From Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” to PinkPantheress’ “Angel,” the soundtrack for the upcoming Greta Gerwig-helmed Barbie movie has been dominating pop-culture conversations for a month and change, and there are still a few weeks to go until the soundtrack’s full release on July 21.
AQUA’s 1997 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Barbie Girl” is arguably the most successful Barbie-themed song of all time, so when initial reports suggested that the seminal pop anthem would not be included in the film, fans were understandably upset and confused. Luckily, thanks to Mark Ronson, the executive producer of the soundtrack, “Barbie Girl” lives on in the world of Barbie, which stars Academy Award nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
“Barbie World,” the latest single from Barbie The Album and the second collaboration between Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, samples AQUA’s seminal pop smash.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Robbie — who is also one of the film’s producers — recounts how she pushed to get “Barbie Girl” included in the new movie. “I was like, ‘Greta, how are we going to incorporate this song? We can’t do a Barbie movie and not have a nod to Aqua’s “Barbie Girl.” It has to be in there.’ And [Greta] was like, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to find a cool way to incorporate it.’”
The Oscar-nominated director soon returned to Robbie with a major revelation, the actress recalls. “Then, when she was like, ‘Guess who’s going to do the remix of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”? Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.’ I was like, ‘Together? Are you joking?!’ I just knew immediately that all my girlfriends were going to lose their minds.”
Ronson, who won an Oscar for his contributions to the A Star Is Born anthem “Shallow,” added “I feel like people have been asking Nicki to rhyme over some version of ‘Barbie Girl’ for 15 years now,” as he recounted how the song came together.
Barbie The Album arrives July 21 with songs from Lizzo, Kali & Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Khalid, Ryan Gosling, Charli XCX, Tame Impala, HAIM, The Kid Laroi and more.
