Hollaback Girl

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"Hollaback Girl"
Single by Gwen Stefani
from the album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
Released	June 21, 2005 (UK)
Format	Digital download (U.S.) CD single (Worldwide)
Recorded	New York City, New York
Genre	Pop, Hip hop, R&B
Length	3:20
Label	Interscope
Writer(s)	Gwen Stefani Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo
Producer(s)	The Neptunes
Certification	5× platinum (RIAA)
Chart positions
#1 (Australia, Mexico) #1 (USA Hot 100) #1 (Pop 100) #8 (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks) #3 (Germany, New Zealand) #4 (Ireland) #8 (Netherlands, UK) #12 (Canada)
Gwen Stefani singles chronology
"Rich Girl" (2005)	"Hollaback Girl" (2005)	"Cool" (2005)

"Hollaback Girl" is a pop song performed by singer Gwen Stefani. The song was written by Stefani and Pharrell Williams for Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby (2004).

The song was released in 2005 as the album's third single, and it proved to be one of the biggest successes of the year. While it reached a peak position of number one in countries such as Australia and the United States, it also became the first U.S. digital download to sell more than one million copies. "Hollaback Girl" was nominated in the categories of "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" and "Record of the Year" at the 2006 Grammy Awards. The backing instrumentation consists of saxophone, piano, and a drum machine.

[edit] Writing and inspiration

During the early stages of the writing for Love. Angel. Music. Baby., Stefani had worked with The Neptunes. However, an occurrence of writer's block resulted in several fruitless and uninspired collaborations. As the album neared completion, Stefani regained her confidence and booked another session with The Neptunes and hip hop producer Pharrell Williams, who had written several songs for other musical artists. Stefani flew to New York City to meet up with Williams, but while they were able to finish two songs within a week, Stefani ended the assembly early and prepared to return home. A few minutes later, Williams called her back into the studio to write another song. Said Stefani, "I was tired. I wanted to go home, but he was like, 'don't leave yet.'"^[1]

Upon returning to the studio, Williams began to play Stefani his first solo album. Stefani has been known to become jealous when she hears a song that she believes to be "really good".^{[citation needed]} Excited by his material, she decided that they were going to write another song together, despite her belief that the album already contained far too many tracks.^[1]

In an attempt to search for inspiration, Stefani and Williams had a lengthy discussion in which Stefani confirmed that she had yet to write a song about her intentions for pursuing a solo career. She remarked how the album was missing an "attitude song", and she recalled a derogatory comment Courtney Love stated about her in an interview with the adolescent-aimed magazine Seventeen.

"Being famous is just like being in high school. But I'm not interested in being the cheerleader. I'm not interested in being Gwen Stefani. She's the cheerleader, and I'm out in the smoker shed."^[2][3]

Stefani understood that some of the fans of No Doubt would be upset with her solo effort. She commented, "[They] were probably like, 'Why is she doing this record? She's going to ruin everything'."^[4] Subsequently, she revealed that she did not know why she was recording a solo album as well. For the remainder of the evening, Stefani and Williams incorporated the inspiration into the lyrics that would eventually become "Hollaback Girl". The two of them decided that Stefani did not have to have an answer for her intentions and that the choices she made were based on what she felt was wrong or right.^[4] On its creation, Stefani said, "to me, it is the freshest attitude song I've heard in so long."^[1] Williams was also impressed with the song, and commented, "Gwen is like the girl in high school who just had her own style."^[1]

Because Stefani never disclosed the song title's meaning, several different reviewers began assuming its identity. In a satirical, line-by-line analysis of the song's lyrics, OC Weekly critic Greg Stacy speculated that "Gwen is apparently the captain of the cheerleader squad; she is the girl who 'hollas' the chants, not one of the girls who simply 'hollas' them back".^[5]

Several critics have called the track inspired by Queen (see below), with the song itself namechecking the 1980 Queen song "Another One Bites the Dust" and briefly using the song's famous bassline.

[edit] Critical response

"Hollaback Girl" had a polarizing effect on music critics. LAUNCHcast's Jennifer Nine described it as a "stomping, stripped-back track",^[6] while All Music Guide said that it had the "thumping, minimal beats of The Neptunes."^[7] Richard Smirke called it "a trademark Neptunes hip-hop stomp."^[8] Rolling Stone was pleased with the song, and in their review for Stefani's Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album, wrote: "Stefani's gum-snapping sass brings out the beast in her beatmasters, especially the Neptunes in 'Hollaback Girl'."^[9] Blender listed it as the eleventh best song of 2005.^[10]

On the other hand, Jason Damas, in a review for PopMatters, described the song as sounding "almost exactly like Dizzee Rascal", and added, "lyrically, this is where Gwen sinks the lowest here, especially on a breakdown where she repeats, 'This shit is bananas/ B-A-N-A-N-A-S!' several times".^[11] Eric Greenwood of Drawer B Media commented: "[The song is] moronic and embarrassingly tuneless. I’d quote the lyrics, but they’re so bad, I almost feel sorry for her. A 35-year-old woman singing about pom-poms and 'talking shit' in high school betrays such a delusional self-image that it's hard not to be taken aback. And on top of that, The Neptunes' beats are clunky and the production is senselessly bombastic."^[12]

Nick Sylvester of Pitchfork insulted the track, referring to it as a "Queen pastiche [...] which has about as much club potential as a 13-year old with a milk moustache and his dad's ID."^[13] Maxim was not thrilled with the song either, and in their September 2005 issue, published a list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs Ever"; "Hollaback Girl" came in first place. It ranked higher than other number-one singles such as Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (number three) and the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" (number five).

[edit] Chart performance

The single was officially solicited to radio in North America on April 5, 2005, although the music video had been released two weeks earlier, on March 21. "Hollaback Girl" entered the Billboard Hot 100, the main U.S. chart, at number eighty-two, and within six weeks of its release, it had reached the number-one position, making it the fastest-rising single to reach the top in 2005; it also became Stefani's first U.S. number-one. It maintained the number-one position for four weeks. The single spent thirty-one weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, twenty-nine of which were in the top fifty. It was removed from the Hot 100 for the week ending October 29, 2005.

Damaging criticism appeared after it was discovered that Interscope Records had begun purchasing approximately 30,000 digital downloads a week to boost the position of "Hollaback Girl" and ultimately upseat 50 Cent's "Candy Shop." A reason for doing so was to give away the digital downloads to fans of Gwen Stefani via the main internet website for the pop/rock band No Doubt, of which Stefani is lead vocalist.

The 'sale' of these digital downloads was considered illegal but was not contested as it had been expected not to affect the Billboard Hot 100 Sales Chart. Suspicion proved to be worth while as "Hollaback Girl" soared to the number one position dethroning "Candy Shop." With aid from the free digital downloads purchased by Interscope Records, "Hollaback Girl" stayed at number one for four weeks.

Despite controversy, "Hollaback Girl" reaching number one on the Hot 100 made it the first non-R&B, non-hip hop, and non-American Idol song to reach number one since Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" in early 2002. However, some argue that the song achieved this due to its hip hop–influenced production as well as its help from excess digital downloads.

"Hollaback Girl" held the record for most US radio airplays in one week, with over 9,582 plays, and maintained this feat for over a year before Shakira and Wyclef Jean's "Hips Don't Lie" overtook the position. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Pop 100 for eight weeks, and topped its component chart, the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay, for four weeks. "Hollaback Girl" was a small success in the dance clubs, and only peaked at number fifteen on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart; it performed better on the Dance Radio Airplay by reaching the top five. The song was also a crossover success, and reached number four on the Rhythmic Top 40, and number eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Both positions were the highest that a non-R&B/hip hop solo artist had attained in the 2000s.

Digitally, "Hollaback Girl" also broke many records. It was the best-selling digital download for the latter three weeks of May 2005, and broke the record for the most downloads sold in one week, totaling over 61,000. The record had previously been held by 50 Cent's "Candy Shop", which sold approximately 50,000 downloads. However, Stefani did not hold the record for long, and in September 2005 it was broken by Kanye West's and Jamie Foxx's "Gold Digger". With the help from eager fans, the public, and Interscope Records, "Hollaback Girl" exceeded one million digital downloads for the week ending October 4, 2005, and was the first single to ever accomplish this; it was certified 5× platinum. Due to its downloads, it reached number one on both digital sales charts, the Hot Digital Songs and Hot Digital Tracks, concurrently.

"Hollaback Girl" was also a successful single in Canada, where the song debuted at number twelve on the Canadian Singles Chart; it was unable to climb to a higher position, however, remained at number twelve for a further two weeks. It remained in the top fifty for two months. However, the Canadian Recording Industry Association later cited the song's total to that point of 20,000 paid downloads in Canada — relative to population and broadband penetration, it argued, proportionately far less than the million downloads it had achieved in the United States to that time; as a sign that Canadian copyright law should be tightened to discourage non-commercial peer-to-peer filesharing. Others disputed the comparison ^[14].

In the rest of the world, reaction to "Hollaback Girl" was generally positive, but not as overwhelming as it had been in North America. It was released in Australia on May 23, 2005 and in Europe on June 6, 2005; it debuted at number one in Australia for one week, and also peaked at number one in Iceland for two weeks. However, in the United Kingdom, "Hollaback Girl" did not perform as well as might have been expected from previous releases. The song's predecessors, "What You Waiting For?" and "Rich Girl", had both reached number four. "Hollaback Girl" debuted at number eight, and stalled at the same position the following week. Although its UK success was limited, widespread airplay guaranteed that it remained in the top forty for an additional ten weeks. The single largely was successful across Europe and Asia, and reached the top five in Germany and China, and the top ten in the Netherlands. "Hollaback Girl" also peaked at number 1 in the Mexican general charts and stayed at number 1 in the Mexican Anglo charts for over a month.

[edit] Music video

Stefani and her Harajuku Girls are surrounded by students throughout the majority of the music video. Several of the scenes feature a yellow 1962 Chevrolet convertible.

The music video was directed by Paul Hunter and filmed in Van Nuys, California, United States. Stefani is spending time with her Harajuku Girls when a number of students call out to her from a car. From there, they lead her to Birmingham High School, where Stefani begins to cause a commotion on the outdoor campus, and she interupts a football game by walking out onto the field. Following this incident, the group visits a nearby grocery store and resume their disturbance by throwing cereal and other food products down an aisle. Throughout the video, there are intercut sequences of choreographed dancing filmed against a black background. Stefani and the Harajuku Girls are outfitted in cheerleading uniforms and are accompanied by a marching band and Japanese cheerleaders. In order to visualize the song's bridge, the Harajuku Girls spell the word "bananas" with colored cue cards. The video is complete following a close-up frame of Stefani with her arms in the air.

The 1962 Chevrolet Impala convertible includes a painting of Gwen Stefani as seen in the album booklet of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. with the words "Hollaback Girl" in calligraphy, which were drawn by artist J. Martin. Eventually, the car was sold on eBay. Pharrell Williams, one of the coproducers, is also present in the video and makes a slender cameo appearance. The complete version of "Hollaback Girl" featured in the music video has been released commercially through CD singles and digital downloads, and some include remixes by Diplo, Justin Jackman aka Glitchswitch and Tony Kanal.

"Hollaback Girl" proved successful on different video-chart programs. It remained on MTV's Total Request Live for a total of fifty days on the countdown, and it was retired as a result; it became Stefani's first video to retire. "Hollaback Girl" climbed to a peak position on VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown for two non-consecutive weeks, and following its debut on MuchMusic's Countdown, it reached number one two and a half months later, where it remained for two weeks. The video also topped LAUNCHcast's top one-hundred most-watched videos of the week.

[edit] Sample

[edit] Charts

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Harajuku Girl
• Banana
• Japan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• An analysis of "Hollaback Girl" by the OC Weekly
• Gwen Stefani music videos — watch "Hollaback Girl" at LAUNCHcast
• GwenStefani.com — official site