Madonna - Rebel Heart

From the disco reviving behemoth Confessions On A Dancefloor to the hyperactivity of MDNA, Madonna hasn't managed to match her own musical quality over the past ten years. Confessions was an incredible album, from start to finish, yet the two albums that followed didn't sate even the die hard fans. With questions over her relevance in the contemporary pop market, even though she sells out world tours faster than Rihanna releases albums, it felt like now would be a good time for Madonna to release an album that was both relevant but also very much 'classic Madonna'. 

Her 13th studio album, Rebel Heart, is a huge improvement on her past two collections. Lead single 'Living For Love' is a camp dance thumper with an exhilarating chorus and powerful vocal performance and it serves as an exciting introduction. Don't be fooled though, this doesn't set the tone for the album, in fact the production is far darker than this single delves. There are even forays into past musical explorations which didn't work well then but seem to be executed perfectly this time round. The hip hop infused bleeps of the ridiculous 'Illuminati' and the rumbling 'Iconic' are actually welcome additions to Rebel Heart, giving the album an injection of adrenaline when it could have been too 'ballad' heavy.

Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

"I like big butts and I cannot lie..." is one of the most well known lyrics on earth. That's quite a sad thing really, but I digress. The idea that rap maniac Nicki Minaj would sample this line in a single at some stage in her career isn't surprising, what is surprising is that I didn't predict it right away. Its obviousness is startling and new single Anaconda is as unrevolutionary, unsatisfying and ridiculously shit as music can be. 

A step down from better quality Pills N Potions which harked back to the more promising moments on her debut album Pink Friday, this song is novelty rap-pop at its worst. The video might be captivating and enjoyable for all the wrong reasons, but the song is as pleasant as eating rotten fruit. In the chorus Sir Mix A Lot drops "My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun..." followed by the lady herself chatting in an airhead vocal "Oh my gosh - look at her butt" repeatedly with added hamster vocoder sounds. There's writing music to empower females and celebrate the female form, then there's believing your own hype and writing a song about your most famed asset, which in this case comes across as obnoxious drivel. 

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