"Don't I own you?": Montell Jordan recounts his awkward first meeting with Madonna

In the mid-'90s, both Madonna and Montell Jordan were hitting the charts: one as a pop superstar, the other as an R&B newcomer crashing the listings with their own anthems. But according to Jordan, the Queen of Pop wasn’t exactly welcoming when they met for the first time.

On the May 1 episode of the We Sound Crazy podcast, the This Is How We Do It singer recalled his first encounter with the pop icon that left a lasting impression, not because of glitz or glam, but because of a brutal question from Madonna.

“When I reach out my hand to shake her hand, she looks at me and she goes, ‘Don’t I own you?’”

Jordan said that, at that time, he didn’t quite register the meaning behind her words. But as soon as he connected the dots, it made more sense.

“When ‘This Is How We Do It’ runs up the charts, before it gets to number one, there’s a song there called ‘Take a Bow’ from Madonna. So ‘This Is How We Do It’ is the song that took Madonna’s record off the charts.”

The R&B artist then explained that there had been discussions about a publishing deal involving his hit track. Despite declining the offer, his late co-writer Oji Pierce went ahead and signed with Maverick Records, Madonna’s own label.

“They tried to do a publishing deal with me for my portion of ‘This Is How We Do It,’ and we wouldn’t do a deal with them. She had a company called Maverick Records.”

This plot twist gave Madonna partial ownership of his song, thanks to Pierce’s agreement, and something she seemingly didn’t let Jordan forget.

“She was still basically saying, ‘Yeah, don’t I own you, because I still have that spot that you had, that number one spot.’”

Despite the frosty interaction, Jordan is still living off the success of the 1995 banger, which remains a party staple and has earned 5x platinum certification from the RIAA.

Well, it’s safe to say that he’s still doing it, just maybe not the way Madonna would’ve liked.

Montell Jordan gets candid about cancer recovery: “I learned I can do hard things”

Montell Jordan’s recent story about getting the cold shoulder from Madonna isn’t the only headline he’s made this year.

Just months before, the singer shared a deeply personal health update after privately battling early-stage 1 prostate cancer for most of 2024. Following the procedure, doctors found more aggressive stage 2 cancer cells, prompting a second operation.

Trending

But despite the unexpected twist, Jordan remained grounded in gratitude for what he called “early detection” and a strong circle of support.

“Early detection helped save my life. My wife, my kids, my close family and friends have all been my tribe. Our church. I have an amazing community. I learned I can do hard things. I cannot do hard things alone.”

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback