Rich Girl (Gwen Stefani song)

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"Rich Girl"
Single by Gwen Stefani
from the album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
Released	UK: March 14, 2005
Format	CD single (Global) Digital download (Global) Gramophone record (U.S.)
Recorded	New York City, New York
Genre	Pop–hip hop
Length	3:56
Label	Interscope
Writer(s)	Gwen Stefani Eve Dr. Dre Kara DioGuardi Chantal Kreviazuk Mark Batson Jerry Bock Mike Elizondo Sheldon Harnick
Producer(s)	Dr. Dre
Certification	2× platinum (RIAA)
Chart positions
#1 (Argentina) #2 (Australia) #3 (Netherlands) #4 (UK) #7 (USA Hot 100) #3 (Pop 100) #12 (Canada)
Gwen Stefani singles chronology
"What You Waiting For?" (2004)	"Rich Girl" (2005)	"Hollaback Girl" (2005)

"Rich Girl" is a pop–hip hop performed by singer Gwen Stefani featuring Eve. It was primarily written by Dr. Dre, Eve and Stefani with other collaborators for Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby (2004). The song was released as the album's second single in 2005 (see 2005 in music) and was a worldwide success; it reached number two in Australia and the top twenty on the majority of the charts it entered. This song was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the Grammy Awards of 2006, but lost to Jay-Z & Linkin Park's "Numb/Encore".

Contents 1 Writing process 2 Music video 3 Chart performance 4 Charts 5 Formats and track listings 6 Notes 7 References

[edit] Writing process

The song was co-written by Stefani, Eve, Dr. Dre, Kara DioGuardi, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Mike Elizondo, and produced by Dr. Dre. The song interpolates the song "If I Were a Rich Man" written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock for the musical Fiddler on the Roof. The track features Eve, with whom Stefani had already previously collaborated with on "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" (2001).

Although the song is based on "If I Were a Rich Man", it was also an adaptation of an earlier pop song by British reggae musicians Louchie Lou and Michie One. Eve maintained the reggae style used by the earlier duo and added in her own new rhymes, whereas Stefani added new lyrics and changed some of the melody from the older song. Louchie Lou and Michie One's 1993 version of "Rich Girl" was itself an adaptation of "If I Were a Rich Man". The melody of the chorus and many of the words were kept the same among all three songs. Dancehall queen Lady Saw, who cooperated with Stefani on the No Doubt song "Underneath it all" also made very similar version of the song in 1999.

"Rich Girl" was unusual for a Stefani track in that it was not based on her own personal experience. On her website, Stefani states: "Dre was really pushing me to write in a new way and I'm not going to question him. The whole reason you work with someone like Dre is that you want to know what they think. He's such a great producer because he really knows how to get the best out of you and make you feel good about yourself. 'Rich Girl' is so fresh, so Dre, he just totally tricked the track out."^[1]

[edit] Music video

The music video for "Rich Girl" was directed by David LaChapelle and shot in California, United States; it depicts Gwen Stefani and Eve on a pirate ship. The video begins with four Japanese school-girls playing with a pirate ship and Bratz dolls, discussing what they would do if they were a "rich girl". The video features three different sequences; Stefani is first shown on board the pirate ship bellow deck, dancing on a table, singing to the song. She is surrounded by other "pirates" and is soon joined up Eve, wearing an eyepatch; above deck Stefani and her dancers, also dressed as pirates, dance; Stefani is also seen dancing with a sword. The video concludes with the four Japanese school-girls laughingly dropping the pirate ship in a fish tank, causing Stefani and her fellow pirates to fall all over the ship.

"Rich Girl" is Stefani's second music video to feature her Harajuku Girls, who appear in the video as her back up dancers in scenes above deck and when she is dancing with a sword, fantasising about shopping in an upmarket boutique. In the song Stefani sings "I'd dress them wicked, I'd give them names, Love, Angel, Music, Baby", causing Stefani to be criticized for reinforcing racial stereotypes of Asian women. In the video when she signs these lyrics, Stefani makes the hand gestures as if she is dressing the Harajuku Girls up, treating them like dolls.

The music video was a success on video channels and it reached number four on MTV's Total Request Live.

[edit] Chart performance

After the disappointment of "What You Waiting For?" in the U.S., Interscope wanted "Rich Girl" to prove successful in the United States. It did when it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, a position it maintained for two weeks. Despite exhibiting influences of modern hip hop, the song was able to crossover and enter the R&B and Adult Top 40 formats, but it did not remain on these charts for very long. Although the song failed to receive airplay on R&B radio, its relatively high sales of its 12" single helped propel the song onto the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. "Rich Girl" was helped on the Hot 100 and Pop 100 by its strong digital downloads, peaking at number two and number three on the Hot Digital Songs and Hot Digital Tracks respectively. Due to its high number of digital downloads, the song was awarded a double platinum single for sales of 400,000 downloads.

Elsewhere, "Rich Girl" peaked within the top twenty on the majority of the charts it entered. It debuted at number two in Australia, where it became Stefani's second top-five single. The song also charted highly in the UK at number four. "Rich Girl" is one of Stefani's highest-charting singles in the UK (with "What You Waiting For?") because future single releases failed to reach the top five.

Although "Rich Girl" was more successful than its predecessor in Canada, it failed to enter the top ten and peaked at number twelve for one week. Because the CD single was released two months after the song began receiving airplay, it had already peaked in popularity and was unable to chart higher. On the BDS Airplay Chart, it reached number two.

Across Europe, "Rich Girl" was largely successful: it reached the top five in Denmark and Norway, and the top ten in Italy and Switzerland. It was also successful in South America and reached the top forty in most countries including Argentina and Brazil.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	7
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	3
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	4
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	27
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	39
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	16
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	78
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	2
Argentina Top 40 Singles	1 (1 week)
Dutch Singles Chart	3
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	3
United World Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	4
Italian Singles Chart	5
Finnish Singles Chart	7
Mexican Top 100	8
Austrian Singles Chart	10
Canadian Singles Chart	12
German Singles Chart	14
Swedish Singles Chart	4
French Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	6
Argentine Singles Chart	24
Brazilian Singles Chart	28

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Rich Girl".

European CD single

1. "Rich Girl" (Album Version)
2. "What You Waiting For?" (Live)

European CD maxi single

1. "Rich Girl"
2. "What You Waiting For?" (Live)
3. "Harajuku Girls" (Live)
4. "Rich Girl" (CD-ROM video)

[edit] Notes

[edit] References