Voto:
One can certainly discuss and question the artistic dignity of Madonna; however, she is still "The Queen," the one who for 25 years has stood above all, and even though she hasn’t necessarily made groundbreaking music, she has created her own "dignity" as an "artist." She is the one who, together with M. Jackson, has had the most influence on pop music in the last 25 years. The difference is that Jackson sold well and remained at the forefront until the mid-'90s, but for the past decade, he hasn't done anything, and in the last 10 years, he has sold relatively little; he is now part of the "past," the "old," unable to keep up and "set trends," while Madonna has not only remained relevant from the '80s to today but has also consistently been ahead of everyone else; even now, as in the '90s and '80s, she is not just "in fashion," but in fact, it’s SHE who can sniff out and ANTICIPATE trends, even creating them more than ever today. Musically, it is quite debatable, but Ciccone is the unreachable reference point in the recent pop landscape, THE monument of modern pop, THE pop star, the unattainable, the untouchable. For this reason, I am negatively surprised and somewhat disappointed by the choice to duet with the most useless, sycophantic, idiotic "singer" of the lowest caliber, Justin Timberlake, who is, in mannerisms, a D-list copy of Michael Jackson and musically a surrogate of the garbage that was Michael (which is saying a lot!). The quality of Madonna's music may be low, but the songs, within their genre, are brilliant works, top-tier productions that are incredibly well-made... I am reminded of "Confessions on a Dance Floor": it has been the only fully dance album by Madonna, yet it is considered the greatest dance album of the 2000s and a milestone of dance in the new millennium (and beyond), while "Hung Up," (which incorporates the keyboard riff from "Gimme Gimme Gimme," and whose video became extremely popular), is regarded as one of the best dance tracks ever made. This is significant, and I reiterate, even if musically she has left a legacy and history that disappoints me greatly to see Madonna duet with the most unworthy of pop stars. To put it simply, a duet with Prince, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Ronan Keating, Cyndi Lauper, or even Mariah Carey (even though singing with Mariah would make her look bad!) would have made more sense: I hope I’ve conveyed my point. At most, a duet with Robbie Williams could fit, but Justin Timberlake, no, definitely not: the scum of scum. No historical importance, not the slightest trace in the history of pop, no album that is even half as good as the worst album of Madonna (that says it all!), horrible, unbearable: THE WORST. In my opinion, Britney Spears has given the world infinitely more. Britney is the most deleterious product ever marketed, but as negative and anti-artistic as she is, her influence on pop, on CULTURE, on fashion in general during the early 2000s was enormous, unfortunately. Justin Timberlake doesn't even come close; I truly cannot think of a more irrelevant figure in the entire history of music.
