While performing at the Belasco in Los Angeles, Aqua received their first U.S. certification for the triple-platinum smash hit single “Barbie Girl.”
After the Los Angeles show, the band is returning to Europe to continue their tour, then will return to North America for one more date in Vancouver on August 26. Check out the full itinerary here.
The song has been everywhere of late, thanks in part to Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s remix of the track, which was included on the Barbie soundtrack. On their rendition, both MCs show off why they’re two of the hottest rappers on the planet, with Nicki reestablishing herself as an all-time legend in her verse and Spice confirming her status as next up.
Nicki Minaj kicks off the first verse, rapping, “Yellin’ out, we ain’t sellin’ out/ We got money, but we ain’t lendin’ out/ We got bars, but we ain’t bailin’ out/ In that pink Ferrari, we peelin’ out.”
Ice Spice handles verse number two, spitting, “Barbie ain’t nothin’ to play ’bout/ He wanna play in the playhouse/ The f__k they gon’ say now?/ I’m washin’ these bitches, I’m rubbin’ the stain out/ Like I’m ready to bend/ All the fake Barbies just wanna pretend.”
In other remix news, EDM hitmaker Tiësto also recently offered up his own version of “Barbie Girl,” giving the track an epic dancefloor edge.
“I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world/Life in plastic, it’s fantastic.” These lyrics from Aqua’s 1997 smash hit “Barbie Girl,” are undeniably still a part of the social consciousness 25 years later. It’s a bubblegum gem of 90s dance-pop, featuring lead singer Lene Nystrøm’s vocals and René Dif’s raps as they serve up tongue-in-cheek social commentary over uber-danceable synths. The third track on their debut album Aquarium, it was the Danish dance-pop band’s first single released in the United States.
Soon after “Barbie Girl” was released in April 1997, Aqua went from being a small local band to an in-demand global sensation. It debuted at No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and No. 1 on the UK Singles chart, spending four weeks at the top to become England’s second-bestselling record of 1997, only behind Elton John‘s “Candle in the Wind.”
Order the 25th-anniversary reissue of Aqua’s Aquarium.
