By now, you've likely seen the billboards of Margot Robbie's feet and the slogan, "She's everything. And he's just Ken," slapped everywhere from Los Angeles to London.
The "Barbie" press tour has taken the world by storm ahead of its July 21 release date.
But director Greta Gerwig isn't just immersing us in the pink, plastic, fantastic world of "Barbie," the movie. She's also assembled a musical dream team to create the perfect corresponding soundtrack: "Barbie: The Album."
Keep reading to find out everything we know about the soundtrack of the summer, a cultural moment of pop music's biggest icons coming together to create 16 original songs inspired by "Barbie."
Who are the artists in the 'Barbie' movie soundtrack?
The first announcement of artists on the "Barbie" soundtrack came on May 25, and included all but two musicians: Ava Max, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Haim, Ice Spice, Kali, Karol G, Khalid, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, PinkPantheress, Tame Impala, The Kid Laroi and Ryan Gosling.
The final two artists, dubbed Mystery Barbie and Mystery Ken, were later revealed in July to be Billie Eilish and Sam Smith.
What songs will be in the Barbie movie?
The first single from "Barbie: The Album" was "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa, who is starring as a mermaid in the film. Her track is a disco pop anthem inspired by one of the (many) choreographed dance routines in the movie.
Several other singles have been released ahead of the full album, including Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" and Charli XCX's "Speed Drive," plus "Barbie World (with Aqua)," the iconic collaboration between Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.
Perhaps the most-hyped track is Gosling's "I'm Just Ken," which Warner Bros. released a clip of on July 10. Mark Ronson, the album's executive producer and writer of "I'm Just Ken," told Vanity Fair the track affected Gosling so deeply he asked director Greta Gerwig to perform it in the film. Gerwig agreed and rewrote an important scene in the film to accommodate the new song, Ronson said.
Ronson, who recruited Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen to play guitar on the track, told Vanity Fair he flew to London to record Gosling's vocals, and he was surprised by the emotionality the actor brought to the song.
"He really got (that) it had to walk this line of not being funny or parody," Ronson said. "But obviously, the song is also kind of ridiculous at times. So he was really amazing, and when he really did start hitting the big notes, I was like, this dude is a vocal powerhouse!"
He also told Time Magazine, "I hadn’t also figured that, of course, he would sell this song better than anyone because he is Ken."
What songs are on 'Barbie: The Album'?
Here's the full track list for "Barbie: The Album":
- Lizzo — "Pink"
- Dua Lipa — "Dance The Night"
- Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice — "Barbie World (with Aqua)"
- Charli XCX — "Speed Drive"
- KAROL G — "WATITI (feat. Aldo Ranks)"
- Billie Eilish — "What Was I Made For?"
- Tame Impala — "Journey To The Real World"
- Ryan Gosling — "I’m Just Ken"
- Dominic Fike — "Hey Blondie"
- HAIM — "Home"
- Sam Smith — "Man I Am"
- The Kid LAROI — "Forever ; Again"
- Khalid — "Silver Platter"
- PinkPantheress — "Angel"
- GAYLE — "butterflies"
- Ava Max — "Choose Your Fighter"
Who produced the 'Barbie' soundtrack?
Mark Ronson, known for his work with Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Adele and more, is the executive producer of "Barbie: The Album."
Ronson told Vanity Fair and Time Magazine about the text he received from George Drakoulias, a music supervisor, that started his involvement with the project. It just read: "Barbie?"
"I was like, holy s---, I’m being asked to sit at the cool kids table," he told Vanity Fair after finding out Gerwig was directing the film.
Ronson told Time Magazine Gerwig showed him 20 minutes of the film, and she made him a playlist of "disco, obscure Broadway tracks, and light, catchy music he's dubbed 'Peloton pop,'" according to Vanity Fair.
The pair made a list of dream artists they wanted on the soundtrack, and Ronson hit the ground running. "I became the Robin to her Batman," he told Time.
The first tracks he wrote for the album were "Dance the Night" and "I'm Just Ken," he told Time.
"Because it’s 'Barbie,' the instinct is to go to something a little Euro and sugary, and that’s just never what I do," he told Vanity Fair.
He continued, saying he wrote something "definitely disco ... and definitely gold and sequin-y, but it’s got a really tough driving thing to it."
He sent it to Gerwig, who he said responded with "like, you know, seven pink heart emojis." And then he got started on the rest of the album.
When does the 'Barbie' soundtrack come out?
The release date for "Barbie: The Album" is set for July 21, the same day the film premieres.
What is 'Barbie: The Album (Best Weekend Ever Edition)'?
In addition to the "Barbie" soundtrack drop, a deluxe edition of the record also released on July 21. The deluxe version features all 16 songs as the original, plus two additional songs played in the movie: Gosling's cover of "Push" by Matchbox 20, and Brandi Carlile's take on "Closer to Fine" by Indigo Girls.
Gosling, along with several other Kens, perform an acoustic cover of "Push" huddled around campfires on the beach (or as the Barbies would say, the Kens played guitar at them for several minutes).
"Closer to Fine" by Indigo Girls makes an appearance several times throughout the film as Barbie travels by car in and out of Barbieland. Carlile's cover features her wife Catherine Carlile, and is a slowed down version of the song played in the movie.
