Justify My Love (video) performer Madonna
"Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection (1990). The song was written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez, with additional lyrics by Madonna; Kravitz also handled the production alongside André Betts. It was released as the lead single from the album on November 6, 1990, by Sire and Warner Bros. Records. Chavez was not credited on the song, which led to a lawsuit against Kravitz, eventually reaching an out-of-court settlement. Musically considered as a hip hop, dance, trip-hop, and experimental pop track, it features spoken word vocals by Madonna as she releases her inner freak, touching on sexual fantasies and implying the position of a woman as the one sexually in control. 
The song's commercial release was accompanied by different remixes; "The Beast Within" remix was condemned as anti-semitic by some Jewish organizations. "Justify My Love" received generally positive reviews by music critics, who appreciated Madonna and Kravitz's collaboration as well as its sensual nature, and was retrospectively noted as one of Madonna's best singles. The song was a commercial success, becoming Madonna's ninth number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also peaked at number one in Canada; it also reached the top 10 on several countries including Australia, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video, directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, is a tribute to the film Bay of Angels (1963). It features Madonna's then-boyfriend Tony Ward and portrays the singer as a woman walking in a hotel hallway, looking distressed and tired from work, until being seduced into having sex with a mysterious man and woman. The video contained imagery of sadomasochism, voyeurism and bisexuality, and was subsequently banned from MTV and other networks internationally due to its sexually explicit nature. The clip was later released as a video single and became the first-ever short-form video to be certified multiplatinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"Justify My Love" and "The Beast Within" remix have been included on four of Madonna's concert tours, the last being 2015―2016's Rebel Heart Tour. It was covered and sampled a number of times by artists such as Vita, Ashanti, and Jay-Z. The music video was parodied on an episode of Saturday Night Live and was also seen by critics as feminist, as well as considered one of the sexiest videos of all time by some publications.Music video
Development
The music video for "Justify My Love" was filmed within three days in November 1990 at the Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris, France. It was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who had previously directed the video for Madonna's "Open Your Heart" (1987). The clip was produced by Philippe Dupuis-Mendel under Bandits, in a co-production with Propaganda Films, with editing by Oliver Gajan and principal photography by Pascal Lebegue. The video features Madonna's then-boyfriend Tony Ward, fellow models Amanda Cazalet and Wallis Franken Montana, as well as Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza, who was a dancer on the Blond Ambition World Tour which occurred earlier that year. It is a tribute to the film Bay of Angels (1963). Mondino described the concept of the music video:Usage in media, covers and samples
On May 11, 1991, Madonna made a guest appearance on SNL on the recurring sketch Wayne's World; it spoofed the song's music video as well as her documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. The spoof consisted of Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) encountering a seductive Madonna lying on a bed in a hotel room during a fantasy dream sequence, filmed in black and white. After some back-and-forth banter, Wayne and Madonna play truth or dare. Wayne begins by saying "truth". Madonna then asks "Have you ever made love with two women at the same time?" He answers "Uh... yes!" to which Madonna says, "Okay, I believe you... Not!" Wayne then dares Madonna to make out with him. As they kiss, the music for "Justify My Love" begins playing. The scene ends as two dominatrixes appear in the room, accompanied by a Prince lookalike.In 1999, a cover of the song, done by Front Line Assembly with vocals by Kristy Thirsk, was included on the compilation album Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 1. The next year, it received cover versions included on the tribute albums Truly Blue: Tribute to Madonna and A Tribute to Madonna: Tranceformed. "Justify My Love" was also covered by rapper Vita, featuring singer Ashanti, for the The Fast and the Furious soundtrack in 2001, while the same year another cover version by Starsound Orchestra was included on the tribute album Plays the Hits Made Famous by Madonna. In 2012, Brazilian singer Gretchen recorded a cover with a music video using footage of her own acting career. In 2020, Chavez released her own version of "Justify My Love" on streaming platforms. Two years later, she released a limited edition cassette with eight remixes.German band Enigma sampled one of the remixes of the song for their "Orthodox Remix" of the 1991 single, "Mea Culpa (Part II)". In 1994, Eurodance act Maxx sampled its beat in the song "Suddenly", included on their debut studio album To the Maxximum. German electronic duo Jam & Spoon sampled a part of the song's remixes for a remix of "Kaleidoscope Skies" (1997), featuring Plavka. Rapper Mase used a sample from "Justify My Love" on his song "Stay Out of My Way", included on his second studio album, Double Up (1999). In 2003, rapper Jay-Z also sampled the song on "Justify My Thug", on his eighth studio album, The Black Album, described as a "hip hop re-working" of the original song. Portions of "Justify My Love" were used by Insane Clown Posse in their 2004 single "Bowling Balls".
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