Lady Gaga Tells 92.3 NOW That She Always Wants to Be the Underdog

If anyone can handle a diva, it's Nick Cannon. After all, he's got wife Mariah Carey and their newborn daughter Monroe at home. So when Lady Gaga stopped by 92.3 NOW in New York City for an interview, Cannon was the man for the job.

Gaga engaged in some chatter and banter with Cannon and the crew. She talked about relishing her role as the underdog, her love for the Big Apple and what she thinks of the right wing religious critics who challenge her support of the gay community. Gaga, with her black and blond dual-tone hair and big shades, once again reminded us why we love her so much and that's for her unabashed honesty.

On her preference for being an underdog: Gaga didn't start out as a child of privilege, as rapper M.I.A. has accused her of. Gaga is a fighter, saying, "I always want to be on the bottom clawing my way to the top. I played clubs in New York City and waitressed and paid my own rent and I worked so, so hard. I want to always feel like me and my Brooklyn nails are crawling my ass all the way to the top."

On the S subway line being wrapped with promotional banners for 'Born This Way': For a girl who was a "subway kid rejoic[ing] the truth," Gaga was stoked when her visage dominated the subway shuttle. She gushed, "That was my absolute favorite thing that happened that week. I rode that train so many times to go downtown to theater school and to jazz clubs, and to go hang out with my friends. To have the train wrapped with my album cover? This is where I was born. I live in Brooklyn now."

On briefly living in LA: Gaga is a New Yorker, not a Left Coaster, despite a short stay there. Of that period, she said, "I thought 'This is so not me. I am so New York.' I wrote 'Marry the Night' because I will always be a New York girl."

On being "herself" and not hiding behind her costumes and wigs: Critics have said Gaga has lost sight of Stefani Germanotta by burying herself in her outrageous attire when, in fact, it's quite the opposite. "When I was in high school, I had no freaking clue who I was. I had a uniform. I got bullied a lot by other girls. When I got to college, I didn't know who I am. People tried to explain my personality with escapism or show biz. It took me so long to be this brave, nothing you can do or say to get me to let it go," she exclaimed.

On her hair: Despite having had a "chemical cut" due to breakage from dying her hair, which resulted in a weave, she said, "I waited four years for it to grow long, now that I have it back, I never wear it. I am my hair, I need my wigs, my wigs are who I am."

On right wing religious critics: Cannon called her "Pastor Reverend Bishop Gaga" after she delivered this impassioned assessment of her right wing critics: "I think that anyone that promotes the idea that God would ever hurt people is one of the scariest and most psychotic things that I could think of. I am a religious person, but I respect people aren't religious or are atheist or believe in a different God. Any group that singles out any person … And says that in the name of God, that person belongs in hell? That is a sign of evil, to me. To me, if there is a devil, him and God know each other and go way back. Kindness is the future of all good things. There is nothing religious or beautiful about hatred."

On playing Strip Connect Four: Cannon challenged her to play a game of Connect Four, then changed the terms to Strip Connect Four, but Gaga wasn't having any of that, because of her reverence for Cannon's wife. Gaga said, "I am not getting in the line of Mariah. No thank you. We can play Connect Four but we're keeping our clothes on."

Watch Footage of Lady Gaga at 92.3 NOW