Over the last several weeks, teasers for Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s buzzy pink feminist take on Mattel’s best-known doll and its 60-year history, has run wild across billboards, bus stops, and magazine covers, as well as taking over what seems like half of the internet.
Next up, the airwaves will be getting the Barbie treatment, as the film’s full soundtrack Barbie: The Album has now dropped.
In the run-up to the film’s highly-anticipated July 21 release, fans have been treated to the early release of a handful of songs from the star-studded soundtrack. These have included Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s plastic fantastic rap Barbie World, Dua Lipa’s nu-disco anthem Dance the Night, and south Korean group FIFTY FIFTY’s hardcore pop dance number Barbie Dreams (featuring Kaliii). It’s been a (Barbie) dream.
Today the film finally opened in cinemas, and as if that wasn’t enough, the full soundtrack, which includes songs from Charli XCX, Sam Smith, KAROL G, PinkPantheress and Billie Eilish, has also been released.
So to celebrate, here is our pick of some of the best tracks from the soundtrack.
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice – Barbie World (with Aqua)
It was a beautiful thing for Nicki Minaj fans to witness the rapper make a track for the Barbie movie. Particularly as the song interpolates a sample of Aqua’s Barbie Girl, the song that’s come to be viewed as the classic Barbie party anthem. It felt like things coming full circle, too: over the years Minaj has referenced Barbie so many times in her work that her fans have come to call themselves The Barbz.
In Barbie World, Minaj collaborates with rising Bronx rapper Ice Spice, whose distinct voice and lyrical flow have quickly made her one of the world’s most sought-after new talents. In the accompanying visuals, the duo ride through bubblegum-coloured clouds on pink jets skis, and then dance around a life-sized Barbie house. A hot pink treat!
KAROL G – WATATI (feat. Aldo Ranks)
Columbian artist KAROL G and Panamanian musician Aldo Ranks are responsible for the soundtrack’s most upbeat track; no mean feat. With its classic reggaeton beat and Latin pop, trap and reggae influences, WATATI is slower and more bouncy than some of its other counterparts, which works perfectly with its tongue-in-cheek lyrics: “Daddy, let’s go to the disco to have a good time... ”
PinkPantheress – Angel
British singer-songwriter PinkPantheress has made a name for herself over the last couple of years for her genre-blending tracks that first brought her fame on TikTok. On Angel, the 22-year-old once again presents a melange of genres that should jar, but gel together here. Hers is a love story about an elusive character called Johnny. Though it’s charged with pop spirit, it has a bit of everything: there’s her signature slightly autotuned singing, simple drums, a whole host of synthetic motifs, and a Celtic melody on offer.
GAYLE – butterflies
We also love American singer GAYLE’s take on Crazy Town’s Butterfly. The 2001 track from the American rock band remains a winner to this day: “Come my lady, Come-come my lady, You’re my butterfly... sugar baby,” it goes, and just like that, the track is in your head for the rest of the day. So of course an update (she adds a new intro but is otherwise faithful to the original) from GAYLE (whose 2021 track ABCDEFU went to the top of the charts around the world) works a treat. And its punk edge comes as a welcome change to lots of the other super pop-focused, synthetic sounds on the album.
FIFTY FIFTY – Barbie Dreams (feat Kaliii)
Of all of the songs on the soundtrack, this track from South Korean girl group FIFTY FIFTY, featuring American rapper Kaliii, is arguably the most high-octane take on Barbie. By that we mean it’s full-on glittering pink pop: it’s not only undeniably delightful but hits the same notes as Aqua’s 1997 hits Barbie Girl, making it feel familiar as well as new.
Haim – Home
There’s something incredibly fitting about Haim making a Barbie track. The three sisters are known for effortlessly dealing with heavy topics such as depression, heartbreak and friendships in their soft rock bangers, which makes them a perfect fit for Gerwig’s new take on Barbie with its weighty feminist themes.
“When everything felt so wrong / It led me to where I belong / So now (Now, now) / I’m goin’ home,” they sing. The uplifting song, which has a catchy melodic chord running through it, is exactly the sort of song we think Barbie would be listening to when she’s having her most heartfelt reflections.
Dua Lipa – Dance the Night
Dua Lipa proved her status once again as one of Britain’s biggest pop stars with Dance the Night; the banger was the first Barbie song from the soundtrack to be released. The song, which is an upbeat pop-disco fusion, could have easily been released on Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album: it has heaps of the same sheer feel-good factor. Its music video is perfect, too, as Lipa plays a Barbie-fied version of herself (as she also does in the film), singing on a pink set next to a massive pink shoe, a pink Barbie car, and a giant disco ball.
