How the Madonna X Maluma collaboration came to be?

[steel 715]

One of the recurrent points being made by members who dislike Medellin is that Madonna is jumping on the latin trend. In this short clip from Beats1 interview she did - full interview not yet released - she discusses how the collaboration came to be:

So they met at the VMAs,  he sent her flowers, Maluma's manager expressed an interest in collaborating, and she start exploring what they could do together with Mirwais. 

To me this is quite revealing. It wasn't her that initiated contact, she wasn't chasing Reagaton sounds in particular. He expressed an interest, and because Madonna and Mirwais were already working on Madame X, world music infused album, and a potential collaboration would fit with the overall concept of the album, they pursued the collaboration.

 

Fellow fans that don't like the music is absolutely fine, of course, but she wasn't chasing trends and per the above clip. It evolved by itself, and fitted with the project. The song, despite being latin-infused, is totally a Madonna and Mirwais song. Just pay attention to the production, the play with the vocoder, sounds very reminiscing of Ray of Light and Music, the sweet tone of her voice.

This is a 100% Madonna/Mirwais product, which sets itself apart from current latin sounding songs that we hear over and over in the radio. I can see that this might not the kind of Madonna song people want, but it doesn't come down to being Madonna chasing trends.

 

I would be curious to hear people's thoughts on this, even if they are not a fan of Medellin.

[MyQueen 2,409]

It an honor to work with M 

And is a win win for both of them

[steel 715]

34 minutes ago, MyQueen said:

It an honor to work with M 

And is a win win for both of them

Absolutely. He wants to reach out to other markets, such as the European one, and she wants to to reach further into the Latin one. Comercially, it makes total sense, and it’s definitely a win win situation.

He was also incredibly honoured to work with her, as seen in the video of him crying after hearing the song on the radio for the first time. 

[Nicogly 2,579]

I mean it is just a vapid song... not even a good fun song... lyrics are tragic and its a bad reggeaton song, which is hard to do... Who cares if she is or isnt hoping on trends, if the music was good....

[Sneaky Oliver 20,096]

I like the song and i’m excited for the MV! It looks amazing judging by the preview we got!  i think people should not hate a song based on first impression or just because it has a trendy sound. Madonna has been playing with latin music for decades now 

[androiduser 7,103]

that's all fine... but has any artist ever admitted and said "I was chasing a new trend because I though this would bring me new fans, more relevancy, one more hit" ?

[Hexxx 2,244]

I think it's the perfect plan since the album is inspired by Portuguese music. 

[steel 715]

2 hours ago, androiduser said:

that's all fine... but has any artist ever admitted and said "I was chasing a new trend because I though this would bring me new fans, more relevancy, one more hit" ?

No, perhaps not. But based on that interview and on what we know of the creative process of this particular song, do you not believe her? 

By just stating that she is chasing trends shuts down the entire conversation, dismissing all the work and passion that went onto that particular piece of work. 

To me, the chasing trends is just a hollow argument, not just in relation to M, but with all artists. Of course, every artist wants success. Madonna for decades managed to reinvent herself, her sound, be progressive and inventive, and at the same time have huge success. Now she is not even given a chance because of her age and very misogynistic view that she should just “pack it up.” You see that everywhere - in forums, comment sections, etc. Do you read any of those sort of very personal attacks towards the Rolling Stones, Elton John, or any other male artist in their 60s, 70s, or 80s? No. 

But Instead than “packing it up”, she chooses to keep going, producing music that she loves, despite the constant barriers put in front of her. I do honestly believe that she loves to do what she is doing, even at 60, because she was never one to stay still. She could simply “pack it up”, enjoy her domestic life with her kids and family and enjoy her multimillion fortune and rest on her many achievements. 

But no, she keeps going, she keeps producing original music, being a forward thinking pop star, who owns her body, sexuality, and strong opinions at 60, and I do believe she will be the first of its kind in that sense -- that she will open the doors for Katy, Beyonce, Gaga, any other female pop stars to still continue being pop stars in their 60s and 70s if they so wish.

 

EDIT: An one quick edit: the other thing that happens in her case in this context is that people in general place her in competition with artists who are 20, 30 or even 40 years younger than her, and she clearly does not have a fair chance to do achieve that level of success commercially with her age. 

Sorry for the long reply.

[androiduser 7,103]

look, you can interpret it in so many different ways to fit into her narrative, or whatever you choose to do... however, she's been doing the same thing for YEARS.... collaborating with a hot new trendy artist of the moment... and it's always some higher purpose, artistic choice blah blah, and never chasing a hit.... we've been through this so many times before.... Ricky Martin at the height of his fame, Britney at the height of her fame, Justin at the height of his success, Timbaland and Pharell right after their biggest hits at the time....Nicki, M.I.A. , Taylor, LMFAO (Jesus Christ!!!!!)... friendships with Rupert Everett right after My Best Friend's Wedding, Gwyneth after her Oscar.... it's a pattern, no matter how you try to twist this into some artistic choice.

The only time it worked as an artistic choice was when Bjork wrote Bedtime Story, and it was because Bjork wasn't having any of it, she wrote the song, and wasn't getting dragged into the whole circus.

[androiduser 7,103]

I am a fan, I want Madonna to do well, but this has NEVER worked for her.

The song is already plummeting after only two days. The problem is that the general public still holds Madonna to a higher quality standard and these insincere shenanigans simply won't work.

[steel 715]

9 minutes ago, androiduser said:

Ricky Martin at the height of his fame, Britney at the height of her fame, Nicki, M.I.A. , Taylor, LMFAO (Jesus Christ!!!!!)... friendships with Rupert Everett right after My Best Friend's Wedding, Gwyneth after her Oscar.

Well, you are just choosing to ignore everything else I wrote in my post, and missing my point entirely.

You have a strictly formed view of who Madonna is or isn't, without even taking into account contextual factors.

And for the list of collaborators above, none of them lead to anything really successful and she always did much better commercially by herself without features, so not really a good point. And what even did she get out of her relationship with Rupert Everett and Gwyneth in terms of commercial success?  That's really an absurd connection there.

The way you are phrasing it, you are presenting her as some sort of leech, without true friendships and relationships when every person she has ever worked with her praise to the heavens and back. What you are saying is actually quite offensive and disrespectful towards her.

[androiduser 7,103]

2 minutes ago, steel said:

 And what even did she get out of her relationship with Rupert Everett and Gwyneth in terms of commercial success?  That's really an absurd connection there.

The way you are phrasing it, you are presenting her as some sort of leech, without true friendships and relationships. 

she literally made a movie with Everett that was a romantic comedy drama... right after the became famous for romantic movies!!! and it was yet another disaster....

and you are absolutely right.... her biggest hits have been SOLO hits, with original concepts, not collaborations with trendy artists, when will she ever learn that this will NEVER work out for her?

[steel 715]

6 minutes ago, androiduser said:

she literally made a movie with Everett that was a romantic comedy drama... right after the became famous for romantic movies!!! and it was yet another disaster....

and you are absolutely right.... her biggest hits have been SOLO hits, with original concepts, not collaborations with trendy artists, when will she ever learn that this will NEVER work out for her?

Rupert Everett was never a romantic movies kind of actor. He did 'My Best Friends Wedding' in 1997, and was the gay best friend of Julia Roberts - not really a significant role, and not the one that made him famous.

They did the movie together then in 2000, and she lost the opportunity to do 'Chicago' because she chose to do "The Next Best Thing", and I'm sure it wasn't because Rupert Everett was the it boy of the moment -- he never was, specially as a gay actor in the late 90s early 00s.

As I noted above, that's a very biased and distrustful view that you have of her. Anyway, this conversation is leading nowhere, and we have now moved from the topic of the thread.

[androiduser 7,103]

fine fine, whatever.... it's all an artistic choice made to explore significant sociological issues... in three years this will be viewed as the mistake that it was, and we'll all move on. I wish her well, but don't predict any success with these scams. It hasn't worked before, and it won't work now. But whatever... its her career and legacy, nobody else's.