With two days to go until Barbie hits theaters and 40,000+ people take in Greta Gerwig‘s masterpiece, the Barbie World hype is at its peak. And keeping the same Ken-rgy going is Barbie The Album, which is as equally star-studded as the movie, with the added bonus of not requiring a ticket to listen once it drops on Friday. Ava Max is among the many musicians who have lent their talents to the Barbie-verse on this album, an especially befitting marriage of artist and soundtrack given her discography. (Remember “Not Your Barbie Girl” back in 2017?)
Now, Ava is making a pit stop on Barbie The Album with her song “Choose Your Fighter” before heading back to the studio this fall to begin work on her third album. “I’ve always been a Barbie fan,” Ava dished to Cosmopolitan the day after the Barbie L.A. movie premiere.
“When I heard about the Barbie movie about a year and a half ago, I told everyone, I want to be part of that soundtrack. I kind of manifested it because I was like, I legitimately *have to* be on the soundtrack,” Ava said. “I told everyone that, and when I got on the Zoom with Mark Ronson, he played me part of the movie. We wrote “Choose Your Fighter” in two hours because I had to go back on tour. And they loved it, so they put it in the movie! We didn’t even revise it, they loved it exactly how we made it.”
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Creating a bop in two hours is no small feat, and Ava was under the gun amid the hustle and bustle of her tour, working with Mark, Cirkut, Michael Pollack, Madison Love to get a Barbie-worthy song off the ground along the way.
“I really like Cirkut’s beat. It sounds almost like a video game,” Ava told Cosmo. “It’s like Barbie video game vibes, and it’s a super pop song that I love to sing. The moment I wrote it, it got stuck in my head. It’s ear candy.”
Featuring on the Barbie album is a full-circle moment for Ava, given how Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” ties right back to her own musical roots. The songstress released “Not Your Barbie Girl” back in December 2017, sampling Aqua’s hit, and it took off on social media a few years later.
“”Not Your Barbie Girl” is one of my favorites that I’ve done, actually,” Ava reminisced. “I remember when I made it, it got really big on TikTok. It was before “Sweet but Psycho,” too. It became a TikTok phenomenon; I didn’t even know what TikTok was at the time. So that was really fun, watching everybody sing to that song.”
Choosing to join the Barbie World more formally brought along all the bustle of a movie soundtrack as massive as Barbie The Album: including a full-on, star-studded red carpet. Ava leaned right into the moment at the Los Angeles Barbie red carpet—her “first real movie premiere”—with bedazzled sunglasses, matching gloves, and of course a Barbie car. “That was a friend of mine’s,” she said. “They let me borrow it. I was like, ‘This would be perfect.'”
Her MONOT look is shimmery, elegant, and fun… but notably *not* Barbie pink. “Powder blue is actually my favorite color of all time. I’m always painting my toes and my fingernails that color because it just makes me so happy. It reminds me of the ocean,” Ava said. “I didn’t want to go all out pink because for me, blue represents what I really love. It empowers me personally. I feel like people should just go with whatever color empowers them. And I wanted to accent that pink!”
(Ava was in good company, given that Margot Robbie herself opted out of Barbie pink for the L.A. premiere, instead choosing black sparkles inspired by a 1960s Solo in the Spotlight Barbie.)
With the Barbie premiere behind her and the album release ahead on July 21, Ava is ready to spread all the good vibes she’s felt working on this project. “I want [fans] to know that it’s a fun song to dance to and also strut your stuff. If you’re wearing a new outfit, put this song on and vibe before you’re going out with your girls,” she said.
“I was lucky enough that Greta [Gerwig] loved this song,” Ava said. “I just love Barbie. I never thought I’d do a song for the Barbie movie. It’s like my wildest dream.”
GET ‘BARBIE’ MOVIE TICKETS HERE
LISTEN TO ‘BARBIE THE ALBUM’ STARTING JULY 21 HERE
News and Pop Culture Director
Alexandra Whittaker oversees all of Cosmo’s news and entertainment digital coverage—follow her on Instagram here. As the lead of two teams, Alexandra manages stellar writers and editors who deliver your daily dose of celebrity, TV, movie, book, general entertainment and pop culture news. She’s known for her strategic coverage calls and celebrity interviewing skills. Awards shows are her favorite thing, and she’s a proud Northwestern and Marquette alumna.Â