Madonna has been quite busy repackaging her music this week. In addition to proving that Beyoncé is just as much of an opportunist (frequently posing as a freedom fighter) as she is with “The Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul,” Madonna has also sought to remind us that capitalism is “chic” in any decade. Even if it’s a decade bringing us ever-closer to climate collapse precisely because of the form of excess that Madonna, and now, Saucy Santana, are paying tribute to on “Material Gworl” (or “MATERIAL GWORRLLLLLLLL!” to be precise).
A reworking of M’s classic 1984 single, accompanied by a video in which Madonna also repackaged Marilyn Monroe from when she was singing her own material girl anthem (“Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend”), “Material Girl” is given an update that doesn’t seek in any way, shape or form to caution against the dangers of being a materialistic bitch. And where once Madonna could claim “irony” about the song, it appears that the verses she’s added to this edition leave no viable room for such declarations.
No, instead, Madonna would prefer to uphold the toxic message that, “If you’re not a material girl then you basic.” Of course, the contrary is what’s actually true, with material girls being a dime a dozen in this life. Even the ones who merely aspire to be with their Shein purchases posing as “high fashion.” To actually encounter someone who isn’t glamored by the trappings of wealth and profligacy (e.g., private jets) is what would be infinitely less “basic” (a word itself as played as “bitch”). Saucy Santana is one such cliché who was gleefully pulled into the world of fame and “status” after going viral yet again on TikTok with his ripoff of the Nile Rodgers-produced track that had many Gen Zers wondering who Madonna was when their “elders” pointed out that the song was “inspired” by the Madonna-coined phrase.
Perhaps seeing this lack of awareness on the youths’ part as a chance to once again ingratiate herself into the minds and hearts of a new generation, Madonna asked Saucy to perform the song (by then, already day-old bread in terms of its virality passing) at Pride with her. This, in turn, has led us to an official recording timed to coincide with the release of a remix compilation called Finally Enough Love. But, by now, ironically, Saucy Santana has already shifted gears to pilfering from Beyoncé’s catalogue (specifically “Crazy in Love”) with the trash-tastic “Booty” featuring Latto. Not only did the song cause backlash from the Beyhive (as everything does) because they dug up old tweets of his citing Blue Ivy Carter’s hair as “nappy,” but it also serves as a prime example of “Gen Z talent” in that it’s all based on pastiche to the nth degree, with absolutely no reliance on a single original thought or even an innovative take on an old thought.
While Madonna’s work is undeniably rooted in pastiche as well (she being the ultimate emblem of postmodernism), the singer had the benefit of coming of age in an epoch that wasn’t so “everything everywhere all at once”-based in terms of how people need to consume media very quickly (hence the increasingly short length of songs and videos) and then move on to gobble up the next thing. This is precisely why the ability for current artists to actually spend enough time on developing something at least somewhat “all their own” is essentially impossible (as Olivia Rodrigo has shown us, capitalism creates the conditions in which nothing can ever be new). Particularly with record labels and other media conglomerates hovering over them to hurry up because, unfortunately, it’s all about the “materials and serials, bitch.”
No one ever had to tell Madonna to do that, she was only too happy to do it without being told (this was the woman known for saying, “Time is money and the money is mine” while in the studio). Even in the present through these latest repackagings of her work. After all, she only recently said in an interview with Variety, “I’m just looking for interesting, fun ways to rerelease my catalog and introduce my music to a new generation.” Yet for someone who has repeatedly remarked upon her contempt for “Material Girl”—particularly people nicknaming her after it—Madonna has certainly conceded to bringing it back with a vengeance. But of all the songs she could have “brought back” (even if it was Saucy doing the resuscitating to begin with), this is probably the most insensitive choice in light of the vast majority’s financial situation at this moment in hyper-inflation time.
Incidentally, after the 80s passed, Madonna could seem to sense the coming sea change in a generation that would balk at materialism in favor of anti-Establishment discourse. Obviously, that was commodified via flannel and coffee, or the Gap and Starbucks, respectively. Even so, Madonna’s response to a changing decade that didn’t find the tenets of “Reaganomics” palatable in any way was to turn “ethereal.” The flipside of material, one supposes. Ergo an album like 1998’s Ray of Light. Once again proving that even noble (read: “spiritual”) intentions are up for commodification.
No matter how rich a person is, we’re told all the time that money can’t buy taste (a platitude that continues to hold true when we see billionaires like Elon Musk). And sure, one can try to say the revamped song is merely a celebration of “having taste” (“A material girl is not tasteless”), regardless of socioeconomic status. But with Saucy’s constant insertions of capitalist-worshipping lines like, “Fly me out, private jet, no Delta (material girl)/You can send your bitch back to the shelter (material world)/You ain’t got no money, bitch, I can’t help you,” well, that’s something of an impossible sell. This “collab” is, alas, even more affronting than the original version of the song, which at least had the “perk” of existing within a context when Republican reign made it feel like an accurate product of its grotesque, pro-yuppie decade. Would that it could have remained a “time capsule” as opposed to a reanimated glimpse into an America that is actually just as consumerist as it ever was.
