Do What U Want - Wikipedia

"Do What U Want" was co-written by Gaga, Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair, R. Kelly, Martin "Tchami" Bresso and William "DJ Snake" Grigahcine.[1] It was produced by Blair and Gaga and features vocals by Kelly.[2][3] Gaga had been living in Chicago and completing the songs for Artpop, which was being influenced by the R&B and hip hop music predominant there.[4] One day, the singer came to know about an article discussing her weight and she was angered with such news. She decided that it was through her music that she could take a stance against "shallow journalism".[5] After the release of the first single from the album, titled "Applause", the singer was also determined to create something different and unfamiliar to her past hit singles, and "Do What U Want" stemmed from these thoughts.[4]

Blair recalled how in 2011 his friend Martin was playing him a particular beat from his own remix project. Blair liked the music and presented it to Gaga who had begun writing the song's lyrics while on the Born This Way Ball tour. Blair described its beat as "some space age George Jetson R&B sound".[6] After the lyrics were completed in September 2013, Blair suggested bringing Kelly on board as a collaborator. Kelly was in the process of completing his album, Black Panties, and agreed to participate following a telephone conversation with Gaga.[6] Kelly told Billboard that working with the singer was "natural jelling".[7] Gaga told MTV News about the song:

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.[8]