The song, “Barbie Girl”, was originally recorded by Aqua in 1997

Infectious or irritating? “Barbie Girl” was written and recorded by Søren Rasted (b.1969), Claus Norreen (b.1970), René Dif (b.1967) and Lene Nystrøm (b.1973) who formed and are the Danish-Norwegian Pop group Aqua. The track featured on the Aqua’s debut album “Aquarium” and was released as the third single in April 1997 becoming their break out song and topping the charts across the world. “Barbie Girl” has sold over eight million copies and is their biggest seller to date.

In 2023, singer Nicki Minaj and American rapper Ice Spice recorded their version using much of Aqua’s original track under the new title of “Barbie World” especially for the soundtrack of the film ‘Barbie’ and the soundtrack album. The track features new lyrics by Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr., Johnny Pederson and Karsten Dahlgaard and was released as a single in June. “Barbie World” has been another global smash, reaching No.7 on the US singles chart and No.4 in the UK, and has currently gone top ten in a dozen other countries worldwide, including Denmark and Norway!

But which version is the best? AQUA’s “Barbie Girl” or NICKI and ICE’s “Barbie World”?

Take a look at some of the other posts in this series and don’t forget to follow the playlist.