Beyoncé and Madonna have teamed up for a royal collaboration, “Break My Soul (The Queens Remix).” The latest remix of Beyoncé’s Renaissance single arrived on Friday, just in time for the weekend party to begin.
The leaky remix interpolates Madonna’s “Vogue” with Beyoncé flipping the script for the iconic spoken-sung section of the 1990 song, where Material Girl enlists Hollywood stars of the golden age. In Bey’s take, she pays tribute to influential black women, both current and past, who have been game-changers for culture — from Aaliyah, Rosetta Tharpe and Santigold to Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Chloe x Halle.
“Bessie Smith, Nina Simone (Vogue) / Betty Davis, Solange Knowles,” Beyoncé sings on a house-flavored remix of Madonna’s “Vogue” lines. “Badoo, Lizzo, Kelly Rowley’ (You Know You Can Do It) / Lauryn Hill, Roberta Flack / Tony, Janet, Tierra Whack (Let Your Body Go to the Music) / Missy, Diana, Grace Jones / Aretha , Anita, Grace Jones (Hey, Hey, Hey) / Helen Folasade Addu, Jilly from Philly, I Love You, Boo (Come On, Vogue).
The new spin on “Break My Soul” comes days after Will.Im dropped a four-remix collection of tracks featuring Honey Dijon, Terry Hunter and Nita Evians.
While Renaissance has received great reviews, it has experienced a bumpy rollout, not typical of Megastar’s release. She removed the word “spas” from her song “Heated” after facing backlash from disability advocates, who said the word was a fabled slur (Lizzo was the subject of similar controversy earlier this summer).
After being criticized by Kelis for using the 2003 hit, Beyoncé also employed an interpolation of “Milkshake” from “Energy”, calling it an act of “piracy”. The removal of lyrics, like these two songs, raises questions about the growing flexibility of music as a digital product.