The battle of these two Pop queens could not have been performed better: Both Madonna, 60, and Beyoncé, 37, announced last week that something would happen. With Madonna, who's from the old school of the music industry, it was clear that there would be a new single - and the announcement of when her new album will be released, the first since 2015. Sensational enough.

But Beyoncé Knowles, also known as "Queen Bey" by fans, has the aura of the unpredictable: it was clear that Wednesday's Netflix would release the approximately two-hour documentary of their appearance at the Coachella Festival 2018. But would there be a new album as well? Knowles is known for simply "dropping" new music as it is called new-fangled, meaning it can be dropped onto the market without a big PR strategy. And so it came to a showdown yesterday. A winner has not been determined, but there are tendencies.

First of all the classic: Madonna, the undisputed Queen of Pop in the 20th century, released her new track "Medellín" at 6 pm just in time for the evening, the first song from her album "Madame X", released on June 14th becomes. "One, two, one, two, cha cha cha," she whispers at the beginning, then a Latin-inspired shuffle beat begins. Guest singers and rappers of the single is the Colombian reggaeton pop star Maluma, produced by long-term collaborator Mirwais, inspiration for many songs of her album Madonna found, inter alia, in Portugal, where she recently spent a lot of time.

The old star now accuse, she opportunistically jump on the Latin train that has been rushing through the mainstream charts for two years, would be ahistorisch: Madonna's weakness and love of experimentation with South American Hispanic rhythms and styles goes back to "La Isla Bonita". She's been there, she's done it all.

Nevertheless, signs have changed: the number is not the dancefloor-banger that fans might have hoped for, but simmers rather cautiously - after all, almost five minutes long. For a potential summer hit perhaps too broad, despite gossip appeal and a neat hook that is sung by Madonna together with Maluma.

It used to be that the star-power Madonna had promised the unfamiliar artist attention and fame. On "Medellín", however, the roles seem to be reversed: Younger listeners in particular may come up with the idea that this is a Maluma track featuring Madonna. The Colombian is next to his compatriot J Balvin to the currently most popular guests in Latin-addicted US pop. Young singers such as the Mexican Sofia Reyes and the Spaniard Rosalía are already part of a new generation, at which Beyoncé will eventually have to compete.

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Madonna and Beyoncé: Latin groove against Black History

For the time being, however, it dominates at least the US market. She did not even need to "drop" a new studio album, with "Homecoming" was the live recording of the Coachella performance to steal plenty Madonna in the US media limelight. In fact, the content of rather banal track "Medellin", to which there was not even a video clip yesterday (only from April 24) very pale, measured by the pop-cultural force, the Beyoncé with their audiovisual double hit from Netflix film and live Album unfolded.

Especially since Knowles' long-term "Beychella" festival performance also has an identity-political component that lifts it far beyond a sufficiently bombastic concert with 100 dancers, numerous guests (including J Balvin) and 125,000 spectators alone in California. With the prominent participation of a marching band recruited from historic black universities (HBCU), Beyoncé praised her own study time at Howard College in DC as formative and formative - a meaningful homage to the relevance of African-American educational institutions. Pop has long been more than entertainment at Beyoncé. She can throw a big party, which is also political.

This was often "edgy" in the case of Madonna. But today? In "Medellín" she gets a bit nostalgic and longs for lost youth: "I took a pill and had a dream / I went back to my 17 year / Allowed myself to be naive / To be someone I've never been", she sings about her inspiring trip to Colombia.

The most political aspect of the song, however, remains a reckless reference to the Colombian city's past as a drug dealer metropolis: "We built a cartel just for love." Whether "Madame X" has more to offer than that?