Back in middle school, I was a bitter pop music hater.

I was in the midst of my “all good music stopped being made after the ‘90s” phase, and I channeled this hatred toward the pop music of the time.

Many popular artists from this period have disappeared in the years since. Names like the Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz, The Fray and All-American Rejects haven’t exactly dominated charts lately.

One name especially prevalent at the time, though, was Lady Gaga, a self-made singer-songwriter with eight songs cracking Billboard’s Hot 100 charts across 2009 and 2010. She was as dominant as they come.

Being the music-snob-in-training that I was back then, I didn’t care for her. Her songs all sounded too similar, she was too showy and flashy, her fans were too annoying — the typical reasons anyone hates on an international pop star, really.

But something happened on Gaga’s career path that few expected, including me — a full evolution into a modern music legend in the making.

The transition began when Gaga appeared at the 2015 Grammy Awards for a performance of her jazz collaboration with American pop pioneer Tony Bennett, garnering the singer her first Grammy win in four years.

From there, Gaga slowly began to creep back into the public consciousness, continuing her streak with a performance a week later at that year’s Academy Awards: a well-received tribute to the musical film “The Sound of Music” for its 50th anniversary.

She went on to star in the TV series “American Horror Story: Hotel” — and later earning an Emmy for it — perform the national anthem at 2016’s Super Bowl 50 and honor David Bowie in a tribute performance at the 2016 Grammys.

In most recent news, Gaga performed the song “Til It Happens to You,” written for college sexual assault documentary “The Hunting Ground,” at last weekend’s Academy Awards. She dedicated the song to victims of sexual assault, bringing many in the Oscar audience to tears. The performance became one of the most talked-about parts of the memorable night, and for good reason.

When she first started out, I didn’t have faith in Lady Gaga sticking around. I was confident that once her schtick wore off, people would grow tired of her, like many other pop artists of that time.

And maybe they did. After all, her last solo studio album, 2013’s “Artpop,” hardly made a blip either on the charts or the music world’s radar, beyond the album’s lead single “Applause.” Some said her star was beginning to fade.

But Lady Gaga beat the path of pop stardom. Even after not releasing an album of her own in three years, the singer has instead relied on unconventional means to keep her name on the radar.

At age 14, my pop music critic’s ear was far from developed. But there was still one thing I knew I didn’t like about Lady Gaga: She always seemed to be hiding her real self behind her public self. Publicity stunts like meat dresses, controversial lyrics and bizarre public appearances drove me away.

As she’s grown as both a person and an artist, though, Gaga has so clearly made huge strides in public perception. If there was any doubt to her musical talent and celebrity power before, she’s proven it very wrong with her strong start to 2016.

After becoming more open and honest with who she is as an artist, Lady Gaga has only gained more of my respect. She no longer feels the need to hide behind a manufactured persona like she did in her early pop career. She’s not only saying what she wants, but she’s meaning what she says.

A pop star that sticks around past his or her lifespan is as minor miracle of its own. A pop star that successfully develops a new, more authentic identity as a music icon transcending pop music is even more miraculous.

Lady Gaga’s done the impossible, not turning her critics around, but completely changing her artistic direction as well.

Brett Weiser-Schlesinger is a sophomore newspaper and online journalism major. His column appears weekly in Pulp. He can be reached at bweisers@syr.edu or on Twitter at @brettws.

Published on March 1, 2016 at 8:51 pm