Inside the DM: How Mark Ronson convinced Dua Lipa to join 'Barbie' soundtrack

The collaboration between Mark Ronson and Dua Lipa for the Barbie movie soundtrack started with, yes a direct message (DM) from Ronson to Lipa on Instagram. 

In the message, Ronson expressed his excitement about working on the Barbie movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. 

“Hey! I’m doing the songs for the Barbie movie with Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken,” Ronson wrote. “It’s dir. by Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Ladybird) and it’s maybe the funniest script I’ve ever read, like [redacted] funny.”

Ronson asked Lipa to consider co-writing and starring on the song.

“There’s a song with a huge 60 person dance number with the whole cast – I only have the track so far, as they started rehearsals, but I would fucking love it if you would consider co-writing and starring on it. I honestly think the movie’s going to be incredible,” Ronson continued.

Lipa, who plays a mermaid Barbie in the film, accepted the invitation and joined the soundtrack for its lead single, titled "Dance the Night." 

Rolling Stone recently revealed the impressive lineup of artists participating in the Barbie soundtrack, including Ava Max, Charli XCX, HAIM, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Karol G, Tame Impala, and PinkPantheress.

Barbie released a second movie trailer featuring a snippet of a song by Minaj and Ice Spice that samples Aqua's "Barbie Girl." The trailer aims to break the glossy image associated with Barbie and portrays life in paradise as less dreamy than it seems.