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Sour Candy (Lady Gaga and Blackpink song)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Sour Candy

| cover = Sour Candy.png

| alt =

| caption = Promotional graphic for the song. For its release to retailers, the song uses the same cover as the album.

| type = promo

| artist = Lady Gaga and Blackpink

| album = Chromatica

| language =

| released =

| recorded =

| studio =

* Los Angeles (Henson Recording)

* New York (Sterling Sound)

| genre =

* Deep house

* dance-pop

* electropop

| length = 2:37

| label = Interscope

| writer =

* Stefani Germanotta

* Michael Tucker

* Matthew Burns

* Rami Yacoub

* Madison Love

* Hong Jun Park

| producer =

* BloodPop

* Burns

| misc =

}}

"'Sour Candy'" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga and South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released for digital download and streaming on May 28, 2020, as a promotional single off Gaga's sixth studio album, 'Chromatica'. The song was written by Gaga, Madison Love, Rami Yacoub, Teddy Park, and its producers BloodPop and Burns. It is a deep house, dance-pop and electropop song with a house, dance and electronic beat and lyrics which compare the artists to the titular sour candy.

Most music critics appreciated the outcome of Gaga and Blackpink's collaboration, although the short length of the track received some criticism. The song reached number one in Malaysia and Singapore and the top ten in Australia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, and Lithuania. A remix version of "Sour Candy" by Shygirl and Mura Masa appeared on Gaga's remix album, 'Dawn of Chromatica' (2021). Both Gaga and Blackpink have performed the song separately on live events.

Background



"Sour Candy" was initially written in a session unrelated to the creation of the 'Chromatica' album by Madison Love, with the help of BloodPop, Rami Yacoub, and Burns. Talking about the session, Love said:

In an interview for Japanese entertainment site TV Groove, Gaga talked about the genesis of the song and stated that "when [she] called them and asked if they wanted to write a song with [her], they were so happy and motivated. It was a really exciting collaboration." She added: "I wanted to celebrate them because they love powerful women like us, and they also wanted to celebrate me, and we had a great time together with this song. I was excited to hear them interpret the song in Korean, and told them that the part was so creative and fun. I was impressed when I heard their singing voice." Blackpink's management later talked about how the song came about: "We listened to each other's music and became fans of each other, so we naturally carried out this project."

Composition and lyrics



"Sour Candy" is a 1990s-influenced dance-pop, electropop, bubblegum pop and deep house anthem that follows a "bouncy" house, dance and electronic beat with an upbeat production. On the song, Gaga and Blackpink are "trading off flirty lines" in English and Korean which use sour candy as a metaphor to "illustrate how they function in a relationship" as well as showing that they are rough on the outside, but sweet and authentic on the inside. Lyrically, the song sees the singers informing a potential lover to accept and not try to change their damage. The '90s house drop features Gaga performing a "speak-rap", while the K-pop group's verses include "tight, almost mechanical melodies".

According to the sheet music published on Musicnotes.com, the song is written in the time signature of common time, and is composed in the key of A minor with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. The vocals range from the tonal nodes of G3 to C5.

Release and promotion



tour

"Sour Candy" was released on May 28, 2020, a day before the album's release. On June 16, 2020, an accompanying lyric video was released. In an article by 'Rolling Stone', the video was described as the inside of a virtual reality headset, "set in a candy-coated and surreal digital landscape", with the lyrics "flashing, 'Matrix'-style". Gil Kaufman of 'Billboard' found the video "trippy" and "a Willy Wonka-worthy color explosion", featuring "glowing futuristic lion fish-like blobs floating in space."

"Sour Candy" was first performed by Blackpink on January 31, 2021, during their livestream concert, The Show. In 2022, Gaga performed the song at The Chromatica Ball stadium tour. Laviea Thomas of 'Gigwise' thought that Gaga's performance of the track "saw mesmerising synchronized choreography, and was a completely captivating experience."

Critical reception



Joey Nolfi from 'Entertainment Weekly' called the song an "epic collaboration" and "a mouthwatering serve". Michael Roffman from 'Consequence of Sound' said that "Sour Candy' is another banger from the Oscar winner, proving 'Chromatica' will bring the party to our pandemic." Claire Shaffer from 'Rolling Stone' found it "a sugar-sweet club track for all our at-home parties. Jem Asward from 'Variety' found it "a sparkling combination of the two artists' styles". Zoe Haylock from 'Vulture' opined that "when the lyrics can basically all be Instagram captions, you know it's a good pop song!" Cole Delbyck of 'HuffPost' thought that the song is "fusing Gaga and Blackpink's distinct sounds into one dance-floor-primed [...] bop" and "lives up to the hype surrounding the long in the works collaboration that fans have been filling up their mentions about for years".

Louise Bruton from 'The Irish Times' found it "the perfect mix of weirded-out pop and euphoria". Stephen Daw from 'Billboard' complimented the song for managing to give every participants "equal, well-balanced time", although he noted that something was missing from the track that "could have rounded [it] out". Michael Cragg from 'The Guardian' was critical of the song, saying that it "falls disappointingly flat" and "ends up sounding like a dashed off, cheaply produced interlude". Sal Cinquemani from 'Slant Magazine' called the song "empty-calorie", while Evan Sawdey from 'PopMatters' thought it was "blissfully short" and one of the "lesser songs" of the 'Chromatica' album.

Commercial performance



"Sour Candy" debuted at number 33 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, giving Gaga her 25th top 40 hit and Blackpink their first top 40 hit. The song became Blackpink's first top-ten single in Australia, where it debuted at number 8. It also became their first top-twenty single in the UK, where it debuted at number 17. The song topped the charts in Malaysia and Singapore.

Remix



For Gaga's third remix album, 'Dawn of Chromatica' (2021), "Sour Candy" was remixed by English musician Shygirl and Guernsey producer Mura Masa. The remix retains vocal contributions of Blackpink's Ros and Lisa only, removing those of Jennie and Jisoo. This is a more lowkey, club version of the original, and includes subtle metallic whizzes. Writing for 'Gigwise', Alex Rigotti called it a "fun remix" and thought that the duo turned the song "into something more sour than candy, ridding the pop pleasantries and making it even more sultry and smoky." Joey Nolfi of 'Entertainment Weekly' described the track "a decadent interpretation of 'Sour Candy' [...] that'll make it easy to pucker up to the dance floor for a new groove on a familiar cut." Shygirl has included this version of the song in her live performances.

Accolades



Credits and personnel



Credits adapted from liner notes from 'Chromatica'.

Recording locations

* Recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California

* Mixed at Sterling Sound Studios in New York City, New York

Personnel

* Lady Gaga vocals, songwriter

* Blackpink vocals

* Burns producer, songwriter, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion

* BloodPop producer, songwriter, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion

* Madison Love songwriter, backing vocals

* Teddy Park songwriter

* Rami Yacoub songwriter

* Benjamin Rice mixer, recording engineer

* Tom Norris mixer

* E. Scott Kelly assistant mixer

* Randy Merill mastering engineer

Charts



Weekly charts



Monthly charts



Year-end charts



Certifications



See also



* List of number-one songs of 2020 (Malaysia)

* List of number-one songs of 2020 (Singapore)

References



Category:2020 songs

Category:Blackpink songs

Category:Bubblegum pop songs

Category:Dance-pop songs

Category:Deep house songs

Category:Electropop songs

Category:Interscope Records singles

Category:Lady Gaga songs

Category:Macaronic songs

Category:Mura Masa songs

Category:Number-one singles in Malaysia

Category:Number-one singles in Singapore

Category:Shygirl songs

Category:Songs written by BloodPop

Category:Songs written by Burns (musician)

Category:Songs written by Lady Gaga

Category:Songs written by Madison Love

Category:Songs written by Rami Yacoub

Category:Songs written by Teddy Park

Category:Song recordings produced by BloodPop

Category:Korean-language songs

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