Work (Iggy Azalea Song)
| Work | |
|---|---|
| Iggy Azalea | |
| publication | 17th March 2013 |
| length | 3:43 |
| Genre (s) | Trap · Hip-Hop |
| Author (s) | Amethyst Kelly , The Invisible Men, Trocon Markous Roberts, Natalie Sims |
| Label | Island Records |
| album | The New Classic |
Work is a song by the Australian rapper Iggy Azalea . It was released for download in the United States on March 17, 2013 and is Azalea's first single from her debut album The New Classic . Work marked Azalea's commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and the United States . For over 1,000,000 copies sold, the song was awarded a platinum record by the Recording Industry Association of America .
background
Work was written as one of 3 songs for their debut album The New Classic between December 2012 and January 2013 . In addition to Azalea, Trocon Markous Roberts, Natalie Sims and the production team The Invisible Men were also involved in the creation of the lyrics, while the latter also produced the song together with 1st Down. The song was recorded at Rockfield Studios and Monnow Valley Studios in Wales . Azalea stated that one of the main goals of this song was to make her life story and herself better known. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times , Azalea described Work , alongside Rolex , as her most personal song.
Musical and content
Work is a snap trap song with EDM elements. The composition was inspired by the chord progression of Outkast's song BOB . The beats were designed using the Roland TR-808 . The song starts with a keyboard - intro , followed by the first Rapstrophe . The refrain is structured like a staccato . Azalea's rap pace varies from quick, nested rhymes to elongated single words.
In terms of content, Work is autobiographical and depicts Azalea's move from Australia to Miami at the age of 16. She dropped out of high school in Australia and went to work to save money on a plane ticket to Miami. At the beginning she stayed in the United States as an illegal immigrant and had financial problems, which is made clear by the line of text "No money, no family - 16 in the middle of Miami" in the bridge . The chorus is about how she worked on her rap career all night to become successful.
publication
Work is Azalea's debut single as well as the lead single from her first studio album, The New Classic . In January 2013 Azalea presented this song for the first time in the opening act of Rita Ora's Radioactive Tour . On February 21, 2013, the record company Mercury Records announced that an Extended Play for Work would be released on March 8, 2013. The single was released as a download on March 17, 2013. The song was played on US Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio from June 25, 2013.
criticism
Work received mostly positive reviews. David Maurer from Laut.de described it as a “quite moody song” in which Azalea “describes her way from the bottom to the top”. Der Spiegel considers the song to be “the best track” of their debut album, “because it authentically tells of the exotic woman's experiences in a supposedly hermetic business”. Franz Lichtenegger from The Gap simply described Work as “quite a board”. Digital Spy’s Robert Copsey rated the song 4 stars out of 5 and said it had the quality to become Azalea’s commercial breakthrough.
Formats
- Download
- "Work" - 3:43
- Digital Extended Play (EP)
- "Work" - 3:43
- "Work" (Radio Edit) - 3:42
- "Work" (Jacob Plant Remix) - 3:16
- "Work" (Burns Purple Rain Version) - 5:20
- "Work" (instrumental) - 3:40
Commercial win
Work was Azalea's commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and the United States . He was initially able to place himself in various chart lists of Billboard Magazine, including number 5 of the Hot Dance Club Songs and number 5 of the Bubbling Under Hot 100 . Work increased 156% after Azalea appeared at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, according to the magazine . In May 2014, due to Azalea's successes with her studio album The New Classic , as well as the singles Fancy and Problem , the song hit the charts again and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 54 . On September 23, 2014, the song received a platinum record for over 1,000,000 copies sold .
Work rose to number 55 in the British single charts and reached number 17 in the sixth week, the highest position in these charts. The song stayed in the top 75 for 13 weeks and was Azalea's second chart entry after her feature with Steve Aoki on Beat Down . In Azalea's home country Australia, the song just missed the official top 75 with 79th place. Nevertheless, Work was able to sell over 70,000 times there, which meant that the song was awarded a gold record . Work was unable to position itself in the German-speaking region .
Chart placements
| Charts (2013) | Best placement |
Weeks |
|---|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
17th | 13 |
 United States
|
54 | 20th |
Awards for music sales
Work has so far been awarded 1 × silver , 2 × gold and 1 × platinum worldwide. So the single has been sold at least 1,300,000 times worldwide.
| country | Awards | Sales |
|---|---|---|
 Australia
|
 gold
|
70,000 |
 Canada
|
gold
|
40,000 |
|
United Kingdom
|
 silver
|
200,000 |
|
United States
|
 platinum
|
1,000,000 |
| All in all |
1 × silver 2 × gold 1 × platinum
|
1,310,000 |
Music video
The music video for Work was shot on February 25, 2013 in Los Angeles and was produced by the French production team Jonas & Francois. The video pays homage to the 1994 tragic comedy Priscilla - Queen of the Desert . At the MTV Video Music Awards 2013 , the video was nominated in the Artist to Watch category. The video has now been clicked over 125,000,000 on Vevo .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Gold and Platinum. Recording Industry Association of America , accessed November 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Kyle Anderson: Iggy Azalea on chicken franchising, Australian rap, and learning from Beyonce: An EW Q&A. In: Entertainment Weekly . April 11, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014 .
- ↑ Jessie Schiewe: Album Review: Iggy Azalea's The New Classic. In: respect-mag.com. April 28, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014 .
- ↑ Zak Stemer: Classic Iggy Azalea. In: Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on May 12, 2014 ; accessed on December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Iggy Azalea Blog. In: originalpenguin.co.uk. Retrieved December 9, 2014 .
- ^ Marcus Dowling: Iggy Azalea - The New Classic. In: HipHop DX. April 21, 2014, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Mark Blankenship: Is Iggy Azalea the Next Great Female Rapper? In: NewNowNext. April 22, 2013, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Nick Aveling: Iggy Azalea interview: 'Sometimes I feel like Australians can go fuck themselves'. In: timeout. October 7, 2013, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ^ Iggy Azalea - Work. In: Rap Genius . Retrieved December 9, 2014 .
- ^ Iggy Azalea signs to Mercury. February 21, 2013, archived from the original on May 9, 2014 ; accessed on December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ David Maurer: The realest, the richest, the most beautiful. In: Laut.de . LAUT AG, accessed on September 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Andreas Borcholte: Rapper Iggy Azalea: Sex bomb from the suburban hell. In: Der Spiegel . April 26, 2014, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Franz Lichtenegger: Stop fingering Iggy Azalea. In: The Gap . April 30, 2014, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ^ Robert Copsey: Iggy Azalea: 'Work' - Single review. In: Digital Spy . March 20, 2013, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ^ Keith Caulfield: Miley Cyrus, N 'Sync, Bruno Mars and More See Early Sales Rise Post-VMAs. In: Billboard . August 29, 2013, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ 2013 Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive 4th May 2013. In: Officialcharts.com. Retrieved December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ a b ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2014 Singles. ARIA, accessed December 4, 2014 .
- ^ Iggy Azalea Chart History. In: Officialcharts.com. Retrieved December 4, 2014 .
- ^ Iggy Azalea Chart History. Billboard , accessed December 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Musiccanada.com Gold / Platinum. Music Canada, accessed January 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Certified Awards Search. British Phonographic Industry, accessed December 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Watch: 'Work' by Iggy Azalea. In: Oyster. May 14, 2013, archived from the original on May 12, 2014 ; accessed on December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Nadeska Alexis: Iggy Azalea's 'Work' Video Inspired By Outkast. In: MTV . March 14, 2013, accessed December 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Iggy Azalea - Work - music video. In: Vevo . Retrieved December 9, 2014 .