Erotica (song)

Erotica (song)

"Erotica" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fifth studio album with the same name (1992). The single was released in October 1992 by Maverick Records, and later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). After Madonna founded the multi-media company Maverick, she decided to consist a record label entitled Maverick Records, where she initially released her on-going material along side with Warner Bros. Records. Musically, "Erotica" is a spoken-word song and features different genres including R&B, hip-hop, porn groove, jazz and trip-hop influenced music. Lyrically, the song talks about erotic sex and sexual pleasure.

Critically, "Erotica" received generally mixed reviews from contemporary and older critics, some appreciating the musical and imagery change from Madonna, while others criticized Madonna's change towards a more sexual tone. Throughout the era of 1992 and 1993, Madonna was a lightning rod of controversy and received a backlash from some critics and fans due to the sexual undertones of "Erotica". However, the song did receive good commercial success, managing to peak in the top ten in several countries including Italy, Canada, the United States, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.

An accompanying music video was released for the single, which featured Madonna in a leather-esque costume, with a golden tooth and a whip, where it featured scenes of the making of Madonna's infamous book Sex. A number of cameo appearances were featured in the music video. It received very negative reviews from older critics and fans, due to its strong explicit features, and was viewed on MTV three times.

"Erotica" was first performed on her world tour The Girlie Show World Tour and has been later played on Confessions Tour and the MDNA Tour, because of its explicit imagery throughout the song. The song has also left a legacy, despite the sexual nature of Erotica and the controversy surrounding Madonna and the album at that time, "Erotica" has been listed on many best lists with various off meanings, and has also given a mark as one of Madonna's controversial songs she has sung, with major banning towards the song.