A pop hip-hop and dance song with Middle Eastern influences, its lyrics talk about sadomasochism, with the singer using the alter ego Dita and inviting her lover to be submissive while she makes love to him.

The accompanying music video was directed by Fabien Baron, and features scenes of Madonna dressed as a masked dominatrix interspersed with footage of the making of her Sex book; it is combined with appearances by Naomi Campbell and Isabella Rossellini, among others.

[7] Shimkin affirmed that the original version was not "as slinky and sexy and grimy and dirty", until the mixing process; at that stage, the song was still an "experimentation", but when they realized it was going to be the lead single from the album, a "different, darker vibe" was taken on.

[17] Lyrically, it talks about S&M and begins with a "put-a-record-on scratchiness" sound that mimics a record player;[18] 40 seconds in, the "Jungle Boogie" sample plays in a "disembodied and eerie" way.

[32] Rolling Stone's Arion Berger wrote that, unlike "Justify My Love", which gathered its "heat from privacy and romance", "[The Madonna of] 'Erotica' is in no way interested in your dreams [...] [the song] demands the passivity of a listener, not a sexual partner".

She had shown her hand earlier with Breathless when she sang 'Hanky Panky', the song about spanking [...] then there was her single 'Justify My Love' [...] 'Erotica' though, was the full-blown music exploration, an exhibition, of what we were to believe was Madonna's sexual reality.

Going from sultry spoken word in the verses to a postcoital purr in the chorus, it’s the sound of sex — and sleaze — with Madonna introducing herself as Mistress Dita long before there was a Madame X. Hinting at the sonic adventurism that was to come on Ray of Light, it was about the boldest move she could have made at the height of her career".

[36] Similarly, while reviewing GHV2, Cinquemani called it a sequel to "Justify My Love", that is "as distantly icy as it was erotic", and a "creative high for a career on the verge of public turmoil".

[39] Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters was also negative on her review; she felt the song did not age well, and referred to it as a "cold, dispassionate sexual fantasy" with "adolescent" lyrics intended to shock.

[41] Finally, Entertainment Weekly's David Browne panned it as "depressingly trite [...] between its frigid melody and your scary 'My name is Dita' spoken bits, it’s about as sexy as an episode of the Shelley Hack-era Charlie's Angels".

[47] Scott Kearnan from Boston.com wrote that, "No pop star of her fame has been this sexually transgressive before or since [...] Rihanna sings about 'S&M' like it’s a song about My Little Pony, but [Madonna] dishes on pain, pleasure, and power with the conviction of a whip crack"; he named "Erotica" the singer's sixth best.

[48] The song came in the 22nd position of Billboard magazine's list of Madonna's singles, with Lynch hailing it "the boldest, riskiest reinvention in a career full of them [...] An icy declaration that it was time to kick open the doors on kinks and own them without shame".

[49] El Hunt from NME wrote: "Defined by sleazy Shep Pettibone beats, orgasmic gasps, and choice lyrics [...] ['Erotica'] makes 50 Shades of Grey look tamer than a fully-domesticated alpaca".

[27][52] One week later, the single peaked at number three behind Boyz II Men's "End of the Road", and "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" by Patty Smyth and Don Henley.

[57] Jose F. Promis pointed out that "Erotica" was one of the fastest-rising singles in the chart's history, but also had one of the biggest drops; he attributed this to a backlash the singer faced from the general public, who decided she had gone "too far" following the release of the Sex book.

[32] Overall, "Erotica" spent eighteen weeks on the chart, and received a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 10, 1992, for shipment of 500,000 copies.

[84] Inspired by the films of Andy Warhol and The Factory, and Kenneth Anger's 1947 short film Fireworks, the video intercalates scenes of Madonna dressed as a masked dominatrix with a gold tooth, with actual footage of the making of the Sex book;[85][86] in these scenes, the singer is seen sitting topless in the lap of an older man, kissing model Naomi Campbell, wearing BDSM gear, and riding a bicycle in the nude.

[88][89] The scenes of Madonna as a dominatrix were shot in New York's The Kitchen, while shootings for Sex took place at Hotel Chelsea and Times Square's all-male burlesque Gaiety Theatre.

[13] "Erotica" was shown a total of three times on MTV, all three after midnight, before being completely retired from airing; it became Madonna's second video to be banned by the channel, following "Justify My Love".

Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis noted it was "pretty much normal Madonna fare", but wondered how much longer would she be able to "continue mining sexuality", concluding: "At what point does it just stop being interesting?

", and gave the clip a B− rating; Romero furthered criticized the "choppy editing" and the lack of emotion that makes it "difficult to identify with or care about" the video's characters.

[98] For Matthew Rettenmund, author of Encyclopedia Madonnica, it is her "most emotionally stark" video, further adding: "[She] looks as evil and daunting as your worst nightmare, or your most sinister fantasy.

[86] In a more positive review, former pornographic actress Candida Royalle applauded the singer for "helping women find equal footing in society" by presenting the subject of erotica and "unconventional sexual behavior".

[20] Then, Madonna emerged dressed as a short-haired dominatrix, wearing a domino mask, sequined black hotpants and bra, long gloves, knee-high boots, and brandishing a riding crop.

[111] She wore a one-shouldered unitard with ribbons of purple Swarovski crystals across the torso, similar to the one worn by the singers of ABBA, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, and was joined by five couples dancing "mild-mannered steps lifted from a Broadway ballroom scene".

[112][113] Slant Magazine's Ed Gonzalez opined that, "her performance of Stuart Price's 'You Thrill Me' remix of 'Erotica' is a smash: She disco-fies the song but keeps its sex appeal, choreographing it to simple, Latin-infused dance maneuvers that are ecstatic".

[116] The Jerusalem Post's Niv Elis highlighted the performance, which he felt showcased the singer "at her visual best";[117] on the contrary, Emrah Güler from the Hürriyet Daily News said it was one number that "could have been left out".

[120][121][122] The performance ended with the singer masturbating on a red velvet bed, flanked by a dancer dressed in the Jean Paul Gaultier-designed gold corset from 1990's Blond Ambition World Tour.

[121] From the BBC News, Mark Savage saw the number as "a reminder of her tumultuous relationships", as the backdrop screens depicted Madonna's then-boyfriend, boxing coach Josh Popper.

[124] The Village Voice columnist Michael Musto recreated the nude hitchhiking scene from the Sex book and the "Erotica" music video on the streets of Jersey City; the newspaper sold the posters of the photo for $5-profits, which went to New York's Community Research Initiative on AIDS.