"
Hollaback Girl" is a song by American recording artist
Gwen StefaniGwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
from her debut solo album,
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Gwen Stefani, released in the United States on November 23, 2004 by Interscope Records...
(2004). As part of Stefani's vision of creating "a silly
danceDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
record", the song is influenced by 1980s dance and
pop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The song was written by Stefani,
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
, and
Chad HugoCharles Edward Hugo is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as one half of the music production and writing duo The Neptunes and as a member of the funk/rock band N.E.R.D. He is a saxophonist, pianist and guitarist...
as a response to
Courtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
's statement that Stefani was a "cheerleader" in an interview with
SeventeenSeventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
magazine.
The song was released as the album's third
singleIn music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in early 2005 and was one of the year's most popular songs, peaking inside the top ten on the majority of the charts it entered. It reached number one in Australia and the United States, where it became the first
digital downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
to sell one million copies. "Hollaback Girl" received several award nominations, including
Best Female Pop Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
and
Record of the YearThe Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
at the 48th Grammy Awards, yet it divided pop music critics. The CD single bears a "
Parental Advisory: Explicit ContentParental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...
" label, although the album does not.
Writing and inspiration
Stefani had worked with
The NeptunesThe Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
(
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
and
Chad HugoCharles Edward Hugo is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as one half of the music production and writing duo The Neptunes and as a member of the funk/rock band N.E.R.D. He is a saxophonist, pianist and guitarist...
) during the early stages of writing
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.; however, a case of
writer's blockWriter's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
resulted in reportedly uninspired collaborations. As the album neared completion, Stefani regained her confidence and booked another session with The Neptunes. Stefani flew to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to meet up with Williams, and after finishing two songs within a week, Stefani ended the session early and prepared to return home. A few minutes later, Williams called her back into the studio to write another song. Stefani said, "I was tired. I wanted to go home, but he was like, 'Don't leave yet.'"
When she returned to the studio, Williams began to play Stefani his first solo album, and she became envious. Excited by his material, she decided to write another song with Williams, despite her opinion that the album already contained far too many tracks.
To search for inspiration, Stefani and Williams had a lengthy discussion in which Stefani said 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 that
grungeGrunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
musician
Courtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
had made about her in an interview with
teen magazineTeen magazines are magazines aimed at female teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts. Magazines targeting teenage boys are not often called teen...
Seventeen.
Stefani responded in the March 2005 issue of the
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
:
Stefani believed that some of the fans of
No DoubtNo Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
would be upset with her solo effort, commenting, "[They] were probably like, 'Why is she doing this record? She's going to ruin everything'." She revealed that she too did not know why she was recording a solo album. For the remainder of the evening, Stefani and Williams incorporated this inspiration into the lyrics that eventually became "Hollaback Girl". The two 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. On its creation, Stefani said, "To me, it is the freshest attitude song I've heard in so long." Williams was pleased with the song, commenting, "Gwen is like the girl in high school who just had her own style."
Because Stefani never disclosed the song title's meaning, reviewers came up with various interpretations. In a satirical, line-by-line analysis of the song's lyrics,
OC WeeklyOC Weekly, a sister publication of both LA Weekly and The Village Voice, is a free, left-wing weekly paper distributed in Orange County, California and also in Long Beach....
critic Greg Stacy humorously 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". The most commonly accepted meaning is that a hollaback girl responds to a confrontation with words but that Stefani would rather take initiative and "step it up". However, the term can be traced to American construction workers of the 1940s used to denigrate females that would positively respond to their "catcalls" or hollers.
Music and structure
"Hollaback Girl" is a moderately fast song, with a
tempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 110 beats per minute, and it is played in the
keyIn music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of
B majorIn music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
. It combines
old school hip hopOld school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
with
dance musicDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, and—like the majority of
pop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
—is set in
common timeThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. The main
chord patternA chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
of the song alternates between B major and D
"
Hollaback Girl" is a song by American recording artist
Gwen StefaniGwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
from her debut solo album,
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Gwen Stefani, released in the United States on November 23, 2004 by Interscope Records...
(2004). As part of Stefani's vision of creating "a silly
danceDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
record", the song is influenced by 1980s dance and
pop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The song was written by Stefani,
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
, and
Chad HugoCharles Edward Hugo is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as one half of the music production and writing duo The Neptunes and as a member of the funk/rock band N.E.R.D. He is a saxophonist, pianist and guitarist...
as a response to
Courtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
's statement that Stefani was a "cheerleader" in an interview with
SeventeenSeventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
magazine.
The song was released as the album's third
singleIn music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in early 2005 and was one of the year's most popular songs, peaking inside the top ten on the majority of the charts it entered. It reached number one in Australia and the United States, where it became the first
digital downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
to sell one million copies. "Hollaback Girl" received several award nominations, including
Best Female Pop Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
and
Record of the YearThe Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
at the 48th Grammy Awards, yet it divided pop music critics. The CD single bears a "
Parental Advisory: Explicit ContentParental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...
" label, although the album does not.
Writing and inspiration
Stefani had worked with
The NeptunesThe Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
(
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
and
Chad HugoCharles Edward Hugo is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as one half of the music production and writing duo The Neptunes and as a member of the funk/rock band N.E.R.D. He is a saxophonist, pianist and guitarist...
) during the early stages of writing
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.; however, a case of
writer's blockWriter's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
resulted in reportedly uninspired collaborations. As the album neared completion, Stefani regained her confidence and booked another session with The Neptunes. Stefani flew to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to meet up with Williams, and after finishing two songs within a week, Stefani ended the session early and prepared to return home. A few minutes later, Williams called her back into the studio to write another song. Stefani said, "I was tired. I wanted to go home, but he was like, 'Don't leave yet.'"
When she returned to the studio, Williams began to play Stefani his first solo album, and she became envious. Excited by his material, she decided to write another song with Williams, despite her opinion that the album already contained far too many tracks.
To search for inspiration, Stefani and Williams had a lengthy discussion in which Stefani said 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 that
grungeGrunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
musician
Courtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
had made about her in an interview with
teen magazineTeen magazines are magazines aimed at female teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts. Magazines targeting teenage boys are not often called teen...
Seventeen.
{{blockquote|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.}}
Stefani responded in the March 2005 issue of the
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
:
{{blockquote|Y'know someone one time called me a cheerleader, negatively, and I've never been a cheerleader. So I was, like, "OK, fuck you. You want me to be a cheerleader? Well, I will be one then. And I'll rule the whole world, just you watch me."}}
Stefani believed that some of the fans of
No DoubtNo Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
would be upset with her solo effort, commenting, "[They] were probably like, 'Why is she doing this record? She's going to ruin everything'." She revealed that she too did not know why she was recording a solo album. For the remainder of the evening, Stefani and Williams incorporated this inspiration into the lyrics that eventually became "Hollaback Girl". The two 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. On its creation, Stefani said, "To me, it is the freshest attitude song I've heard in so long." Williams was pleased with the song, commenting, "Gwen is like the girl in high school who just had her own style."
Because Stefani never disclosed the song title's meaning, reviewers came up with various interpretations. In a satirical, line-by-line analysis of the song's lyrics,
OC WeeklyOC Weekly, a sister publication of both LA Weekly and The Village Voice, is a free, left-wing weekly paper distributed in Orange County, California and also in Long Beach....
critic Greg Stacy humorously 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". The most commonly accepted meaning is that a hollaback girl responds to a confrontation with words but that Stefani would rather take initiative and "step it up". However, the term can be traced to American construction workers of the 1940s used to denigrate females that would positively respond to their "catcalls" or hollers.
Music and structure
"Hollaback Girl" is a moderately fast song, with a
tempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 110 beats per minute, and it is played in the
keyIn music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of
B majorIn music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
. It combines
old school hip hopOld school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
with
dance musicDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, and—like the majority of
pop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
—is set in
common timeThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. The main
chord patternA chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
of the song alternates between B major and D
"
Hollaback Girl" is a song by American recording artist
Gwen StefaniGwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
from her debut solo album,
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Gwen Stefani, released in the United States on November 23, 2004 by Interscope Records...
(2004). As part of Stefani's vision of creating "a silly
danceDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
record", the song is influenced by 1980s dance and
pop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The song was written by Stefani,
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
, and
Chad HugoCharles Edward Hugo is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as one half of the music production and writing duo The Neptunes and as a member of the funk/rock band N.E.R.D. He is a saxophonist, pianist and guitarist...
as a response to
Courtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
's statement that Stefani was a "cheerleader" in an interview with
SeventeenSeventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
magazine.
The song was released as the album's third
singleIn music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in early 2005 and was one of the year's most popular songs, peaking inside the top ten on the majority of the charts it entered. It reached number one in Australia and the United States, where it became the first
digital downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
to sell one million copies. "Hollaback Girl" received several award nominations, including
Best Female Pop Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
and
Record of the YearThe Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
at the 48th Grammy Awards, yet it divided pop music critics. The CD single bears a "
Parental Advisory: Explicit ContentParental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...
" label, although the album does not.
Writing and inspiration
Stefani had worked with
The NeptunesThe Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
(
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
and
Chad HugoCharles Edward Hugo is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as one half of the music production and writing duo The Neptunes and as a member of the funk/rock band N.E.R.D. He is a saxophonist, pianist and guitarist...
) during the early stages of writing
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.; however, a case of
writer's blockWriter's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
resulted in reportedly uninspired collaborations. As the album neared completion, Stefani regained her confidence and booked another session with The Neptunes. Stefani flew to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to meet up with Williams, and after finishing two songs within a week, Stefani ended the session early and prepared to return home. A few minutes later, Williams called her back into the studio to write another song. Stefani said, "I was tired. I wanted to go home, but he was like, 'Don't leave yet.'"
When she returned to the studio, Williams began to play Stefani his first solo album, and she became envious. Excited by his material, she decided to write another song with Williams, despite her opinion that the album already contained far too many tracks.
To search for inspiration, Stefani and Williams had a lengthy discussion in which Stefani said 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 that
grungeGrunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
musician
Courtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
had made about her in an interview with
teen magazineTeen magazines are magazines aimed at female teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts. Magazines targeting teenage boys are not often called teen...
Seventeen.
{{blockquote|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.}}
Stefani responded in the March 2005 issue of the
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
:
{{blockquote|Y'know someone one time called me a cheerleader, negatively, and I've never been a cheerleader. So I was, like, "OK, fuck you. You want me to be a cheerleader? Well, I will be one then. And I'll rule the whole world, just you watch me."}}
Stefani believed that some of the fans of
No DoubtNo Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
would be upset with her solo effort, commenting, "[They] were probably like, 'Why is she doing this record? She's going to ruin everything'." She revealed that she too did not know why she was recording a solo album. For the remainder of the evening, Stefani and Williams incorporated this inspiration into the lyrics that eventually became "Hollaback Girl". The two 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. On its creation, Stefani said, "To me, it is the freshest attitude song I've heard in so long." Williams was pleased with the song, commenting, "Gwen is like the girl in high school who just had her own style."
Because Stefani never disclosed the song title's meaning, reviewers came up with various interpretations. In a satirical, line-by-line analysis of the song's lyrics,
OC WeeklyOC Weekly, a sister publication of both LA Weekly and The Village Voice, is a free, left-wing weekly paper distributed in Orange County, California and also in Long Beach....
critic Greg Stacy humorously 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". The most commonly accepted meaning is that a hollaback girl responds to a confrontation with words but that Stefani would rather take initiative and "step it up". However, the term can be traced to American construction workers of the 1940s used to denigrate females that would positively respond to their "catcalls" or hollers.
Music and structure
"Hollaback Girl" is a moderately fast song, with a
tempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 110 beats per minute, and it is played in the
keyIn music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of
B majorIn music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
. It combines
old school hip hopOld school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
with
dance musicDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, and—like the majority of
pop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
—is set in
common timeThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. The main
chord patternA chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
of the song alternates between B major and D{{music
triadsIn music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:* the Root...
. Most of the harmonic content of the song revolves around a two-chord alternation which music theorists may regard as an L (leading tone) transformation, in which the root of the major chord is lowered by a half-step to form a second inversion minor chord on the third scale degree (see image to right). This stepwise motion between B and A{{music|sharp}} highlights this chord change. It is in
verse-chorus formVerse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
with a
bridgeIn music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
before the fourth and final
chorusA refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
. The song features sparse instrumentation, primarily a minimal
beatThe beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
produced by
drum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
. A
guitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
plays the song's
riffThe Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, a six-note pattern as Stefani repeats "this my shit" during the chorus, and a brass section joins during the second chorus. In part because of its
cheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
motifIn music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
, it drew comparisons to
Toni BasilAntonia Christina Basilotta , better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.-Early life:Basil was born Antonia Christina...
's 1982 song "
Mickey"Mickey" is a 1982 U.S. new wave song recorded by singer and choreographer Toni Basil. Written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn as "Kitty", it was first recorded by UK popular music group Racey during 1979...
".
Critical reception
"Hollaback Girl" had a polarizing effect on music critics.
Yahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's Jennifer Nine described it as a "stomping, stripped-back" track, and
Stephen Thomas ErlewineStephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic noted that it had the "thumping, minimal beats" of The Neptunes. Richard Smirke of
PlaylouderPlaylouder is a digital music and media company. It is a music site which provides news, reviews, and other related content. It also claims to be the world's first Music Service Provider or MSP — a broadband, Internet Service Provider that bundles access to music content with broadband...
called it "a trademark Neptunes hip-hop stomp." In his review of
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.,
Rob SheffieldRob Sheffield is an American music journalist and author. He is currently a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, writing music reviews and essays on pop culture. Prior to that, he was a contributing editor at Blender before the print version of the magazine folded in 2009, and at Spin...
of
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the song a positive review, writing that "Stefani's gum-snapping sass brings out the beast in her beatmasters, especially the Neptunes in 'Hollaback Girl'."
BlenderBlender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
listed it as the eleventh best song of 2005, and the song tied with
Damian MarleyDamian "Jr. Gong" Marley is a Jamaican reggae artist who has won three Grammy awards. Damian is the youngest son of Bob Marley....
's "Welcome to Jamrock" for number five on the 2005
Pazz & JopThe Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by
Robert ChristgauRobert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
.
On the other hand, Jason Damas, in a review for
PopMattersPopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
, felt that the song sounds "almost exactly like
Dizzee RascalDylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
", 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". Eric Greenwood of Drawer B called the song "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-pomsA pom-pon is a fluffy, decorative ball or tuft. Pom-pons may come in many colors, sizes, and varieties and are made from a wide array of materials, including wool, cotton, paper, plastic, and occasionally feathers....
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." Nick Sylvester of
Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
also criticized the track, referring to it as a "
QueenQueen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
pastiche [...] which has about as much club potential as a 13-year old with a milk moustache and his dad's ID". However, despite this initial review, Pitchfork Media would later place the track at number thirty-five on its list of the Top 50 Singles of 2005, and at number 180 on its list of The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s.
MaximMaxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
was unimpressed with the song, and in its October 2005 issue, published a list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs Ever" with "Hollaback Girl" in first place. In 2010, Matthew Wilkening of
AOL RadioAOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...
ranked the song at number sixteen on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, commenting that "[o]ften, Gwen puts a twist on a musical idea [from
Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
] and nails it" with "
Rich Girl"Rich Girl" is a song by American recording artist Gwen Stefani from her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. . Produced by Dr. Dre, the track features rapper Eve, and is a remake of Louchie Lou & Michie One's 1993 song of the same name, which was in turn an adaptation of the Fiddler on the...
", while "Hollaback Girl" "[r]eminds us [of] what we hated about high school."
"Hollaback Girl" was mocked on an episode of the
animated television seriesA cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
titled "
Deep Throats"Deep Throats" is the twenty-third episode of season four of the television series Family Guy. It was written by Alex Borstein and directed by Greg Colton. Appalled at parking charges introduced by Mayor West, Brian decides to expose the corruption of the Mayor, despite the prospect of potentially...
"; after watching a
VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
special about Stefani,
Brian Griffin Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
states, "I don't know what a Hollaback Girl is. All I know is that I want her dead." The song was mocked again in another episode of
Family Guy, this time in the guise of a parody of the feature film
The Shawshank RedemptionThe Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman....
. In the film, Red (played by
Morgan FreemanMorgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
), upon hearing the duettino "Sull'aria" (from Mozart's
The Marriage of FigaroLe nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
) for the first time, states that he has no idea what the women are singing about, but imagines it must be something beautiful. In the parody,
ClevelandCleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
(playing the role of Red) hears "Hollaback Girl" and likewise claims to have no idea what Stefani is singing about—even though the lyrics are not in a foreign language (as is the issue in the film). Cleveland imagines it is "a foul, disease-ridden thing, that wears too much makeup to cover up the fact that it's a 47 year-old fish-dog".
The beginning of the song was used at the intro music for
Mai's Blog, a series of mock-vlog entries by self-centred, mean-spirited Mai, broadcasted as a segment of the fourth season of the Israeli satire show
Eretz NehederetEretz Nehederet is a satirical Israeli television show, which made its debut on November 7, 2003. It features satirical references to current affairs of the past week through parodies of the people involved, as well as the thoughts of recurring characters. The program is one of the most watched...
.
The song's bridge, in which Stefani exclaims "This shit is bananas" and then proceeds to spell
bananas, was later parodied in an episode of the
claymationClay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
television show
Celebrity DeathmatchCelebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...
, in which Stefani spells out
bananas,
broccoliBroccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....
, and
kumquatCumquats or kumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, either forming the genus Fortunella, or placed within Citrus sensu lato...
during an interview with Tally Wong.
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 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at number eighty-two on the issue dated April 2, 2005, and within six weeks of its release, it had reached the top of the chart, making it the fastest-rising single to reach the top in 2005; it also became Stefani's first US 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. On the 2005 year-end chart, the song was the second most successful single, beaten by
Mariah CareyMariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's "We Belong Together".
"Hollaback Girl" held the record for most US radio airplays in one week, with 9,582 plays, and maintained this feat for over a year before
ShakiraShakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
and
Wyclef JeanWyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
's "
Hips Don't Lie"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
" overtook the position. It peaked at number one on the
Billboard Pop 100The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
for eight weeks, and was a small success in the dance clubs, peaking at number fifteen on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song was a
crossoverCrossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
success, and reached number four on the
Rhythmic Top 40The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks...
and number eight on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart.
The song was noted for having a large number of digital downloads, becoming the first single to sell more digital downloads than CDs. In October 2005, "Hollaback Girl" was the first single to ever sell one million digital downloads and later went on to sell a total of 1.2 million downloads; it was certified quintuple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of AmericaThe Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. Due to its downloads, it reached number one on both digital sales charts concurrently, and it topped the
Hot Digital SongsThe Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
year-end chart.
"Hollaback Girl" was successful in Canada, where the song debuted at number twelve on the
Canadian Singles ChartThe Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
; however, it fell from there and was unable to reach a higher position. It remained in the top fifty for six months. However,
Graham HendersonGraham Henderson is a Canadian lawyer and the president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, a lobby group for a number of major record labels in Canada....
, president of the
Canadian Recording Industry AssociationMusic Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
, later argued that based on Canada's population relative to the US, the single should have sold around 120,000 copies and that the comparatively lower sales of 25,000 were a sign that the Canadian copyright law should be tightened to discourage non-commercial
peer-to-peer file sharingP2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...
. Columnist
Michael GeistMichael Allen Geist is a Canadian academic, and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. Geist was educated at the University of Western Ontario where he received his Bachelors of Laws before going on to get his Masters of Laws at both Osgoode Hall Law...
disputed the comparison, arguing that the Canadian online music market was still developing.
In the rest of the world, reaction to "Hollaback Girl" was generally positive, though not as overwhelming as in North America. It was released in Australia on May 23, 2005, debuting at number one, and in Europe on June 6, 2005, debuting at number twenty-two and eventually reaching number five on the European Hot 100 Singles. In the United Kingdom, however, "Hollaback Girl" did not perform as well as Stefani's previous releases. The song's predecessors, "
What You Waiting For?"What You Waiting For?" is a song by American recording artist Gwen Stefani from her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. . Written by Stefani and Linda Perry, the song is the album's opening track, and was released as its lead single...
" and "
Rich Girl"Rich Girl" is a song by American recording artist Gwen Stefani from her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. . Produced by Dr. Dre, the track features rapper Eve, and is a remake of Louchie Lou & Michie One's 1993 song of the same name, which was in turn an adaptation of the Fiddler on the...
", had both reached number four, while "Hollaback Girl" debuted at number eight, and stalled at the same position the following week. Although its UK success was limited, it remained in the top forty for an additional eleven weeks and outsold "Rich Girl". The single was largely successful across Europe, reaching the top five in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Ireland, and the top ten in Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Music video
The
music videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was directed by
Paul HunterPaul Hunter is a music video director known for his high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular music singles. He has directed over 100 music videos, many television advertisements and was nominated for an Emmy for Nike's Freestyle commercial...
and filmed in the Van Nuys and Reseda neighborhoods of
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The video opens with a scene of Stefani spending time with her Harajuku Girls, when a crowd of students appears. Stefani and the Harajuku Girls then drive down Sherman Way past Magnolia Science Academy to
Birmingham High SchoolBirmingham Community Charter High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States...
in a 1961
Chevrolet ImpalaThe Chevrolet Impala is a full-size automobile built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced for the 1958 model year. Deriving its name from the southern African antelope, Chevrolet's most expensive passenger model through 1965 had become the best-selling automobile in the United...
, accompanied by the crowd. Stefani and the group cause a commotion when they disrupt a
footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game by walking onto the field and when they go to a
99 Cents Only Store99 Cents Only Stores is a price-point retailer chain based in Commerce, California. The store offers products at $0.9999 or less. Founded by David Gold in 1982, most of the stores are located in Southern California, with others in Nevada, Arizona and Texas...
and throw
cerealA breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
and other food products down an aisle. Throughout the video, there are intercut sequences of
choreographedChoreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
dancing filmed in a
sound stageIn common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
, intended to represent Stefani's
imaginationImagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
. Stefani and the Harajuku Girls are outfitted in cheerleading uniforms, accompanied by several Californian spirit groups: the Orange Crush All Stars, a
cheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
squad from
Orange CountyOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
; a
marching bandMarching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
from
Fountain Valley High SchoolFountain Valley High School is a public high school located in Fountain Valley, California. It was established in 1966 and is a part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District...
in
Fountain ValleyFountain Valley is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 55,313 at the 2010 census. A classic bedroom community, Fountain Valley is a middle-class residential area.- History :...
; a
pep flagPep Flags, also known as flaggies, short flags, small flags, or twirl flags is the performing art of twirling one or two flag as part of a choreographed routine. In recent years, some schools have implemented a third and even fourth flag in routines. This performing art is mainly prominent in...
team named the Carson High School Flaggies from
CarsonCarson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
; and a drill team from Stephen M. White Middle School in Carson. To visualize the song's bridge, the Harajuku Girls spell the word "bananas" with
cue cardCue cards, also known as note cards or idiot cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television productions where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the audience...
s. The video ends with a close-up
frameIn filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a film frame or video frame is one of the many still images which compose the complete moving picture...
of Stefani with her arms in the air.
The Chevy Impala convertible from the video includes a painting by artist J. Martin. The design includes Stefani as seen on the album cover of
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. with the words "Hollaback Girl" in
calligraphyCalligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
. Eventually, the car was sold on
eBayeBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. Pharrell Williams, one of the song's co-producers, makes a
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
. The complete version of "Hollaback Girl" featured in the music video was released commercially through CD singles and digital downloads, and some include
remixA remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es by Diplo and
Tony KanalTony Kanal is an English musician, record producer and songwriter. Kanal is the bassist for the American rock band No Doubt...
.
The video debuted on March 21, 2005 and proved successful on video chart programs. It debuted on
MTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's
Total Request LiveTotal Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
on March 31 at number ten and remained on the program for a total of fifty days, becoming what
Rolling Stone called "a staple of MTV's
TRL". The video reached the top of the chart and was retired at number four on June 23, becoming Stefani's first video to retire. It also reached the top of
MuchMusicMuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
's
CountdownThe MuchMusic Top 30 Countdown is a ninety-minute music video program block, that airs on Canadian music television station MuchMusic. Countdown is one of the oldest programs that continues to be aired on Much Music since its debut...
three months after its debut, and remained there for two weeks.
VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
listed the video at number five on its Top 40 Videos of 2005, and at the
2005 MTV Video Music AwardsThe 2005 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2005, honoring the best music videos from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. The show was hosted by Diddy at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida...
, the video received four nominations, but only won the award for
Best ChoreographyThe following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Choreography in a Video....
. Stefani did not attend the
2006 MTV Video Music AwardsThe 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
, prompting rumors that she was protesting her lack of nominations the previous year, her multiple losses to
Kelly ClarksonKelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
, and her not having been asked to perform. Stefani denied the rumors, responding, "the only reason I am not attending the MTV Video Music Awards is because I will be recording and spending time with my family."
Track listings
{{Listen|filename=Stefani-2004-hollaback-girl.ogg|title="Hollaback Girl"|description=|format=
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|filename2=HollabackGirlDancehollabackRemix.ogg|title2="Hollaback Girl (Dancehollaback Remix)"|description2=Elan's appearance on the remix includes a verse directed at Courtney Love.|format2=
OggOgg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...
}}
- "Hollaback Girl" (Album Version) – 3:20
- "Hollaback Girl" (Hollatronix Remix by Diplo) – 2:17
- "Hollaback Girl" (Album Version) – 3:20
- "Hollaback Girl" (Hollatronix Remix by Diplo) – 2:17
- "Hollaback Girl" (Instrumental) – 3:20
- "Hollaback Girl" (Video) – 3:20
- A1. "Hollaback Girl" (Dancehollaback Remix featuring Elan
Elan Atias is an American Jewish, singer/songwriter, reggae singer. Atias performed with The Wailers, which had been the backing band for Bob Marley, on and off from 1997 to 2010. He was signed to London Records under the WMG umbrella in January 2000. He was featured on the Sex and the City...
) – 6:53
- A2. "Hollaback Girl" (Dancehollaback Remix Clean featuring Elan) – 6:52
- A3. "Hollaback Girl" (Dancehollaback Remix Radio featuring Elan) – 4:02
- B1. "Hollaback Girl" (Hollatronic Remix) – 2:43
- B2. "Hollaback Girl" (Dancehollaback Remix Instrumental) – 6:50
- B3. "Hollaback Girl" (Dancehollaback Remix A Capppella) – 6:19
Remixes
Diplo made a remix for the track after
M.I.A.Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
turned down an offer to produce one.
Tony KanalTony Kanal is an English musician, record producer and songwriter. Kanal is the bassist for the American rock band No Doubt...
, fellow
No DoubtNo Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
member, produced a remix titled the Dancehollaback Remix. The track features
reggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singer
Elan AtiasElan Atias is an American Jewish, singer/songwriter, reggae singer. Atias performed with The Wailers, which had been the backing band for Bob Marley, on and off from 1997 to 2010. He was signed to London Records under the WMG umbrella in January 2000. He was featured on the Sex and the City...
, whose debut album Kanal produced, and appears as a single on
iTunesThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
, on the CD single for "Cool", and on the bonus CD of the deluxe edition of
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Stefani later requested to contribute vocals on "I Wanna Yell" from Atias's debut album
Together as One, and was featured on his song "Allnighter".
Gabe SaportaGabriel Eduardo "Gabe" Saporta is the lead singer and primary creative force behind the synthpop band Cobra Starship. He was previously the lead singer, bassist, and lyricist for the pop punk band Midtown....
of
Cobra StarshipCobra Starship is an American synthpop band created by former Midtown bassist and lead vocalist Gabe Saporta in 2003 in New York City, New York...
also recorded a parody of this song titled "Hollaback Boy".
Personnel
- Gwen Stefani – lead vocals
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Andrew Coleman – engineer
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Jason Finkel – assistant engineer
- The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
– producersA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Phil Tan
Phil Tan is an Atlanta, GA-based music/audio engineer.He is a 3-time Grammy Award recipient, as mixing engineer for Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" , Ludacris' "Release Therapy" and Rihanna's "Only Girl " .Among the artists on Tan's list of credits: Jill Scott, Jennifer...
– mixingIn audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
Source:
Weekly charts
| Chart (2005) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Singles Chart The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
|
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...
|
5 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...
(Flanders) |
6 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization...
(Wallonia) |
16 |
| Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
|
12 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl...
|
5 |
| Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...
|
8 |
| European Hot 100 Singles |
5 |
| Finnish Singles Chart |
8 |
| French Singles Chart The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...
|
17 |
| German Singles Chart The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
|
3 |
| Hungarian Airplay Chart Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....
|
23 |
| Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
|
4 |
| Italian Singles Chart The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy....
|
6 |
New Zealand Singles ChartThe Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
|
3 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...
|
6 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....
|
7 |
| Swiss Singles Chart The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...
|
6 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|
8 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
1 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
|
8 |
| US Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
|
1 |
| US Hot Dance Club Play |
15 |
{{col-2}}
Certifications
| Country |
Certification |
| Australia The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
|
Platinum |
New ZealandThe Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
|
Gold |
United StatesThe Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
|
Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2005) |
Position |
| Australian Singles Chart |
21 |
| Austrian Singles Chart |
39 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) |
44 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia) |
67 |
| Dutch Top 40 |
54 |
| European Hot 100 Singles |
44 |
| German Singles Chart |
41 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart -Chart:-External links:*...
|
19 |
| Swedish Singles Chart |
29 |
| Swiss Singles Chart |
34 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
2 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–09) |
Position |
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
41 |
{{col-end}}
Release history
| Country |
Date |
Label |
Format |
| Australia |
March 15, 2005 |
Universal MusicUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
|
CD single, digital download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
|
| New Zealand |
| Canada |
April 5, 2005 |
| United States |
Interscope RecordsInterscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
|
| Ireland |
June 21, 2005 |
Polydor Records Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
|
| United Kingdom |
| Continental Europe |
July 2, 2005 |
Universal Music |
See also
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2005 (U.S.)
- List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2005 (U.S.)
- List of number-one singles of 2005 (Australia)
External links
{{Gwen Stefani}}
{{featured article}}