Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj remade ‘Barbie Girl’ for the Barbie movie

In 1997, for almost no reason at all, Danish pop group Aqua released the song “Barbie Girl,” a work of bubblegum perfection that went on to become a worldwide sensation, a chart-topping single that is impossible to forget the moment you hear it. Endlessly covered and parodied, the song was a pop culture meme before internet memes were a thing, and it’s unthinkable that Greta Gerwig’s BarbieNo premiere would ever be complete without paying homage to the original.

Fortunately, the legendary track is getting its due in the form of “Barbie World,” a new track by rappers Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice that both samples Aqua’s song and features a video that closely resembles the Europop band’s original attempt to emulate the Barbie dollhouse aesthetic.

There’s also a fascinating bit of history here. Mattel, the owner of Barbie, sued Aqua’s label MCA Records in 1997, claiming that “Barbie Girl” violated the Barbie trademark with its sexual lyrics — Mattel argued that the song damaged the Barbie brand, among other things. This case is about, Mattel v. MCA Records, was ultimately dismissed, with a federal appeals court declaring in 2002 that “Barbie Girl” was protected as parody.

Eventually, Mattel chilled out, using a reworked version of “Barbie Girl” for a 2009 ad campaign — and now once more, as part of the marketing blitz for its highly anticipated film BarbieWith the assistance of two of the most well-known women of hip hop.

It’s amazing how things change.