1.
As Lorde‘s “Royals” holds its spot as the No.1 song in the country and enjoys its 15th week on the Billboard Hot 100, the remixes keep coming in. The latest, though, is the most surprising yet: Rick Ross. The irony of “Royals” being the top song in the country is outdone only by the fact that the Maybach Music Group boss has decided to spit luxury raps over a song that celebrates “a different kind of buzz.”
It’s not that Lorde is denouncing luxury per se, but “Royals” certainly points out the difference between her life and the usual pop star/rock star/rap star lifestyle that gets glorified in the music we all listen to. She explained in an interview with Huffington Post:
It’s something we’ve always been very aware of… that our lives are super mundane and we’re basically in this transition period waiting for something to happen to us. And then the song came out and people were like, “We never thought about it like this,” but I think a lot of young people were just happy that someone was acknowledging that mundanity. I come from a pretty straight forward town, we spend most of our time riding around on bikes and taking photos—we live pretty straightforward lives. As one of the few teenage voices in music that isn’t like… Justin Bieber, I didn’t want to glorify that perspective—this is just what it is and if this is you, too, then cool… Then, we’re in it together, I guess.
She further explained to Spotify:
You see, at that time I’d been listening to a lot of Lana Del Ray and a lot of A$AP Rocky – because I love rap, that crazy money and opulence and extravagance. But I also know it’s all total bullshit, you know!
If you read the lyrics to “Royals,” it’s pretty obvious that the song isn’t a celebration of wealth and a lavish lifestyle. Lorde sings:
But everybody’s like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece/Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash/We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair
But Rick Ross heard “Maybach,” and he just couldn’t resist hopping on for a remix. But he missed the point. On his remix he raps:
Silver Rolls Royce cigarette smokes in it/New fur rug now my dirty boots in ’em/Flowin’ in the pocket like enrollin’ in a college/Mean as a dean, triple beam well polished/She wanna watch Scandal, I wanna count a handful/Dead presidents sleep in the attic of the mansion
Oh, the irony.
