Electronic-music DJ Deadmau5 slammed Madonna on his Facebook for making what he thought were drug-related comments at Ultra Music Festival in Miami last week, where she apparently asked the crowd if they’d “seen Molly.”
Molly is a slang term for a supposedly purer, powder form of the drug Ecstasy, which usually comes in pill form and is assumed by users to be “cut” or adulterated with other drugs.
Madonna slammed back at Deadmau5: “From one mouse to another, I don’t support drug use and I never have. I was referring to the song called “Have you seen Molly?” written by my friend Cedric Gervais who I almost worked with on my album.
Madonna claims that she was making a sly reference to her friend’s song, but the thing is, the song is a total drug reference itself (see video below). And by slyly referencing a song that makes an in-the-know drug reference to a crowd of people known for using drugs, you are most definitely making a drug reference yourself.
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So, no, Madonna, you are not absolved of talking about drugs, so stop pretending you “don’t support drug use and never have.” It’s disingenuous, and your album is named MDNA, which, yes, are all letters that appear in your name, but they’re also way too close to MDMA, the chemical shorthand for Ecstasy.
If you don’t condone drug use, maybe try to avoid referencing them all over the place?
Deadmau5 apologized for slamming Madonna via Twitter: “fair enough, I was just voicing my concerns as I usually do. +1 respect for clearing it up personally.” But he shouldn’t have—he needs to go and listen to the Gervais song and slam her more.
That said, we still love you Madonna. We call you out because we care.
Franco
I think there’s more going on in the world to worry about this. Move on.
god
but who cares… everyone who goes clubbing takes drugs. EVERYONE. FULL STOP
people all “say” they “dont approve of or condone drugs” but they all love them
James
Referencing a drug and supporting drug use are completely separate matters. Popular music, art and literate have referenced drugs for decades. Not condoning, simply stating facts. The outrage over this and subsquent attack on Madonna is not necessary. I’ve noticed many take any opportunity to attack her with vile, negative and mean spirited comments that are often ageist and sexist. It’s exhausting, hyicritcial and disappointing particularly when coming from the gay community. What’s disingenuous is to pretend that Ecstasy was not in heavy circulation at this event. Madonna was clearly stating the obvious. Like saying Mary Jane at a Snoop Dog concert. Franco said it best in his comment above.
Spike
Calculated and cynical on behalf of Madonna. She doesn’t do anything by accident, hence the naming of the album MDNA, one letter off MDMA. She is desperate to remain relevant, and failing. Wonder how she would react if someone slipped Lordes an E at a concert. I’m guessing not very well.
Good for DeadMau5 for calling her out.
Kev C
Deadmau5 was mollified by Madonna’s reply. Now if we can only get artists to stop using twitter.
Riker
I’m sure neither deadmau5 nor Madge are strangers to drugs. I just wish they would stop being coy about it.
Just being real
I don’t see the big deal. I’ve never taken Ecstasy or any MDxx drugs but I’ve been at concerts where the artists on stage will ask people if they’ve smoked herb or even if they’ve taken mushrooms.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
i wouldn’t mind if she was part of that culture (recreational drug user); but can you imagine anybody “straighter” than madge? (i guess the floral-print mommy madonna, children’s book author phase is over, then.)
like the smoking in the latest (not so bad) video (imagine the kabbalah water decontamination shower after that), it reeks of trying to be “down with the kids.” where she ain’t been for a long while.
like much of her later career choices this comes off as pandering and desperate. and very sad. especially for one who’s real GENIUS once lay in setting the agenda, and the unerringly ability to ride the zeitgeist.
she deserved to be remembered in the same breath (pop-culturally) as, say, david bowie, or art punk types like david byrne or patty smith, but, instead she’s squandering her legacy.
btw, listened to the new album yesterday. strove to be as objective as possible. wanted to love it. really i wanted to: …i didn’t. really, a lot. sadly.
DouggSeven
I smell publicity stunt.
Gregoire
Whatever happened to the mature adult woman that made the album ‘Erotica’?
Tommy
@Gregoire: Oh, you mean the Madonna that was standing naked on the highway and singing about oral sex in Where Life Begins? That sounds real mature to me! Madonna is who she is. She does sexy pop music. Just accept it.
Madonna does not make arty punk music like David Bowie, David Byrne or Patti Smith. Why expect her to? If you want that, go listen to those artists. Let Madonna be who she is and stop telling her to change! Aren’t we as a community supposed to be accepting people as they are?
Red Meat
@god: Are you kidding me? Find a new scene or go to different clubs if that is all you see.
LLM
Not everyone who goes clubbing uses or has used. Perhaps in a different time or in various geographic locations, but hardly everyone. I travel and club A LOT (one of my life’s greatest pleasures) and I have never used. I don’t get uptight about it, and have certainly seen it before (mostly in NYC and London) but to day all or even most in every city is way overstating it…and it is way less than at the start of the 2000s across the board, way less.
Jeff
Hmm, I had to wait three whole comments before I got to the “Madonna is irrelevant” post. That’s two more than every Huffington Post article. Yet for someone so irrelevant, they keep posting on articles about her. Curious.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
@Tommy: of course she is no where near as artistically valid as those people. thats not what i meant: she did pop. brilliantly.
if you took madonna’s music solely on its own merit, at best, you’d have watered down pop versions of cooler leftfield stuff. at worst, a pile of trite lyrics and simplistic, formulaic pop pap — and if that’s all she was known for, well, you may as well substitute her with a debbie gibson or tiffany ferchrissakes! that could still be fun. but not important, culturally.
the only thing that made madonna relevant is her attitude and extra curricula arty pretensions, iconoclasm, anarchism and outrageousness; all of which she took from punk and new wave. and worked brilliantly up until around pushing out the first sprog which (typically) killed the creativity…. oh, and the fucking stupid ass designer mysticism crap, too. and timbaland. and purple leotards…
Jake
@James: I agree 100% with you James, I mean really, what does deadmau5 think happens at these parties with the type of music they are playing and producing? The people are defintely not there to eat cupcakes and drink some tea while dancing to the lovely music. 80% of the people there are on some or other mood enhancing drug, and this is a fact!! maybe he must take that big mousehead off at times and see what is really happening at these events!!80 % of your followers are on some or other drug during these events. Madonna was only stating the obvious and was never shy to speak the truth, in which way ever. I think Deadmau5 should have just kept quiet in this case.
foulmouthgandhi
Her motivation is probably not about personal freedom and the freedom to enjoy drug exploration for consciousness expansion or to just to lay back and have a mind altering experience which I approve of. No, she pathetically tried to stay relevant with a ridiculous remark that was related to a song that is about drug taking “she makes me want to dance” (Yah sure it’s about a girl srlsly stfu with this excuse) and she was irresponsible by divisively using that to maintain an image.
MCC
Well, she said it at Ultra Music Festival. She was absolutely talking about ecstasy and I’m sure the crowd loved it, because at least 95% of them were on ecstasy at that moment.
It’s like going to a Broadway show and asking if any of the boys there that night were of the dick sucking variety. She knew her audience.
foulmouthgandhi
@MCC: thats my point pandering to kids to appear hip seems desperate to me. I did say I condone drug taking but I don’t condone pathetic attempts to seem relevant to people 3-4 decades your junior by divisively dropping a drug reference.
Madge is irrelevant in that arena and I’m sure thats hard for her to accept. She is however and I have always thought this someone who does use their notoriety and celebrity muscle to endorse & support causes that are extremely relevant and for that I respect her but not for this stunt or those like it.