APPLAUSE

China Lifts Lady Gaga Ban

Still censoring ARTPOP cover.

In a move that is nearly as progressive as loosening its one-child policy, China has decided to remove Lady Gaga from its blacklist. Since 2011, her songs had been banned in the country because the Culture Ministry declared her work to be “creating confusion in the order of the online music market, and damaging the nation’s cultural security.” Though Beijing is now allowing Lady Gaga’s latest album, ARTPOP, to be sold in the country, it hasn’t totally relinquished its control. Her song “Sexxx Dreams” has been changed to “X Dreams” and a large ball and a pair of tights have been imposed on the album’s cover to hide Lady Gaga’s naked body. It’s a start.