Is Madonna a good rapper?

[Cruelty 6,172]

Okay.

First off, it's borderline hilarious that a 20-year-old 45-second rap has provoked this much genuine resentment. I disagree that it's spoofing contemporary rap music, because I think it's a little more empathetic than that. But I do think that the American Life rap is a deliberately atypical passage of music within a combatively unconventional song, so it's slightly unfair to answer the question 'Is Madonna a good rapper?' on the basis of this. But I'll try anyway, because American Life is such a misunderstood gem and it deserves defending.

American Life is an album about how the American Dream is destroying America. It's about applying the lessons learnt on Ray of Light to civilisation itself, about a project of societal reorientation which deconstructs and rejects materialism in favour of empathy and human connection. But if Madonna's saying that materialism has become an unsustainable way of organising the world, she has to begin by admitting her own privilege, unceremoniously casting off her 80s Material Girl label. The title track is basically that question 'what do you buy the woman who has everything?', presenting the horrific paradox where you could have anything you want, but you know it won't make you happy. And Madonna's wondering why that is.

So yes, the lyrics are a little clunky and uninspired, but that's the point! American Life is about a country whose fire has died down, and whose people sit cataloguing their possessions as if that's how life should be valued. Yes, she's got three nannies an assistant and a driver and a jet a trainer and a butler and a bodyguard or five a gardener and a stylist, but that doesn't make her happy. Bombs are dropping, people are dying, violence has become commodified entertainment and interpersonal connection seems at an all-time low. The white-picket-fence American Dream has reached its apotheosis in apathetic materialism, and now the Material Girl herself—a classic embodiment of the rags-to-riches dream itself—is rejecting it. American Life doesn't sound like a pop album should, it doesn't behave like it should, and that's the point. 'And I just realised that nothing is what it seems'.

And as for the stunted, stilted delivery: tbh, I think it's probably down to Madonna genuinely not being a great rapper (she'd be the first to admit she's not the world's greatest vocalist), but it fits perfectly with the spiky, jagged beat and the empty monotony of the lyric. So no, I don't think she's a good rapper, but American Life is absolutely the song which allows that subpar talent to flourish.

[vanna shintuyu 10,748]

7 hours ago, 27monster27 said:

She still has the experimental and mature crowds with her on this album. You're thinking of Hard Candy.

What Madonna-centric fantasy world are you living in? No, I'm not thinking of Hard Candy. American Life sounds stupid and she lost a big part of her fanbase for it. Then Confessions brought a lot of people back, and she lost them again with Hard Candy. I'm old enough to have been a huge fan through all of it, believe it or not, through AL. I had the special edition CD with the styrofoam cover case and stamp sheet. Did I recognize that it was an album with stupid lyrics at the time? Absolutely. But I still really enjoyed it. And that's something you maybe need to work on.

Not everything you like is automatically great quality. It's okay to like subpar things.

[Echo 327]

I know a set up when I see one. 

[vixdean 1,061]

5 hours ago, NeonSkeleton said:

Okay.

First off, it's borderline hilarious that a 20-year-old 45-second rap has provoked this much genuine resentment. I disagree that it's spoofing contemporary rap music, because I think it's a little more empathetic than that. But I do think that the American Life rap is a deliberately atypical passage of music within a combatively unconventional song, so it's slightly unfair to answer the question 'Is Madonna a good rapper?' on the basis of this. But I'll try anyway, because American Life is such a misunderstood gem and it deserves defending.

American Life is an album about how the American Dream is destroying America. It's about applying the lessons learnt on Ray of Light to civilisation itself, about a project of societal reorientation which deconstructs and rejects materialism in favour of empathy and human connection. But if Madonna's saying that materialism has become an unsustainable way of organising the world, she has to begin by admitting her own privilege, unceremoniously casting off her 80s Material Girl label. The title track is basically that question 'what do you buy the woman who has everything?', presenting the horrific paradox where you could have anything you want, but you know it won't make you happy. And Madonna's wondering why that is.

So yes, the lyrics are a little clunky and uninspired, but that's the point! American Life is about a country whose fire has died down, and whose people sit cataloguing their possessions as if that's how life should be valued. Yes, she's got three nannies an assistant and a driver and a jet a trainer and a butler and a bodyguard or five a gardener and a stylist, but that doesn't make her happy. Bombs are dropping, people are dying, violence has become commodified entertainment and interpersonal connection seems at an all-time low. The white-picket-fence American Dream has reached its apotheosis in apathetic materialism, and now the Material Girl herself—a classic embodiment of the rags-to-riches dream itself—is rejecting it. American Life doesn't sound like a pop album should, it doesn't behave like it should, and that's the point. 'And I just realised that nothing is what it seems'.

And as for the stunted, stilted delivery: tbh, I think it's probably down to Madonna genuinely not being a great rapper (she'd be the first to admit she's not the world's greatest vocalist), but it fits perfectly with the spiky, jagged beat and the empty monotony of the lyric. So no, I don't think she's a good rapper, but American Life is absolutely the song which allows that subpar talent to flourish.

This is brilliantly written. Thank you!

[27monster27 13,090]

3 hours ago, Chomby said:

What Madonna-centric fantasy world are you living in? No, I'm not thinking of Hard Candy. American Life sounds stupid and she lost a big part of her fanbase for it. Then Confessions brought a lot of people back, and she lost them again with Hard Candy. I'm old enough to have been a huge fan through all of it, believe it or not, through AL. I had the special edition CD with the styrofoam cover case and stamp sheet. Did I recognize that it was an album with stupid lyrics at the time? Absolutely. But I still really enjoyed it. And that's something you maybe need to work on.

Not everything you like is automatically great quality. It's okay to like subpar things.

Practice being respectful. That is something that you should work on.

If you look at the charts internationally, she still had notable support from people worldwide. The reason why I specifically mentioned Hard Candy and not American Life is because so many message boards (like Madonna Infinity) will tell you that way more people were put off by just hearing that Madonna wanted to work with Timabaland than releasing American Life. Madonna still had more experimental and mature crowds with her on American Life (that album bringing Madonna back to the top of dance music as the 2004 BBMA nominations have shown is proof of the experimental crowd part.)

Also, any political music during 2003 was not receiving enough airplay to create successful singles:

https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2003/apr/11/anti-war-music-gets-little-airplay-on-commercial-r/

The charts alone are a further example of radio boycotts:

[Battle 4 Ur Life 6,705]

lmao. is that rap? ok. I’ve seen worse I guess.