New York ( CNN ) -- Lady Gaga met with me this week about the launch of her new fragrance , Fame , but as is often the case with this pop mega-star , it is hard to determine what is marketing , what is performance and what is her reality . `` Fame has a very interesting prospect with dangerous encounters around the corner ... ..Fame is ultimately about the cycles of desire and how to do away with them or manage them well , '' the 26-year-old superstar said . `` Vanity can create a very cruel space for you if you do n't know how to manage it . '' One thing you are sure of -- she is passionate . Unlike other celebrities who license their name to use on products other people make , Gaga was heavily involved in the entire process , she says , including the idea of making the actual liquid black -- a perfume first . At first , her collaborators tried to talk her out of the dark tint `` so you do n't have to explain to everyone how it wo n't get on your clothing , '' she recalled . `` And I said , ` I do n't want to do it unless it 's black ' . '' She is certainly someone who knows how to walk the fine line between shock value and mass appeal -- as when I asked about what she wanted from Fame 's scent . `` I wanted it to smell slutty , to be totally honest , '' she said . `` I do n't think that women need to smell interesting . I have an interesting mind but I want to smell like a slut ... I mean it in a lovely way like the way your husband makes you feel when you 've had a really long day and he knows exactly what to say to you to make you feel sexy . '' Does she think of herself as a businesswomen ? `` Well , I guess we 'll find out , '' she said . More : Before she was Gaga : The unseen photos . The young performer is certainly in the black : Forbes estimates Gaga earned $ 52 million between May 2011 and May 2012 -- a drop from the $ 90 million she earned the year before , the magazine reported . But Forbes expects that figure to balloon next year , as she launched her 2012-2013 `` Born This Way Ball '' world tour in late April with more than 100 concerts planned . Will that passion translate into commercial success for the perfume ? Some fans are turned off when their favorite artists hawk products , but as Gaga quipped during our interview , `` I already am a product . '' Prices for the Fame products range from $ 19 to $ 79 for a 100 milliliter bottle , and the line also include soap , shower gel and body lotion . She joins a long list of celebrities who have launched their own perfume or cologne lines , from Beyonce and Brittany Spears to Pavarotti and Michael Jordan . `` The most exciting thing about this fragrance is that is was collaboration between myself and two lifelong friends of mine , incredible photographers and creators , '' she said . `` Steve Klein shot the ad campaign the amazing images for the fragrance and Nick Knight designed the bottle with me . It 's been an amazing time for me . I 've been enjoying myself because I get to work with people I really love and respect and give something back to the fans . `` We really spent a lot of time creating this for you because we love you and we appreciate that you love the aesthetic that we created through our music and TV performances , '' she added . Gaga has dismissed the idea of a fashion line in the past , saying the Haus of Gaga , the creative team behind often controversial couture , `` was not a commodity , not something to be sold . '' But that may be shifting . When I asked her if this experience has made her open to the idea of other products she coyly responded , `` Anything is possible . '' As for the woman herself : She was punctual , polite , fabulously turned out but I can honestly say by the end I had no more insight on Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta the person , than I did at the start . And I suspect that is just how Lady Gaga likes it . She is in it for the long haul and very much in control of every aspect of her Fame .
Pop star Lady Gaga has launched worldwide a new perfume line , Fame . The decade - old performer earned $ 100 million last year , according to Forbes . On the scent of the new line : ` ` I wanted it to smell slutty , to be totally honest '' The perfume itself is entirely black , a first for the fragrance industry .