Batuka

Madonna relocated to Lisbon, Portugal in 2017 so she could be a soccer mom for her son David after he was snapped up by Benfica's legendary academy. After arriving in the country, the Queen of Pop decided to hook up with local artists and musicians. Hence, much of Madame X is inspired by traditional Portuguese fado music. This track features the Batucadeiras, a local collective of drummers whom Madonna encountered in one of Lisbon's clubs. "I didn't make a Latin record intentionally" Madonna explained to NME. "It just sort of happened because I was living there. The first group of friends I met were all musicians but they were from all over the world, not just Portugal. It was a melting point of so many different cultures and musical genres which started percolating in my brain. I wanted to take the folk music I was listening to but make it more modern sounding, something you could dance to. I was first inspired by it, then I turned it into a challenge."

The song finds Madonna rallying her troops, ready for battle. The chanting chorus is very much a Ciccone family affair, with the singer's daughters contributing some vocals. Madonna's son David Banda is also credited as one of the writers.

The song's music video, which was filmed off the coast of Lisbon, was directed by the Dutch-Ghanian visual artist Emmanuel Adjei. It stars the Orquestra Batukadeiras, an all-female orchestra based in Portugal. The visual begins with a message: "Batuque is a style of music created by women that originated in Cape Verde, some say the birth place of slave trade. The drums were condemned by the Church and taken away from the slaves because it was considered an act of rebellion. The women continued their singing and dancing and the Batuque lives on today."