Unapologetic Bitch
"Unapologetic Bitch" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, Rebel Heart (2015).
Its final version was released on December 20, 2014, with five other tracks on the iTunes store, as "an early Christmas gift" to avoid more leakage.
"Unapologetic Bitch" is a reggae pop song, with a dancehall groove, air horns, military drum beats and dub sirens in its instrumentation.
The song received generally positive response from critics, who agreed it was a fun, refreshing track, while noting it resembles the work of other artists produced by Diplo, such as M.I.A., Santigold, as well as his own group, Major Lazer.
The song was part of Madonna's Rebel Heart Tour (2015–16), with the singer inviting a member of the audience to participate during the performance, rewarding them with a banana as a gift afterwards.
While recording for her thirteenth studio album, Madonna enlisted American DJ and producer Diplo to work with her on some songs.
He continued: "I do not usually feel pressured to write hits, but when it's an artist of this cailber, it's obvious that I want to push the bounderies [sic] a little bit further and surpass myself.
[15] Bernard Zuel from The Sydney Morning Herald added that Madonna's voice is "tweaked at times to sound cartoonish amid Jamaican off-beat guitars and squawky synthesiser noise.
"[16] Lyrically, "Unapologetic Bitch" talks about a scorned lover rediscovering their inner strength,[17] with Madonna "shooting a few poison arrows into the heart of some dude who's done her wrong", as noted by Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield.
"[21] While commenting to Billboard over the usage of the word "bitch" numerous times in two songs from the album, Madonna explained: I think that's bullshit.
"[25] Amy Pettifer of The Quietus applauded the line, "you never really knew how much you loved me till you lost me", calling it "the killer nugget of this track", which she labelled "[w]icked good,"[15] while Time's Jamieson Cox thought that it was "fun to hear Madonna deliver a line like, 'It might sound like I’m an unapologetic bitch / but sometimes you know I gotta call I like it is' because she has three’ decades worth of unapologetic bitchiness in her back pocket.
"[12] While calling it "interesting", Lydia Jenkin of The New Zealand Herald criticized Madonna's voice, which according to her, "sounds out of place, and overly thin in the context of the track.
"[28] In other hand, Spin's Andrew Unterberger provided a very positive note about the song, claiming: "'Unapologetic Bitch' is about as successful and seamless a rebranding as Madge could ask for in the year 2015.
Co-written and produced by Diplo, a man prone to the occasional bout of unapologetic bitchiness himself, the reggae-tinged banger is as snarlingly exhilarating as 'Human Nature' was 20 years ago, but now Madonna is done with even feigning shock at being told what not to talk about, instead casually proffering, 'I gotta call it like it is.
[35] Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the performance "jibe, but a more celebratory one,"[36] while Lindsay Zoladz of Vulture named it "a crowd-pleaser".
[37] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick praised the fact that the singer "sound[ed] spontaneous and unscripted and her pleasure in performing is undeniable and infectious", noticing that "[s]he delighted the London audience [...] for an absurdly improvised funky dance that seems likely to become a YouTube meme.
[39] The performance of the song at the March 19–20, 2016 shows in Sydney's Allphones Arena were recorded and released in Madonna's fifth live album, Rebel Heart Tour.
