Barbie hit theaters this weekend, and the film has already broken box office records. The movie features a stellar soundtrack, also released over the weekend. While Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice rapped over “Barbie Girl” by Aqua for “Barbie World,” the classic song does not appear in the Barbie film.
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“Barbie Girl” by Aqua was released in 1997 and is an undeniable hit. During a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Aqua member Søren Rasted revealed that “Barbie Girl” was initially written after the musician was inspired by an art piece.
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“When we were writing songs for the first album, I went to an art exhibition at a store in Copenhagen. They’d taken a bunch of Barbie dolls and made a planet out of them. It looked like a big, round ball. It made me think of, ‘Life in plastic, it’s fantastic,’” Rasted told the outlet at the time. “I thought that was a great line. Then I wrote, ‘Come on, Barbie, let’s go party.’”
Rasted also stated that his Aqua bandmate, Claus Norreen, changed the original flow of “Barbie Girl.” “It was in major chords at first. He really wanted to change it to minor chords. And so we started on a minor chord instead,” Rasted said.
“I don’t mean to be too technical, but the change means a lot,” Rasted continued. “And what I had was too wordy. I remember Claus taking out words that rhymed in the verses. We disagreed quite a lot.” Reportedly, another Aqua member, Lene Nystrøm, wasn’t very fond of “Barbie Girl” at first.
“There was a lot of back and forth when we recorded the vocals. Lene wanted to take it down a notch. She thought it was too high,” Rasted explained.
“Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice is currently reigning as the most streamed song on the Barbie soundtrack. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Minaj revealed she originally rejected several tracks for Barbie: The Album before deciding to go ahead with “Barbie World.”
“There were a couple of songs that I didn’t love. This ‘Barbie’ sample, I loved it,” Minaj said. “I just wanted it to have a dope drum, and so the one that they sent me, I loved! And I jumped on it right away.”
Barbie: The Album is currently available for purchase.
Photo by Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
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