About Crave

"Crave" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna with American singer and rapper Swae Lee, from the former's fourteenth studio Madame X (2019). The song was written by the two artists and Starrah, while production was handled by Madonna, Mike Dean and Billboard. It was released by Interscope Records for digital download and streaming as the album's second single on May 10, 2019. The song has been noted as a pop, trap, hip hop ballad inspired by Fado music, with the lyrics talking about desire and craving for someone who's running away. It was one of the first songs Madonna wrote for Madame X, but she put the work on hold when she began working with other musicians in Lisbon. When she revisited the song, Madonna came to the conclusion that a male voice was needed for inclusion and approached Swae Lee to sing with her, as she was a fan of his voice.

"Crave" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its sound. However, there were some who found the song forgettable. In the United States, it reached the eleventh place of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, becoming her biggest hit there since "Frozen" (1998). It also gave Madonna her record-breaking 49th number-one hit on the Dance Club Songs chart. On the UK Single Sales chart, it reached number 51. An accompanying music video, directed by Nuno Xico, was released on May 22, 2019; it features Madonna and Swae Lee singing the song on a New York City rooftop. A remix of the song was created by Tracy Young and was performed on Madonna's 2019?20 Madame X Tour.