FEATURE:
Present, Future, Nostalgia
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa/PHOTO CREDIT: Zoey Grossman for Elle
What Might a Dua Lipa and Madonna Collaboration Sound Like?
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AS a bit of a distraction…
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna
from a lot of heavy stuff going on in music right now, I wanted to expand on a piece of news that broke last week. It has been a pretty intense week, and venues are closer to the precipice of extinction than ever; nobody knowing whether the Government will bail them out and do what is required! Inside all of this uncertainty and anger, there was a story – or rumour – that Dua Lipa and Madonna might work together. This article explains more:
“Dua Lipa is reaching out to Madonna about a future collaboration, according to the singer's manager.
Ben Mawson of Tap Music spoke to Music Week about how Dua's latest album Future Nostalgia was heavily influenced by Madonna's Confessions on a Dancefloor, both of which featured songs produced by Stuart Price.
When asked by the magazine if Dua Lipa could be the next Madonna, Mawson responded: "Well it depends what you mean. She's definitely going to have a long career. She's definitely the complete pop star and obviously the album was heavily influenced by Madonna. In fact, we're about to try and get Madonna on a record. I'm going to write the email and see if she's up for a track."
Mawson continued: "Dua told me she aspired to be Madonna when I met her, when she was 17, and there was something about the way she said it that made me believe her! It was about her personality, her charisma, her competitiveness and her drive and that came across. Dua's got it all, so she's got unlimited potential."
Both Dua's Future Nostalgia and Madonna's Confessions eras were hugely successful. Confessions spawned Madonna's first UK Number 1 single for five years - and longest-reigning for 15 years - in Hung Up and produced four Top 10 singles. For Dua, Future Nostalgia topped the Official Albums Chart, generated the longest-reigning Top 10 single ever by a female artist Don't Start Now, and saw Dua become the first British female to score three Top 10 singles concurrently since 1955”.
It is interesting to consider the artists who could collaborate and what could occur! As we are still in lockdown, musicians are not really thinking much about creative hook-ups, but the potential of one of modern Pop’s biggest stars joining forces with the Queen of Pop is exciting. Madonna’s last album, Madame X, was released last year and is one of the best-reviewed or her later career. She has been popping up on Instagram and making the news for various different reasons – mainly people sticking their noses in or judging Madonna for everything she says or does. I think Dua Lipa’s new album, Future Nostalgia, is one of the year’s best, and one can hear elements of Madonna’s early career – from her debut album to True Blue in 1986. Dua Lipa recently spoke with Elle, and she talked about her album and gender equality – and the subject of where she heads next:
“Talking about the meaning behind Boys Will Be Boys, the album’s most serious track, Lipa says: ‘I often will speak up about female equality, especially in the workplace, but this song is talking about the personal experiences and growing pains of what it’s like to be a woman. I’ve spoken to my friends, and they’ve all done the same things, whether it’s holding keys between your knuckles or pretending you’re on the phone while walking alone at night.
PHOTO CREDIT: Erik Madigan Heck for GQ
We’ve all tried to avoid confrontation, or worn something we didn’t really want to wear in order to protect ourselves. We’ve all been like, Oh, I can’t bear the idea of wearing this short dress and then hopping on public transport to get to the party.’ Lipa is hopeful that she can contribute to important conversations about what kind of behaviour society is willing to accept and why. She also finds hope in the fact that some men are finally suffering the consequences of their actions. ‘It’s a massive wake-up call to people all around the world that no one is invincible and no one is untouchable,’ she says.
On the work front, she’s already starting to think about her next album – although don’t expect it to reflect too much on what’s taken place this year: ‘Hopefully we’ll be trying to resume life as normal,’ she says. ‘Once we’ve decided to move on, I don’t think we will want to be reminded too much of this time. Of course, this is a major moment in history that we will never forget, but I don’t know whether that’s going to influence where my music is going to go next. I think I’m probably just going to carry on and try to take my mind off things’”.
I am not sure whether Madonna and Dua Lipa have spoken, and how concrete the plans are. I think it opens up the possibility of a big track! Consider the impact Madonna has made in her career and what she did on Madame X. Whereas artists like Dua Lipa are inspired by Madonna’s early sound, Madonna herself is moving forward and sounding more similar to modern chart Pop and Dance.
In terms of what a song would sound like – if they did get together -, I think there will be a clash of Future Nostalgia-Dua Lipa and modern-Madonna, rather than either artist changing their course or reverting to the past. Many might want Madonna to throw back to her younger sound, but I love what she did on Madame X. I feel a duo between the two artists would provide easy and intriguing chemistry. There would be Disco beats and, maybe, a little suggestion of Madonna’s 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Lyrically, I feel a Madonna-Dua Lipa blend would be less about love and lust; there would be something more serious and heavier at work. Maybe an empowering anthem asking for change and equality? Perhaps we would hear against political ineptitude, or something that aims its anger at the governments in the U.K. and U.S. Given the talent on offer, the possibilities are endless! I do think that this possibility should become a reality, as Madonna has worked with artists over her last few albums, but none that have the same sort of quality and appeal as Dua Lipa – one has to go back to Like a Prayer in 1989 when Madonna worked with Prince to get that same sort of excitement level. If anything is to be realised, I assume it will happen when they can get into the studio together, as I am not sure a song that features them recording vocals separately would be as natural and good. Dua Lipa is moving forward and busy, and one suspects Madonna is putting together some music. Whether they would release a song as a standalone single or include it on one of their albums, I am not certain. What I do know is that two of the modern world’s biggest Pop artists unifying would create…
QUITE an explosion.