Girls (Rita Ora song)
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rita Ora feat. Bebe Rexha , Charli XCX & Cardi B | |
| publication | May 11, 2018 |
| length | 3:41 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Ali Tamposi, Jonathan Coffer, Brian Lee, Rita Ora, Andrew Watt |
| Producer (s) | Andrew Watt, Benjamin Diehl, Jonathan Coffer, Jerome Williams |
| Label | Atlantic Records |
| album | Phoenix |
Girls ( dt. "Girl") is a song by British singer Rita Ora in cooperation with the US singer Bebe Rexha , the British singer Charli XCX and the US rapper Cardi B . It was released on May 11, 2018.
background
Girls was written by Ali Tamposi, Jonathan Coffer, Brian Lee, Rita Ora and Andrew Watt back in 2016, with Watt, Coffer, Benjamin Diehl and Jerome Williams in charge of production. The mastering was done by Chris Athens, the mixing was done by Jaycen Joshua. According to Ora, Katy Perry's song I Kissed a Girl served as a model for this song .
“That was the first song anyone heard of Katy Perry's, and it was just such a statement; it was so fun. I wanted to do something that was in that lane. [...] I definitely want it to feel like it's an anthem to somebody. I want there to be a sense of freedom for anyone who lists to it. "
“That was the first song you heard from Katy and it was just such a statement, it was so much fun. I wanted to do something along these lines. [...] I definitely want 'Girls' to feel like a hymn to someone. I want a feeling of freedom to resonate with everyone who listens to it. "
According to Ora, Cardi B was the first person to contribute a verse to this song. Ora also played the song to Charli XCX, a friend of her, who was also taken with the song, so Ora asked if she wanted to take part in the song as well. Ora also wanted to work with Rexha because she has the same ethnic roots and both had been trying for a long time to get in touch to record a song. Since all four people involved had scheduling difficulties to record together, they all recorded their vocal parts separately. On May 4, 2018, Ora announced the collaboration and the release date of Girls via Twitter .
Musical and content
Girls is a pop song with rap elements. The song, composed in four-four time and in E major , has a tempo of 96 beats per minute . The chord progression is E – C # m, the vocal range extends from F # 3 to B4. The instrumentation consists of keyboard , piano and guitar .
Girls is written in verse - chorus form, with a bridge or pre-chorus between the two . Ora sings the first verse, followed by the pre-chorus by Charli XCX. Both artists then sing the first refrain. The second stanza is performed by Rexha, who also sings the second pre-chorus together with Ora. The refrain follows for the second time. This was followed by a bridge between Ora and Charli XCX, before Cardi B rapped the third verse. All participating artists perform the last refrain and the outro.
In terms of content, the song deals with female bisexuality . The suspicion of some media that Ora is alluding to her bisexuality with this song was confirmed by the singer in a later statement.
- first stanza, original excerpt
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- first stanza, German translation
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Reactions & Reviews
After the publication of Girls , there were critical voices from the LBGTQ community. Hayley Kiyoko stated in a statement that the message of the song was dangerous, that a whole community was belittled and that bisexuality was belittled. Although she does not believe that this was Ora's intention, she accuses her of being rash. Also, R & B singer Kehlani criticized the song and wrote the lyrics are hurtful to some extent. DJane Kittens wrote on Twitter: "It is dangerous when LGBT women are fetishized and their relationships are not taken seriously". Other critical voices refer to the problematic undertones and the stereotypical nature of the lyrics, as well as the fact that the artists involved are not bisexual themselves and that the songwriters, with the exception of Oras, are all men. Ora apologized for the lyrics via Twitter and confessed to her bisexuality: "The song represents a very real and honest experience from my life". "I never wanted to intentionally hurt LGBTQ people or others," the singer continued. Rexha also stated that she had already had bisexual experiences. For them, it's just about helping the LGBTQ community. For Charli XCX "the conversation about the song is really important". She also stated that it was never the intention to upset or hurt people with girls , but she was proud of this song because she could support Ora with it.
The song itself received mostly positive reviews. The editors of 1Live consider the collaboration to be “Combi of the Year” and find the beats “fatterly produced” than the equally positively rated song Boys by Charli XCX. The magazine Intro also compares Girls with Charli XCX's song Boys : "This is not quite as great as Charli XCX's» Boys «back then, but it comes pretty close," says journalist Julia Brummert. The People magazine called the song "sexy summer jam" and describes it as "empowering bi-curious anthem". The Official Charts Company describes the song as a "peppy summer song that celebrates female cohesion and more" and particularly praises Cardi B's rap performance.
Commercial win
Girls entered the German single charts at number 80 on May 18, 2018, but dropped out of these charts again in the next chart week. On June 1, 2018, it rose again to number 77. It was Ora's tenth single chart success in Germany. The song also reached midfield positions in the Ö3 Austria Top 40 and in the Swiss charts . In the British single charts , the song rose to number 22 on May 24, 2018 and stayed in these charts for ten weeks. For over 200,000 units sold in the UK, the song was awarded a silver record by the British Phonographic Industry on August 10, 2018 .
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
69 (9 weeks) | 9 |
 Austria (Ö3)
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62 (3 weeks) | 3 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
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54 (3 weeks) | 3 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
22nd (10 weeks) | 10 |
Music video
With the release of Girls , a lyric video was released at the same time. This was viewed over 16 million times on YouTube (as of May 2018). Various media reported on a video shoot for Girls at the end of April 2018. The official music video, which was shot by Helmi, was finally released on June 6, 2018.
Appearances
A few months before the release, Rita Ora appeared together with Charli XCX with the song Girls on BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend 2017 . The TV premiere took place on May 24, 2018 in the final show of the 13th season of Germany's Next Topmodel . Furthermore, Oras Girls Tour began on the day the single was released , which lasted until September 2, 2018.
Individual evidence
- ↑ GEMA repertoire search. GEMA , accessed on May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Rita Ora, Cardi B, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX - Girls. Discogs , accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e Jeff Nelson: Rita Ora Releases Bisexual Anthem 'Girls' - and Reveals If It's Inspired By Her Own Sexuality. In: People . May 11, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Controversy about the new song "Girls". In: Laut.de . May 15, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Cooperation with Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX. In: BigFM . May 13, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Luke Morgan Britton: Rita Ora, Cardi B, Charli XCX and Bebe Rexha are teaming up for a massive new single called 'Girls'. In: New Musical Express . May 4, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Girls By Rita Ora feat. Cardi B; Bebe Rexha & Charli XCX - Digital Sheet Music. Musicnotes.com, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Lyrics Rita Ora - Girls. In: Genius . Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Rita Ora on Bisexuality - The game of hide and seek. In: Spiegel Online . May 11, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c criticism of the song by Rita Ora - "Male gawking". In: Spiegel Online . May 15, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d Brittany Spanos: Rita Ora Apologizes Over Widespread Criticism of New Song 'Girls'. In: Rolling Stone . May 14, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Alim Kheraj: In Defense of Rita Ora's 'Girls': What the Controversy Overlooks About Sexuality. In: Billboard . May 17, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Bebe Rexha justifies her lines in "Girls". In: BigFM . May 22, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Brittany Spanos: Charli XCX on 'Girls' Controversy: 'I Want to Learn From This Experience'. In: Rolling Stone . May 26, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Philipp Kressmann: Rita Ora feat. Cardi B, Bebe Rexha & Charli XCX - "Girls". In: 1Live . Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Julia Brummert: New hit from Rita Ora, Cardi B, Charli XCX and Bebe Rexha. In: Intro . May 11, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Rita Ora is hanging with Cardi B, Charli XCX, and Bebe Rexha on new single Girls: First listen review. Official Charts Company , May 10, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Rita Ora feat. Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX & Cardi B - Girls chart placement Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed June 15, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Rita Ora feat. Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX & Cardi B - Girls chart placement Austria. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed June 20, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Rita Ora feat. Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX & Cardi B - Girls chart placement Switzerland. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Girls Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ^ BRIT Certified. British Phonographic Industry , accessed October 9, 2018 .
- ↑ Rita Ora - Girls - Lyric Video. YouTube , accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Rita Ora Reportedly Filmed the 'Girls' Video Yesterday. In: MTV . May 1, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Tobi Akingbade: Cardi B joins Rita Ora's girl-power music video for new single girls. In: Metro (Associated Newspapers Limited) . April 30, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ The video for "Girls" is a fun time travel - and damn sexy on top of that. (No longer available online.) Warner Music Group , June 6, 2018, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 7, 2018 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ BBC Radio1 Big Weekend. In: BBC . Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Rita Ora - Instagram post May 24, 2018. Instagram , May 24, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Tina Campbell: Rita Ora gives contestants a run for their money as Girls singer flashes abs while performing at the season 13 finale of Germany's Next Top Model. In: OK! May 25, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
