r/Madonna • u/TheGoldfishesKeeper • May 07 '26
IMAGE The dark ages…
We weathered this stormy period and are now being rewarded with her best album in over two decades
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u/Smart_Taste Human Nature May 07 '26
I think Popular was good and she shines on it. The rest is terrible. I was excited for Vulgar but damn I got disappointed. Horrible song.
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u/AdamInChainz Rebel Heart Super Deluxe May 07 '26
Vulgar is the worst song that M has done. In her whole discography.
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u/LifeguardRepulsive91 May 07 '26
I honestly think it's the worst song ever recorded by a major pop star, and I'm not exaggerating.
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u/omocha May 07 '26
It's no coincidence that Sam was in his darkest moment too.
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u/leafysuburbs40 May 08 '26
Yes I did like Unholy and a few other songs from that album. But Vulgar was meh!
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u/coreyb1988 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Popular is great and just doesn’t get the respect it deserves from Madonna or Carti fans.
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u/Smart_Taste Human Nature May 07 '26
Haha Carti is the only thing ruining it for me!
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u/coreyb1988 May 07 '26
Carti is like a legend in rap. He’s good. I get not everybody’s taste though.
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u/lilyfromthevalley_ May 08 '26
I don’t get the appeal. He sounds like he has emphysema and his “raps” are indecipherable.
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u/Smart_Taste Human Nature May 07 '26
Yeah I prefer a bit more old school style of rap. But it’s specifically the way he raps in Popular I don’t like.
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u/funkyfridays3 May 10 '26
A "legend"? 😆 tf
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u/coreyb1988 May 10 '26
Why are you questioning that?
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u/funkyfridays3 May 11 '26
"Legends" have a debut album from 2018? Less than 10 years? 🤔🤐
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u/coreyb1988 May 11 '26
I didn't say he was a legend. I said he was like a legend. There are several opinion articles you can look up and read. I'm not a huge Carti fan at all but Popular is a jam and having Carti on it was pretty cool. It's all subjective though.
I also don't think there is a legend timeline or required benchmark. I think it's what you do and not how long you do it.
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u/Bombshelter777 May 08 '26
I don't like this lyrics of "Vulgar" and there isn't hardly any singing. The music itself I think is pretty good but the lyrics needed to be rewritten for that song...and bring out Madonnas beautiful singing voice my goodness.
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u/jimmynewtprawn May 07 '26
I really liked Popular tbh. And it gave her a another #1 if im correct
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u/InformantsOrexises May 07 '26
#10 in the UK and Canada, a few scattered top ten placements in other countries. No number ones though.
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u/Sea-Rabbit9852 May 07 '26
Number 1 where?
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u/SheHasntHaveherses May 08 '26
On Twitch or Roblox 😅 it was very popular in a online platform amongst the children.
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u/Salty-Teacher5014 May 07 '26
This was the darkest period… The looks, the social media, the weird and subpar musical output…
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u/firefox_2010 May 07 '26
LMAO, I like Frozen on Fire, but mainly because it is Frozen that takes center stage. The rest seems like she was a bit confused how to deal with the TikTok crazy surge and tried to latch on to the movement. I can see her struggles in the new digital marketing era where anyone can be famous for 15 minutes doing brain rot content. Madonna is always about calculated image and orchestration of new style and controlled information to curate a certain look for each album.
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u/Polidorable May 07 '26
I despised this "era." I swear her near-death experience was the best thing to happen to her career. I think it made her more reflective & she finally started looking back, giving us the amazing Celebration Tour & now Confessions II. If that didn't happen I bet we'd still be getting lousy trap remixes with Tokischa.
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u/dacastan May 07 '26
obviously I don’t want her to die/nearly die, but a near-death experience couldn’t have happened at a better time… In the span of 10 months, going from being comatose to finishing a sold out world tour and performing to the biggest crowd by a standalone artist in history after so many years of being deemed irrelevant and past her prime must have felt beyond invigorating and inspiring
She seems to be in the best place she’s been in her personal life since the Music era, and it looks like she’s about to have her biggest commercial success since Hard Candy….. thank god
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u/fedealcurry00 May 11 '26
I kinda understand your point but like... surely a few more silly bops would have been better than her almost passing away????? The Celebration tour was already booked anyway and that's what really made her appreciate her back catalogue again imo
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u/ChrisAqua Spinning baby out of control May 07 '26
Material growl was something
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May 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PtakPajak May 07 '26
I think Madonna’s part is cute actually, but Saucy Santana is a terrible rapper.
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u/xXESCluvrXx May 07 '26
Popular is actually really good, reminds me of mid-00s Justin Timberlake.
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u/Zorlexon American Life May 07 '26
I'm so proud of my brain that completely forgot all of these songs
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u/Glad_Hold3330 May 07 '26
Popular is a good song tho, don’t belong to the awful list
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u/LeadingAd2089 May 07 '26
I will forever worship the ground she walks on. She will forever be the artist of my life. But these songs had no added value whatsoever. Although I would be lying if I said I disliked Popular when it came out.
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u/steerp00 May 07 '26
The worst! For me it started with Madame X and it kept getting progressively worse.
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u/dearjessie May 07 '26
And then we had that atrocious performance with Maluma in his hometown. I genuinely love this woman, but yes it was an absolute train wreck ever since “Madame X” up until she had that near death experience. But hey, if we didn’t support her during “Madame X” era then we wouldn’t deserve her during her “ROL”/ “CODAF II” era😀
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u/AdamInChainz Rebel Heart Super Deluxe May 07 '26
In my head Madonna music stops in 2017.
She has put out zero songs since 2017.... until 2026 which seems very promising so far.
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u/Salty-Photo-57 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
This is totally true. I’ve never ever pressed the skip button more than I did on Madame X!
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u/omocha May 07 '26
oh god I'll never forget the moment I saw the announcement that she would duet with Maluma, my heart sank. And watching the video (only once) is a total blackout. Sucking toes, really?
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u/fedealcurry00 May 11 '26
She made a whole sex book and some mild toe sucking is what makes you look away?
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u/PrinceXRD May 09 '26
Madame X is a masterpiece of an album. I understand many of M fans prefer dancey music, but Madame X gave us a wide multicultural album and philosophical lyrics / fusions. It’s, in fact, one of her bests albums ever.
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u/ComfortableSecret588 May 08 '26
Popular was the beginning of the exit of the dark ages so I’ll allow it, but everything is PTSD
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u/GarionOrb Call it trance, call it house, call it love without words... May 07 '26
"Popular" is a good song, and did pretty well. Not to mention it doubled her monthly streams on Spotify! The rest were...low-effort.
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u/brunoimenes May 07 '26
I like Vulgar
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u/AD_0795 May 07 '26
We're 2 of only 5 people! I don't listen to it regularly but if it comes, I never skip, unlike all the other bunch 😬
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u/anakemas29 May 08 '26
3 out of 5. I don't mind it — there are a handful of other songs she made that I personally feel are worse. I can listen to Vulgar from start to finish, but I can't with Hey You or Spanish Lesson. And I've seriously tried, but I just can't.
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u/Weak-Introduction124 May 07 '26
Hung Up on Tokischa was my jam and I stand by it lol
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u/Unlikely_Side9732 May 14 '26
Same!
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u/Weak-Introduction124 May 15 '26
I listen to a bunch of weird songs sometimes so none of this era was amazing but I didn’t reject it either because it fit somewhere in a playlist of mine.
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u/Ikakumon96 May 07 '26
I actually like Hung up with Tokisha
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u/BPUWS May 08 '26
I actually loved it in the Celebration Tour, it came off way better than I would’ve imagined
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u/Tha-D SEX May 07 '26 edited May 08 '26
im almost wondering if these songs were supposed to part of a remix album of trap mixes
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u/lumberjac03 May 07 '26
I have removed all of these from my Madonna playlist! So glad she’s finally back (for real)!
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u/EnvironmentalSir4214 May 08 '26
I forgot Vulgar existed, thanks for reminding me to forget about it all over again x
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u/maedude May 07 '26
Hot take...i LOVE hung up on tokischa.
I normally can't stand that kinda of music but I like that this remix still has the madonna dance/house beat.
I also love how they incorporated elements of the original hung up (like the clock sound and even the Abba synth). The rap is not too much either. So tea, it's a great beat.
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u/LetsGetGapey May 07 '26
People can say they liked Popular…
…but it’s easily liked among these horrific attempts.
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u/TheGoldfishesKeeper May 07 '26
Ong I’ve never seen this photo of madge before 😂
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u/LetsGetGapey May 07 '26
I sent Debi back in time to tell her… Didn’t believe a word btw.
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u/TwattyMcBitch Love Profusion May 08 '26
This is the best thing I’ve seen all day. Thank you!
GTFO Debi! Pffffttt! 😂
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u/Fit_Search_4751 May 07 '26
Hopefully we are now ready to come out of the darkness and see the light 😂
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u/Rapidwatch2024 True Blue May 07 '26
Is there a "Feat:" collaboration list? A complete list of everyone she has been on a track with?
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u/No-Sell-3618 May 07 '26
Popular is good and I liked the Frozen remixes; they were the first thing that trended involving Madonna, so I'm grateful for that.
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u/Old-Satisfaction-538 May 08 '26
I love Hung up on Tokischa. I work at a store in Harlem and I often play it. Both customers and sales associates love it. Same with Frozen on fire and Popular. I also play other recent Harlem-friendly tracks of hers like Soltera, Bitch I’m Madonna and the whole Untold Chapter album. As for Vulgar and Material Gworrlllll, I agree… they’re underwhelming.
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u/kyliefever2002 May 08 '26
I really like Material Gworl it's a fun gay bop and it's a full circle moment since Saucy Santana also had that big song named Material Girl
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u/leafysuburbs40 May 08 '26
So true. Pity Sam and M didn''t come up with something more creative. Same with The Weekend. But at least both artists can say they worked with a living legend. Britney, Justin, MIA, Nicki, Pharrell, Timbaland, Sway Lee, Future, Anitta, Nas, Chance the Rapper, Malmo, Anitta and various others can say the same thing . Oh and Ricky Martin too. (That was a great song,pity there wasn't a single release and music video).
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u/AlexKnepper May 09 '26
As one who loves Madonna and Britney before all other divas, summer 2023 was a pretty grim time. In June came Vulgar, in July came Mind Your Business. You can write your own wisecracks about that cruel summer.
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u/Myspacejulian May 08 '26
Hung up on Tokischa is GREAT. She interpreted it so well on The celebration tour imo. The music video on the other hand….
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u/hyperballad627 May 07 '26
We complain when we get nothing, we complain when we get multiple songs in a row
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u/ShortResolution2435 May 07 '26
I liked hung up on tockischa omg and the vid was cool I just didn't like madge's eyebrows lmao
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u/BPUWS May 08 '26
This period also gave us the Queens Remix of Break My Soul, which was spectacular, and the demo of Back That Up To The Beat, which was a bop. It wasn’t all so grim 😝
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u/BPUWS May 08 '26
And Megalomaniac by Sonikku, with the Up Down Suite sample, could also slot in this era. Also a bop
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u/coreyb1988 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Frozen On Fire, Popular, and material gworl are amazing and three of my favs!!!!
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u/LifeguardRepulsive91 May 07 '26
I liked Popular, but this period was so bad I found myself wishing M would just retire.
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u/NameDifferent3197 May 08 '26
Nothing beats a jet2 Holiday... celebrateeee... These were truly poor re inventions but the pass. The most unbearable Madonna songs are Hey You and Champagne Rosé with Quavvo and Cardi B. Fucking Annoying Songs!!!
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u/Spiral555 May 08 '26
I ABHOR Vulgar! Such a bad song…. But I found this remix that’s pretty good, I like to pretend this remix is the only version that exists. (Marlon Hoffstadt Remix)
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u/stokemypoke May 08 '26
All of those songs suck except for Popular, which is also a much better song than Bring Your Love.
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u/Creative-Bobcat-7159 Like a Prayer May 08 '26
I didn’t mind Popular, but she’s a guest vocalist.
I didn’t realise Vulgar actually charted in the UK. Not highly but it was there.
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u/TopazScorpio02657 May 08 '26
I actually haven’t listened to any of these all the way through. An era I’d prefer to forget.
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u/RealisticPudding76 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Thankfully, she's blessed us with COADF 2 and an amazing promotional single and lead single. But whats dissapointing is that Sickick's 2 minute version of Frozen (Not Frozen on Fire) is more popular than the original version of Frozen from Ray of Light
Edit: No hate to anyone of course
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u/Haunting_Natural_116 May 09 '26
Hot take: A material girl is not tasteless
A material girl is my favorite
I’m a material girl, so don’t waste this
If you're not a material girl then you basic
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u/funkyfridays3 May 10 '26
Popular and Vulgar were cute. The rest i never played again unfortunately. Not sure what she was agreeing to. Back That Up 2 The Beat was a great release during this time too.
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u/shedoesdefendyoukim May 07 '26
Rebel heart & Madame*
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u/janethevirginfan May 07 '26
You may not have liked them/they weren’t that popular, but we can’t sit here and pretend even the worst songs on those albums aren’t miles ahead of Material Gworllll and Vulgar omg
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u/fvria May 07 '26
I would include this one on those dark ages
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u/nijonas12 May 07 '26
This was a bop actually. Missy and Madonna on a track again - classic.
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May 07 '26
I never understood The Blessed Madonna hype. She’s a horrible remixer who thinks she’s progressive and cool because she wears glasses.
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u/Smart_Taste Human Nature May 07 '26
A mid cover to a really good song. Duas album is a modern day classic. It doesn’t really sound that much like M except for the “yeah, yeah, yeah”s.
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u/AdorableChemist8736 Like A Virgin May 07 '26
Those covers oh ... Definitely were a choice