Batuka (song)
An accompanying music video for the song was released on July 19, 2019, which was an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of the first time Madonna met the Batukadeiras Orchestra, as well as their journey together.
[2] One of the first musicians Madonna met was a man named Dino D'Santiago, who introduced her to the Batukadeiras Orchestra, a collective of drummers from Cape Verde; the members ranged from teenage girls to older women.
[1] Through D'Santiago, who acted as a translator, she explained to them the meaning of the song; according to Madonna, the group liked it as their philosophy was about "fighting for their rights and empowering women".
[1] According to Madonna, the first title of the song was "Fernalism" because it was meant to be a feminist manifesto, and she also did not want to say "feminism" due to her feeling it sounded conventional or predictable.
[6][7] It features drums played by the Batukadeiras Orchestra, and a call and response structure, with the group singing their own solos in the Cape Verdean Creole language.
[15] Will Hodgkinson from The Times noted that the song "has a wayward quality reminiscent of Brazil's late-1960s tropicalia movement",[12] while Lucy O'Brien, writing for The Guardian, commented that it "has a dark, percussive female power".
[19] For musicOMH's Nick Smith, the song "could almost have been lifted from a Nelly Furtado album", while for Craig Jenkins from New York magazine, "Batuka" is "the kind of drum-driven call-and-response number M.I.A.
[20][21] Xavi Sancho from El País wrote that the Batukadeiras Orchestra gives "a martial rhythm to something that could be a mix between Gwen Stefani and Carlinhos Brown and that ends in something, again, fresh and rich".
[22] Mike Wass of Idolator commented that the song successfully "combines a choir, African instruments and a Portuguese drum collective", while calling it "dynamic and utterly compelling".
[23] Sean Maunier from Metro Weekly opined that the song "may be the greatest departure for Madonna", and that her accompanied by the "all-women Batukadeiras Orchestra, produc[es] an absolutely otherworldly effect".
[26] Robbie Barnett from the Washington Blade noted that the song was one of "the most notable examples of the influence Portugal has injected into Madonna since she moved to Lisbon", coming off "like a fabulous jam session".
[27] In a mixed review, Wren Graves of Consequence of Sound commented that the Batukadeiras Orchestra provide a "much-needed spark" to "Batuka", though called the song "repetitive".
[17][32] In an interview with the website, Madonna said that she and the directing team wanted to honor how she met the Batukadeiras Orchestra and their journey together, with an "organic" and "beautiful cinematic" experience.
[33] It cuts to scenes focusing on the women of the Batukadeiras Orchestra, showing a series of portraits of their faces while they sing, beat out rhythms on drums, walk, and stand on a clifftop, from which the group look out to the sea.
[1] The performance began with the group gathering around in a semi-circle and pounding away at drums, while Madonna sat to the side on a stairwell before eventually joining them, and doing some "hip-shimmying" batuque moves.
