Madonna feat Nicki Minaj - Bitch I'm Madonna

The Diplo produced Trap/Hip Hop song is the 3rd single from her Rebel Heart album. It has been a fan favorite that went viral after Madonna performed this on Jimmy Fallon's show. It's a catchy, silly song in its original form with Nicki Minaj joining her in the middle. Remixes by Dirty Pop, Fedde Le Grand, Junior Sanchez, Oscar Gaeten, Rosabel, and Sander Kleinenberg will be released later this week on the digital remix EP. Dirty Pop's mix is a hard-hitting mainstream Electro/Tribal one. Fedde Le Grand's swing beat mix incorporates some elements of the original but it has lots of fun vocal effects and stutters. Junior Sanchez goes in a Deep House direction, using just a few re-arranged vocal and instrumental samples. Oscar Gaeten's mix is a tribal dub with just a sprinkling of vocals. Rosabel's main mix uses the most vocals and ends up utilizing the vocals the best. The dub mostly uses Nicki's vocals. Sander Kleinenberg's mix is atmospheric with some cool orchestral and EDM elements. Rosabel's ends up being the best of the bunch.

Grade: B+

Madonna - Rebel Heart (Review)

The highly anticipated 13th studio album from the Queen Of Pop is slated to be released next month, and there are rumors it may be moved up to next week to coincide with her Grammy Awards performance on Sunday.

Madonna began work on this album last year. She was very active on Instagram throughout that year documenting her process with many collaborators including Alicia Keys, Avicii, Diplo, Kanye West, Mozella, Nas, Natalia Kills, Nicki Minaj, Ryan Tedder, Toby Gad, and many others.

Nearly a week before Christmas, a number of unfinished demos and work in progress versions of songs from the album leaked online forcing Madonna and her team to release the first 6 songs as 'instant downloads' when fans pre-ordered the album on iTunes. The lead single "Living For Love" was one of the songs to be released then. A full remix package has also been released and a music video is in the works. The album was originally envisioned as a concept project with two discs each containing a particular them with one being "Rebel Heart" with the more socially conscious and emotional songs and then "Unapologetic Bitch" with the more playful and light-hearted songs. That concept was abandoned due to the leaks and it is now one album going back and forth between the themes.

Here is a track by track writeup.

Alicia Keys - Girl On Fire

This is the latest single from the R&B chanteuse's new album. It's co-written by Alicia herself, Jeff Bhasker, Billy Squier, and Salaam Remi. Alicia delivers a really stellar vocal on this well-written song. Her vocals on the chorus are fantastic. There are multiple versions of the song to make it more suitable for airplay on different formats. The main version has a Pop/R&B type production. The beat calls to mind fun.'s "We Are Young." The Inferno mix has harder beats and features rapper Nicki Minaj delivering some guest verses. Her verses feel a little pedestrian, but they work. The Bluelight version is more suited for CHR/Pop and AC with the lighter production. Overall, this is an excellent song.

Listen to the versions on YouTube:
-Original buy it here
-Inferno Version buy it here
-Bluelight Version buy it here

Grade: A

Madonna - MDNA (Deluxe)

The highly anticipated 12th studio album is finally here! After the lukewarm reception to her 2008 Hard Candy, she returns to her Dance roots as she did with 2005's Confessions On A Dance Floor. The producers she has worked with this time around are Alle & Benny Benassi, Demolition Crew,  Free School, Indiigo, Martin Solveig, Michael Malih, and William Orbit.

Here is a track by track writeup.

Nicki Minaj - Starships

This is the latest single off of her upcoming Roman Reloaded album (due in April). The Electro/Dance/Pop track is much catchier than earlier offerings "Roman In Moscow" and "Stupid Hoe". Nicki sings rather nicely and raps on the hooky song. The production and vocal delivery call to mind Britney Spears' "Till The World Ends". The backing harmonies during the chorus especially bring forth that vibe. The song could be thought of as the 'little sister' of her current smash "Turn Me On" with David Guetta.

Grade: A-

Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin' (LMFAO Remix)

Hot on the heels of her much hyped Superbowl performance comes the LMFAO remix of the new song that she performed during her set. Sandwiched between "Vogue", "Music", and "Like A Prayer", the LMFAO guys joined her on stage briefly during the performance.

This remix significantly improves upon the original updating the production and increasing the volume on the vocals. LMFAO add a small bit of rap swapping out M.I.A.'s bit of theirs, plus a little towards the end. Nicki's section is still there. This version does lose most of the vocals from the original, however, it just seems to work better this way. This version may have a greater chance of getting radio airplay in the U.S. Additional remixes for the club release are forthcoming.

-Listen to the remix here (YouTube)
-View Madonna's entire Superbowl performance in HD here (YouTube)

Grade: B+

Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin' (feat. M.I.A. & Nicki Minaj)

This is the lead single off of the Queen of Pop's upcoming 12th studio album MDNA. Produced by Martin Solveig, the song is a return to the Dance/Pop Madonna is usually known for. The song has a distinct retro feel, especially with the "Mickey"-esque chants. Rappers M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj join in on the fun with their respective portions. The song immediately recalls Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" from a few years ago that had a remix featuring Lil Mama. This song almost feels like the kid sister of that one. The 'dubstep' break in the middle with the bridge is probably the highlight.

For a lead single, this feels rather anticlimactic. Hopefully this is not a preview of things to come with the new album.

Purchase the song here (iTunes)
Watch the music video here (YouTube)

Grade: B

Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe

This is the second song premiered from her forthcoming Roman Reloaded album. "Stupid Hoe" is an outrageous, over the top, hyper uptempo in which Nicki (as Roman) calls out some very specific people without naming names who have thrown shade at her ever since she arrived on the scene. It is an all around fun track, but does come across as a novelty. Nicki's rapidfire delivery is on point as usual though.

Purchase the song from iTunes Explicit | Clean

Grade: B

Willow Smith feat Nicki Minaj - Fireball

After the cool reception to "21st Century Girl" after the smash success of "Whip My Hair" comes another clubbanger entitled "Fireball." With its hard drums and sirens, the song will cause maximum dancefloor damage. This song is far more energetic and catchy than the previous single. Guest Nicki Minaj is a perfect match for Willow's verses and chorus. The chorus immediately calls to mind MC Lyte's "Cold Rock A Party". This one will probably fair much better.

Listen to the song here (YouTube)

Grade: A-

Mariah Carey - Up Out My Face

This originally appeared on her Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel album. It was also remixed as a duet with Nicki Minaj for the now-shelved Angel's Advocate remix album. This fun and sassy kiss-off truly deserved more success than it received. Ralphi Rosario completed remixes for this, making it into a floorfiller. The song translates extremely well into dance mixes. Just enough of Nicki's vocals are kept for the remixes in the right places. Ralphi really turned this one out.

Listen to the Ralphi Rosario Radio Edit here (YouTube)


Grade: A

Christina Aguilera feat Nicki Minaj - Woohoo

After "Not Myself Tonight" underperformed, this is being widely touted as the second single off of Bionic. "Woohoo" is a hypersexual hip hop clubbanger. It features hot artist/rapper of the moment Nicki Minaj. She does the chorus and a verse. Christina's portions are good, however, Nicki really stands out on this song. The song's lyrics are highly suggestive despite only a couple of actual profanities are used. This song could be a summer hit for both.

Purchase the song here (iTunes)

Grade: B+