Thanks to Rihanna and Madonna, the music video has become an event again. Last month, Madonna released her video for “Bit*h I’m Madonna,” and it has been both widely criticized and loved. The Daily Beast thought that Madonna’s video was “sad.”
“In the end, ‘Bit*h I’m Madonna’ is absolutely pointless. At worst, it’s desperate. At best, it’s just dumb.”
Madonna fans took to the comment section to accuse the author, Kevin Fallon, of ageism and sexism. Perhaps they liked Jason Lipshutz’ article from Billboard , which claimed that “Bit*h I’m Madonna” is the video she needed to make.
“Essentially, Madonna has pulled a Queen of Pop move with this one: she opened her Rolodex, surrounded herself with high-profile collaborators and moved the needle. At the end of the day, it’s cool to have Beyonce vogue-ing in your music video! And she can do it, because bitch, she’s… well, you know.”
The end result: Madonna’s video has so far earned 45 million views. It did little to reverse the misfortunes of the Rebel Heart album, which many believe didn’t sell well because it was available online for three months before its release. However, the single “Bi*ch I’m Madonna” hit the Hot 100 and stayed there for two weeks — something Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson have failed to do with their latest singles.
It’s also important to note that with all the views, Madonna earns a lot of money from advertisers. The same thing can be said for Rihanna’s “Bit*h Better Have My Money,” which garnered over 20 million views in one week. Since Rihanna’s last two singles have been considered flops by her standards, she had nothing to lose by releasing this controversial video.
Rihanna’s video has received wildly mixed reviews. Some call the video brave, while others consider it racist and sexist. The Huffington Post loves Rihanna’s new video.
“The sexualized violence in the video is graphic and disturbing (we’ll get to that in a minute), but overall the video is everything we love about Rihanna — it’s ballsy, edgy, explicit, and unapologetic.”
Sarah Vine of the Daily Mail is one of those who think Rihanna should be ashamed for putting out the video. She, like many others, says it glorifies murder, racism, and sexism. However, it’s obvious people can’t stop viewing Rihanna’s video. The end result: Rihanna’s “Bit*h Better Have My Money” moves from No. 27 to No. 15 on Billboard’s Hot 100 this week.
The relevance of the music video has disappeared for the past several years, especially since the era of MTV ended. Record companies no longer allow huge budgets for music videos and often, artists are left to pay for elaborate videos themselves or rely on advertising in the video. Thanks to Madonna and Rihanna, this all may change soon.
[Photo Credit: Getty Images for Roc Nation]