Music

By the year 2000, Madonna had been a certified, card-carrying icon for almost two decades. In the universe of pop stardom, she’d truly done it all. Out of nowhere she came — not on the back of a celebrity mentor or as any famous person’s protégée, but on her spunky, anonymous own — to make a single record that soon morphed into a catalog of international, multimillion sellers.

She’d done concert tours around the world, becoming a captivating performer in the process. She’d developed into both a capable songwriter and record producer. She appeared on film, on Broadway. She formed companies, generating millions of dollars for herself and her entertainment conglomerates, as well as the individuals surrounding her. She made at least one comeback of sorts, the Grammy Award – winning Ray of Light. By the onset of the twenty-first century, it would seem that Madonna the pop star had done it all as one of the most controversial as well as most emulated female performers in show business history. After proving herself in nearly every category she tackled, there was really only one goal to which a self-respecting pop star could now aspire: make another hit record.

Equally as challenging as attaining pop stardom is maintaining it, a fact to which any million-selling artist will attest. By the latter part of the twentieth century, Michael Jackson — the only other pop star in show business as commercially and artistically successful as Madonna — had seen his career slip significantly. Of course, like Madonna, if Jackson never made another recording or never stepped onto another stage, his legend as one of the greatest entertainers of all time would still be assured. Still, his inability to keep pace with the ever-changing, trend-driven world of pop music became embarrassingly apparent in the late 1990s with the release of HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I, a two-disc set of new and previously released material. The CD’s disappointing sales could not be salvaged, even by a manic, supercharged duet between the King of Pop and his sister Janet called “Scream.” In recent years, Madonna’s peers Prince and Janet had also seen their record sales slip, the CD sales of both superstars certainly not what they were in their salad days.

By the late nineties, and into 2000, Madonna, the aforementioned artists, the music industry at large and in fact the entire contemporary pop music world had been taken over by what will probably be a fleeting trend for “boy bands” and sexy, teenage female bubble-gum artists, the craze’s front line of offense being the million-selling Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Still, it wasn’t as if Madonna’s career was in the doldrums at the beginning of the new year. Ray of Light had sold millions of copies worldwide, the project having been hailed as bold and refreshing. However, some of Madonna’s critics viewed Light as another calculated ruse on the part of the artist to exploit rave-inspired electronica music, which was mostly off mainstream pop’s radar until Madonna got hold of it.

Madonna’s detractors didn’t understand that Ray of Light was actually where Madonna’s personal tastes were at the time — she wasn’t just exploiting a new sound; it was a sound she had studied and enjoyed. Being a mature pop star with a wide range of professional experiences has not diminished her appetite for adventurous new music. While she still loves listening to songs like “Singin’ in the Rain” from classic Hollywood musicals in the personal confines of home and office, Madonna relishes the works of alternative artists and eclectic musicians practically unknown by the masses, such as Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Indian music legend Ravi Shankar.

One day while listening to the various demo tapes and other music that pours into the Maverick Records offices on a daily basis from both aspiring and established songwriters and producers, Madonna happened upon the tape of an album from writer/producer Mirwais Ahmadzai, who had earlier praised her musical abilities. Except for lovers of rave music, Mirwais (he rarely uses his last name) is practically a stranger to America’s pop music fans. “I heard it and was just like, ‘This is the sound of the future. I must meet this person,’ Madonna would tell Rolling Stone. “So I did, and we hit it off. And that’s exactly how it happened with [Ray of Light producer] William Orbit, too.”

In a meeting hastily assembled by Guy Oseary, Madonna and Mirwais had such a rapport that Madonna decided that the “sound of the future” would also be the sound of her next album. Three weeks after shaking hands, she and producer were in the studio together; most of the music was recorded in London, beginning in September 1999. By the end of January 2000, the record was almost finished.

Madonna has always considered competition between her producers to be the way to get the best out of them, but William Orbit said he didn’t have a problem with Mirwais being on the scene. In any case, neither producer would hear the result of the other’s toil until the album’s arduous mastering process in London.

Since William Orbit was already well aware of Madonna’s idiosyncrasies in the studio, it was Mirwais who had to familiarize himself with the artist’s creative working style. As much technician as musician, the Frenchman would endlessly tinker with the music tracks, adding effects and taking away others, layering some sounds and remixing others. Like many artists with a clear vision of what they want in the studio, Madonna has a tendency to be impatient, and Mirwais’s tedious manner would often drive her to distraction. She recalled, “I just put my foot down and said, ‘It’s good enough now. We’re done. We’re done working on it.’ He [Mirwais] could just sit there in front of his computer screen, changing, honing, editing, cutting, pasting — whatever. And it would never end. But life is too short for that sort of nonsense. My persona in the studio is, ‘I’m in a hurry.’ I think he was more put off by the fact that I knew what I wanted so clearly, and I wasn’t interested in lots of embellishments when it came to the production.”

“She took a big risk with someone like me,” Mirwais told a reporter after the album was completed. “When you arrive at that kind of level of celebrity, you can just work in the mainstream and just stay there. Everything she does, for her is like a challenge, and I like this kind of personality.”

When the work was done — accomplished between London, Los Angeles and New York — what would emerge was Music, a slick, orderless landscape of pop melodies and swirling electronic pop funk where Madonna’s coy, often indifferent emotion is often the only living thing on the terrain. Music, for all its masterful gadgetry, would be nothing if not passionate. The final selections for inclusion on the CD would include “Impressive Instant,” rife with abstract sounds and driving grooves designed to do just what the synthesized refrain suggests, put the listener in a trance, and “Amazing,” a stylized, guitar-powered, uptempo Orbit collaboration that could have been the musical cousin to “Beautiful Stranger” (the song Madonna and Orbit had contributed to the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack). Also included would be “I Deserve It,” a moody, acoustic guitar ballad obviously dedicated to Guy Ritchie (“This Guy was made for me,” Madonna sings).

Of course, the project’s flagship track would also be its first single and title song, “Music.” The song is a shot of electronic funk-pop, a dance anthem that reaches into the future but which also slyly conjures up images and feelings for the good ol’ days of disco (with its affectionate call out to “Mr. DJ,” a relic of disco days gone by). It’s a sparse, determined arrangement that quickly gets under one’s skin.

Like the song’s lyrics, its playful video would have a very simple storyline that ventures no deeper than three girls out on the town, looking for fun. The concept was inspired by real days gone by of the late seventies and early eighties, when young Madonna Ciccone and her friends Debi Mazar and Nikki Harris used to prowl Manhattan’s eclectic club and art scene in search of music and romance. Originally, actresses were cast in the roles of Madonna’s video entourage. However, when the women proved to be too pretty and stiff, a frustrated Madonna, in the middle of the shoot, got on the phone and asked Mazar and Haris to join her on the set.

Just as she plugged into the electronica scene for the music, for the video Madonna would shamelessly imitate the notion of “Ghetto Fabulous” — an over-the-top look popularized by East Coast rap and urban music stars like Sean “Puffy” Combs, Lil’ Kim and Mary J. Blige and characterized by designer clothes and floor-length furs, gaudily accessorized with gold and diamonds (including in the teeth). When Puffy steps out of his Bentley dressed in this fashion, he’s serious. In the “Music” clip, however, Madonna would wear her flash and gold with a playful wink. To give the video humor, cast as the zany limousine driver was British comedian Ali G, whose brash, irreverent ways amuse Madonna whenever she’s in England. (Ali G hosted a television talk show in character, insulting politicians and other upstanding members of British public service.)

At the end of January 2000, Madonna had great hopes for Music . “I have to stay current,” she concluded over lunch with two of her friends in Los Angeles where some of the songs were being finished. She looked stupendous in a chocolate brown Balenciaga jacket and Donna Karan trousers. Though her hair was pulled back and she wore large sunglasses, she still drew stares. While being served a tomato and mozzarella salad, she said, “God help me, but I guess I have to share radio air time with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.” She shrugged her shoulders. “What choice do I have?”

“Well, you could always retire,” one of her friends offered jokingly.

Madonna dabbed at her lips with a napkin. “But what would the music business be without me?” she asked with a laugh.