It’s a movie event like few others in 2023: Barbie, the Greta Gerwig-directed full-length film exploration of the Barbieverse, seems to have pressed all the right buttons in its years-long marketing campaign and is now finally set to debut in theaters this July.
Part of the movie’s pre-release promotional success has come via its star-studded soundtrack, from which several advance singles have been released. Two of those have already hit the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 40: Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” which climbed to No. 32 in June, and Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and Aqua‘s “Barbie World” — revisiting the latter artist’s signature ’90s pop classic “Barbie Girl” — which debuts at No. 7 on the chart dated July 8.
Which of the hits will ultimately prove the soundtrack’s biggest hit? And does this new redo do the Aqua original proud? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Barbie World” enters the Hot 100 this week at No. 7. Given the song’s buzz and the artists involved with it, is that higher, lower, or about what you would have expected for its debut?
Rania Aniftos: Given that the Barbie movie isn’t even out yet, it’s right where I expected. I think the song’s journey has only just begun, and I have a feeling a “Barbie World”-themed trend will hit TikTok after Gen-Z watches the film and gets a renewed obsession with the iconic doll.
Katie Atkinson: I might have expected a top five debut – like “Princess Diana” earlier this year – so it’s around where I would have predicted, if a little low. While there is a lot of online buzz around the Barbie movie, I think a lot of the soundtrack love could come after its premiere, depending on how the songs are used in the film and just how big it turns out to be.
Kyle Denis: I expected a bit of a splashier debut for this song. “Barbie World” is the follow-up to Nicki and Ice’s last collaboration, “Princess Diana,” which hit No. 4, it’s the latest track from what is arguably the most anticipated movie of the summer — and it’s fun, catchy, and built around a sample that everyone knows and loves. Not to mention that multiple versions (sped-up, slowed down, extended, etc.) of the song were available during its first week of release. While a No. 7 debut isn’t bad by any means — and this launch certainly isn’t a death sentence for the song — it’s still quite soft.
Nonetheless, it’s always important to remember that soundtrack singles perform differently in comparison to regular radio singles. Take Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” the lead single from the Barbie soundtrack and her first unaccompanied single since her blockbuster Future Nostalgia era. “Dance the Night” is still yet to reach the Top 30 of the Hot 100, so “Barbie World” is doing just fine.
Jason Lipshutz: A little higher than expected, considering the song itself: “Barbie World” is less of a crossover pop track than recent smashes like Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” and PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” and more of a furious rhyming assault, with both MCs relentlessly rapping around the Aqua sample for less than two minutes. The previous offerings from the upcoming Barbie soundtrack didn’t grace the top 10 of the Hot 100, and even though the combined star power of Minaj and Ice Spice is always powerful, I didn’t think “Barbie World” would streak this high. Yet “Barbie World” is beguiling, even without a proper pop hook, and deserves the buzz it’s received.
Andrew Unterberger: Looks about right to me. A little lower than “Princess Diana,” sure, but we’re already a few singles into the Barbie soundtrack rollout, and soundtrack singles (even for movies as anticipated as Barbie) often underperform a bit on streaming. (Even a song as ultimately huge as Doja Cat’s “Vegas” from last year’s Elvis debuted outside the Hot 100 altogether initially.) Plus, “Diana” had the benefit of an original to piggyback off of when the Minaj-featuring new spin debuted, which “Barbie” doesn’t — unless, of course, you count “Barbie Girl.”
2. The song is the second straight top 10 debut this year for Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, with their “Princess Diana” starting at No. 4 in the spring. Why do you think their combination has proven so immediately potent?
Rania Aniftos: Ice Spice’s natural charisma always reminded me of Nicki’s when she first hopped on the scene, and I’m clearly not the only one who thinks that. You’re combining two fun, confident, lyrically clever female rappers on a song and it feels like the perfect team-up of rap generations every single time.
Katie Atkinson: It’s the perfect pairing of a rapper with a dedicated fanbase who has been active (and dominant) for 15 years with a buzzy new rapper whose star keeps ascending as she collects new followers. Over the years, Nicki has handpicked female rappers to team up with, as evidenced by the “Queen Mix” of her Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Super Freaky Girl” last year, which featured City Girls’ JT, Bia, Katie Got Bandz, Akbar V and Maliibu Miitch. Ice Spice seems to be the newest member of that select group that Minaj has given her stamp of approval.
Kyle Denis: From a commercial angle, the union of Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice is probably the smartest one in contemporary mainstream hip-hop. Few hip-hop artists have fanbases that can rival the fervent devotion of Minaj’s Barbz. Their ability to effectively organize has helped provide a sturdy foundation for yet another era of Minaj’s commercial dominance. She’s the last artist to send a hip-hop song to the top of the Hot 100, and every song she’s released in 2023 has entered the chart (bar “Endless Fashion” and “Money,” as those songs will have a chance to debut on the Hot 100 next week).
Ice Spice is the hottest new rapper and overall artist of 2023. Outside of her collaborations with Minaj, she’s scored two additional top ten hits on the Hot 100 alongside PinkPantheress (“Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2”) and Taylor Swift (“Karma”). Even her songs that completely missed the Hot 100 are cultural touchstones (“Munch,” “Bikini Bottom,” etc.), specifically amongst the TikTok crowd and Gen Z consumers. Her commercial pull grows with every release, and people are genuinely enamored with her as an artist and person, hence their increased interest in each subsequent single.
Moreover, the music is good. The songs are catchy and enjoyable, and the two artists clearly have stronger chemistry than almost all of Minaj’s collaborations with new-gen female rappers.
Jason Lipshutz: Their collaborations have demonstrated a natural chemistry between their respective flows: Minaj raps with a more animated bounce, Ice Spice’s delivery is more smooth and subtle, and together, their energies form a symbiotic relationship. On “Princess Diana” especially, Minaj’s wild-eyed rhyming sounds like the perfect complement to Ice Spice’s unaffected swagger. Even though they’ve only made a couple of tracks together, I’m already anxious for a Watch the Throne-esque joint full-length.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s just a good pairing of artists with similar styles, personalities, and pop star instincts. Their breakthroughs might be a near-generation separated, but it’s pretty tough to imagine Nicki Minaj fans looking down their nose on the young upstart, or Ice Spice fans rolling their eyes at the older veteran. Plus their voices sound pretty cool together.
3. “Barbie World” marks the second top 40 hit from the Barbie movie soundtrack, with Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” having recently climbed to No. 32. Which of the two do you think will ultimately become the most-enduring hit from the movie — or would you guess that song is still to come from the remainder of the star-studded soundtrack?
Rania Aniftos: “Barbie World” for sure. It’s just a better song overall, in my opinion, and something out of the ordinary. As much as I love Dua Lipa, “Dance the Night” gives very similar, disco-tinged energy to “Levitating” or “Don’t Start Now,” so it doesn’t stick out among her discography. Who knows though? I’m excited to hear the rest of the soundtrack.
Katie Atkinson: I’m going to give the edge to “Dance the Night,” because it has a similar vibe to Lipa’s persistent smash hit “Levitating,” which was crowned the No. 1 song on our 2021 year-end Hot 100 even though it only peaked at No. 2 on the weekly chart. That shows what kind of longevity it had, and if “Dance” gets that kind of major push at radio plus a bump from the movie’s release, it feels like the top 10 could be in its future.
Kyle Denis: I think it’ll be hard to say until the movie comes out. “Barbie World” is in nearly every trailer, but “Dance the Night” will have a prominent placement in a massive dance scene in the film. There are also the other songs from popular artists on the soundtrack, as well as Ryan Gosling’s big power ballad moment, which could pull a “Peaches.” Right now, I’ll put my money on “Dance the Night.”
Jason Lipshutz: “Dance the Night” has grown on me since its release — but the answer is “Barbie World,” thanks to the higher chart placement, the continued bond between Minaj and Ice Spice, and, most importantly, the amazing feat of returning Aqua to the top 10 of the chart after a quarter-century away, timed to the release of the Barbie movie. In my mind, Minaj and Ice Spice have full license to tell all of us, in full Max Fischer voice, “We revived Aqua. What did you ever do?”
Andrew Unterberger: Seems like “Dance” will have the advantage on radio and “Barbie” the advantage on streaming, so I bet they end up about evening out. That said, I would be 0% surprised if the defining song from Barbie comes from a lesser-known song by a lesser-name artist — just something that comes in the right point in the movie, strikes a nerve on the internet and ends up a TikTok sensation for the rest of the summer.
4. Obviously much of the hook — and the artist credit here for Aqua — comes via a prominent sample of Aqua’s late-’90s top 10 hit “Barbie Girl.” Do you think the sample is a particularly inspired or well-deployed one, or just another example of a 2020s hit being built off a relatively rote sample of a proven hit from a generation earlier?
Rania Aniftos: “Barbie World” is so clean and fresh! I was expecting the Barbie film to just find a pop star to cover the Aqua hit and call it a day, so the Ice Spice/Nicki remix was a pleasant surprise. To me, it perfectly captures the nostalgic feeling of the Aqua song but keeps it exciting with Nicki or Ice Spice, who never let anything feel outdated. They feel like two completely different songs, which is a testament to how well the sample was executed.
Katie Atkinson: I actually wish it had been used more prominently! When I heard about the song weeks ago, I was imagining something more in the vein of Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” or “Anaconda,” but I think the Aqua sample was more quietly woven in than I expected. I was hoping for the “Barbie Girl” chorus to be the chorus here, but “Barbie World” has Nicki and Ice trading raps instead. Plus, its two-minute run-time shaves a full 80 seconds off the Aqua original. And where is Ken (aka Aqua’s Rene Dif)? I don’t know how you can have a “Barbie Girl” sample without the raspy “C’mon, Barbie, let’s go party” line.
Kyle Denis: Somewhere in between. Unless the sample was chopped and screwed beyond recognition (which probably would have made for a more intriguing song), “Barbie World” was always going to feel reliant on “Barbie Girl,” to some degree. Nonetheless, if the sample wasn’t recognizable, “Barbie World” would lose its most immediate connection to both the film and Aqua’s original track.
I think Nicki, Ice, and RiotUSA strike a fine balance. The elements of drill and Jersey club make the “Barbie Girl” sample feel staunchly contemporary, and when they let the sample play uninterrupted in the song’s outro, it’s a nice way to hold space for and honor the impact of Aqua’s seminal hit.
Jason Lipshutz: I wish the Aqua sample was utilized a bit more cleanly in “Barbie World” — give me a pop-rap song that lets that timeless hook rock as a proper chorus, similar to how Minaj presented the samples on “Anaconda” and “Super Freaky Girl” — but even as connective tissue between Minaj and Ice Spice’s traded rhyme, the “Barbie Girl” melody is too likable to ever be fully denied. It would be easy to adopt a cynical view of the whole affair as pop-song pilfering, but it’s even easier to just enjoy “Barbie World” as a new generation’s nod to a classic single.
Andrew Unterberger: I think the song does a pretty good job with its source material! The sample is big and unmistakable, but it doesn’t provide the entire skeleton of the song — just one of its most vital organs. It functions well as an obvious centerpiece for the Barbie soundtrack, but really, “World” also sounds like a song that could’ve been found on the expanded version of Ice Spice’s Like..? EP without making fans think twice about it.
5. On a scale from 1-10, how excited are you for the Barbie movie to finally arrive later this month?
Rania Aniftos: 8. Even though I was more of a Bratz doll girl growing up, I can’t get enough of childhood nostalgia movies.
Katie Atkinson: 10. I will be seated on opening day.
Kyle Denis: 11. I simply cannot contain my Ken-ergy.
Jason Lipshutz: A 4. I love Greta Gerwig as a director, but do not love a popular toy being used as tongue-in-cheek Hollywood IP and then dominating pop culture for weeks on end! So I am excited for the Barbie movie to finally arrive, as a means of concluding the extended Barbie movie rollout.
Andrew Unterberger: A 5, mostly just so we can finally get a verdict on whether or not the final product was worth the months (years?) of internet Barbiemania that’s led up to it.
