastime in the Haus of Gaga that we just get fucked up and play R. Kelly. This is a real R&B song and I [said 'I] have to call the king of R&B and I need his blessing.' It was a mutual love."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1716161/lady-gaga-mustache-berlin-artpop-qa.jhtml|title=Lady Gaga Puts On Mustache And Unfamiliar Accent For ARTPOP Q&A|last=Vena|first=Jocelyn|date=October 28, 2013|accessdate=October 28, 2013|publisher=[[MTV News]]. [[Viacom]] }}</ref>
</blockquote>
==Composition and lyrical interpretation==
{{listen
| pos = left
| filename = Lady Gaga - Do What U Want sample.ogg
| title = "Do What U Want" (2013)
| description = A 22 second sample of "Do What U Want", where Gaga sings the pre-chorus and then the chorus, with the lyrics, "You can't stop my voice / 'Cause you don't own my life / But do what you want with my body". Interspersed in the track is a "lurching, lasvicious beat" forming the main backbone of the song
| format = [[Ogg]]
}}
"Do What U Want" is an experimental dance and R&B song where Gaga and Kelly occupy equal amount of space, until the final [[refrain|chorus]], where both their singing is merged into a [[Drop (music)|climax]].<ref name="popcrush"/> The track features a "muscular club beat", '80s throbbing synths and an electronic beat, with lyrics like "You can't stop my voice / 'Cause you don't own my life / But do what you want with my body".<ref name=Danton/><ref name="ew"/><ref name="nydaily"/> Jason Lipshutz from ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' described the track as "a mid-tempo, dusky sex siren", aided by [[arpeggios]] and an emotional chorus with Kelly concluding his lines with [[profanity]].<ref name="bigbet">{{cite news|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/5770533/lady-gagas-do-what-u-want-change-up-the-big-bet-on-her-r-kelly|title=Lady Gaga's 'Do What U Want' Change-Up: The Big Bet On Her R. Kelly Duet|last=Lipshutz|first=Jason|date=October 25, 2013|accessdate=October 28, 2013|work=Billboard|publisher=Prometheus Global Media}}</ref> James Montgomery from [[MTV News]] said that a "lurching, lasvicious beat" was the main backbone of the song, interspersed with Gaga's loud-voiced vocals, a "corky" chorus and Kelly's "cool, coital" singing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1715932/lady-gaga-r-kelly-do-what-u-want-artpop.jhtml|title=Lady Gaga And R. Kelly Say 'Do What U Want,' And Little Monsters Dance|accessdate=October 21, 2013|date=October 17, 2013|first=Jocelyn|last=Vena|publisher=MTV News. Viacom}}</ref> Gaga starts the song with Kelly adding adlibs, but sings the second [[verse (popular music)|verse]].<ref name="complex">{{cite news|url=http://www.complex.com/music/2013/10/lady-gaga-ft-r-kelly-do-what-u-want|title=Listen: Lady Gaga f/ R. Kelly "Do What U Want"|last=X|first=Dharmic|date=October 21, 2013|accessdate=October 22, 2013|work=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]|publisher=Complex Media}}</ref> Gaga's soulful and throaty vocals are complemented by Kelly's "buttery croon", according to Amy Sciaretto of [[PopCrush]] website.<ref name="popcrush"/> Her range was compared to that of [[Christina Aguilera]], including her vocal delivery.<ref name="popcrush"/>
Lyrically, the song is straight forward and finds Gaga telling off her detractors with the sentiment that her thoughts, dreams, and feelings are her own, no matter what one does with or says about her body.<ref name="ew"/> She and Kelly trade verses over a "funky, uptempo beat", singing the lines "Do what u want/ What u want with my body/ Do what u want/ What u want with my body/ Write what you want, say what you want about me/ If you want you know that I'm not sorry". According to [[MTV News]], one of Kelly's line is directed towards the critics when he sings; "Taking these haters/ And we rough 'em up/ And we land the cut light, we don't give a..."<ref name="dowhat"/> Jim Farber from ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'' interpreted the lyrics as twisting the sexual implications of the song, believing the song to be a criticism of "everyone who ever made a tart comment about her — which, by now, involves half the planet".<ref name="nydaily"/> Farber interpreted the lyric "But you can do what you want with my body" to mean that although people abuse her image, she won't let it affect her "essence".<ref name="nydaily"/> John Walker, from [[MTV News]], interpreted the song as about sexual submissiveness; Gaga consensually giving up only her body. Walker notes that although Kelly sings from a dominant perspective, he is not demanding: his sexual service is offered only if Gaga wills it.<ref name="nsfw"/>
==Release and promotion==
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