Black Widow (song)

Black Widow
Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora
publication	July 8, 2014
length	3:23
Genre (s)	Trap · Hip-Hop
Author (s)	Stargate , Benny Blanco , Katy Perry , Sarah Hudson , Amethyst Kelly
Label	Def Jam Recordings
album	The New Classic

Black Widow is a song by the Australian rapper Iggy Azalea in collaboration with the British singer Rita Ora . The song was released on July 8, 2014 and is Azalea's fifth single from her album The New Classic .

The song reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK singles chart . For over 4,000,000 copies sold, Black Widow was awarded 4 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America .

background

Black Widow was originally written by Katy Perry for her fourth studio album, Prism , but was not finished in time for the album's release. Perry planned a duet with Azalea, but found no time to record and produce the song and finally gave it to Azalea, who looked for a new partner with Rita Ora . The final version of Black Widow was written by Azalea, Perry, Sarah Hudson , Benny Blanco and the Stargate production team, the latter also responsible for production.

Black Widow was released on July 8, 2014 in the United States as the fifth single from Azalea's debut album The New Classic . However, since April 17, 2014 there was already a leak of the song on the Internet.

Musical

Black Widow is a trap and hip-hop song with a length of 3:29 minutes. Ora's and Azalea's voices are based on a call and response structure that runs through the entire song. Black Widow is written in E minor and Rita Ora's vocal range extends from E _{4 to} C ₅ . The song, composed in four-four time , has a moderate tempo of 84 beats per minute . Lyrically, the song is about a failed, romantic relationship combined with revenge and feminism.

criticism

Rita Ora received praise for her vocal performance.

Black Widow received a mixed reception from the critics. David Maurer from Laut.de praised the safe singing of Rita Ora. Marcu Floyd from Renowned for Sound sees the song as another hit and also praised Ora's vocal performance: "Rita Ora is one of the best singers she [Iggy Azalea] could get for this song". Lauren Valenti, a journalist with Marie Claire , thinks the song is "madness" and "nothing less than brilliant". Rap-Up magazine called Azalea and Ora a "deadly duo". Black Widow received negative criticism from Alexandra Pollard, among others, who criticized the similarities to Katy Perry's song Dark Horse . Alfred Soto of Spin magazine criticized Stargate's involvement in the song, saying that the hookline was similar to Hate That I Love You , a previous production by the Stargate producer team.

Commercial win

Black Widow entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on July 10, 2014 and was first able to reach the top 10 in these charts on August 17, 2014. The song became Azalea's third top 10 hit in the United States. At this point, both Problem and Fancy were still in the top 10, making Azalea the fourth artist after Ashanti , Adele and Ariana Grande to have three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. As the highest position Black Widow was able to reach number three and has so far been sold over four million times, making the song four times platinum . In the British single charts , the song reached number four as the highest position, which is Azalea's best position in these charts so far. In Azalea's native Australia, the song reached number 15 and was also awarded a platinum record there.

Black Widow is less successful in German-speaking countries . In the German single charts , the song has so far reached number 39. Also in Austria with place 25 and in Switzerland with place 28 the single did not reach the top 20. Further top 10 placements reached among others Finland and France .

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Australia (ARIA)	15th (17 weeks)	17th
Germany (GfK)	39 (24 weeks)	24
New Zealand (RMNZ)	11 (17 weeks)	17th
Austria (Ö3)	25th (23 weeks)	23
Switzerland (IFPI)	28 (22 weeks)	22nd
United States (Billboard)	3 (30 weeks)	30th
United Kingdom (OCC)	4th (27 weeks)	27

Awards for music sales

Black Widow has been awarded 3 × gold and 12 × platinum worldwide. The single was sold more than 5.1 million times worldwide.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	platinum	70,000
Denmark (IFPI)	platinum	1,800,000 (streaming)
Germany (BVMI)	gold	200,000
Italy (FIMI)	platinum	50,000
Canada (MC)	2 × platinum	160,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	gold	7,500
Sweden (IFPI)	2 × platinum	80,000
Spain (Promusicae)	gold	20,000
United States (RIAA)	4 × platinum	4,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	600,000
All in all	3 × gold 12 × platinum	5,187,500

Main article: Iggy Azalea / Music Sales Awards

Music video

The music video of Black Widow is a tribute to Quentin Tarantino's action film Kill Bill is. Azalea and Ora each carry a catsuit with a stylized black widow on her back. They symbolize a femme fatale who is out for revenge. Both fight in the video Michael Madsen , who also starred in Kill Bill - Volume 2 .

The 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards was Black Widow in the category Best Video nomination.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ chartsurfer.de: Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora: Black Widow
2. ^ RIAA Gold & Platinum Database. Retrieved January 24, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Christina Lee: Iggy Azalea's "Black Widow" Was Originally A Katy Perry Song. In: Idolator. May 23, 2014, accessed October 20, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Steffi Meyer: Iggy Azalea likes Rita Ora. In: Ampya . May 3, 2014, archived from the original on September 4, 2014 ; Retrieved October 20, 2014 . 
5. ^ Iggy Azalea "Black Widow" Sheet Music. Musicnotes.com Hal Leonard Corporation, accessed October 20, 2014 . 
6. ↑ David Maurer: The realest, the richest, the most beautiful. In: Laut.de . LAUT AG, accessed on September 16, 2014 . 
7. ↑ Marcus Floyd: Single Review: Iggy Azalea - Black Widow. In: Renowned for Sound. September 9, 2014, accessed October 20, 2014 . 
8. ↑ Lauren Valenti: Iggy Azalea, Rita Ora, and Katy Perry Drop New Track, Change Everything. In: Marie Claire . Retrieved October 20, 2014 . 
9. ↑ New Music: Iggy Azalea f / Rita Ora - 'Black Widow'. In: Rap-Up. Retrieved October 20, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Alexandra Pollard: Listen: Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora reveal new song 'Black Widow'. In: Gigwise. April 18, 2014, accessed October 20, 2014 . 
11. ↑ Alfred Soto: Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea's 'The New Classic' Is a Stone Cold Dud. In: Spin . April 16, 2014, archived from the original on May 30, 2014 ; accessed on October 20, 2014 (English). 
12. ↑ IGGY AZALEA FEAT. RITA ORA - BLACK WIDOW (SONG). Hung Medien, accessed October 20, 2014 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US AU NZ
14. ↑ Iggy Azalea And Rita Ora Channel 'Kill Bill' In 'Black Widow' Video: Watch Now. In: MTV . Retrieved October 20, 2014 .