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We R Who We R

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"We R Who We R"
Song
B-side"Sleazy"

"We R Who We R" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play (EP), Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's lead single on October 22, 2010. It was written by Kesha, with Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and Ammo who also produced the song. Kesha was inspired to write the song in the wake of news that bullying had led to multiple suicides of gay youth. Hence the message of the song is to inspire people to be themselves, a celebration of anyone deemed quirky or eccentric. Musically, the song is a dance-pop song that incorporates elements of electropop and trance pop and Kesha's vocals have been described as a talk-singing style.

Critical reception of "We R Who We R" has been generally positive. Although it was criticized for not being particularly different from Kesha's previous work, critics still felt that the song was a strong dance-pop number, that combined strong beats with an inspiring message filled with genuine humor. "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the seventeenth song in the chart's history to do so. "We R Who We R" also reached the top five in Canada and New Zealand as well as number one in Australia. The charting of the song gave Kesha her fifth consecutive solo top ten hit in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Writing and inspiration

"We R Who We R" was written by Kesha, along with Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Ammo and Jacob Kasher Hindlin. Kesha wrote the song in the wake of the news that bullying had led to multiple suicides of gay youth.[1] Kesha explained that she wanted the song to become a pride anthem; “I wanted to inspire people [...] to be themselves. It’s a celebration of any sort of quirks or eccentricities.”[1] She elaborated, "I was really affected by the suicides that have been happening, having been subject to very public hatred [myself]. I have absolutely no idea how these kids felt. What I'm going through is nothing compared to what they had to go through. Just know things do get better and you need to celebrate who you are. Every weird thing about you is beautiful and makes life interesting. Hopefully the song really captures that emotion of celebrating who you are."[2]

Composition

"We R Who We R"
"We R Who We R" is an upbeat dance-pop song that uses a synth-infused beat and makes use of auto-tune
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"We R Who We R" is a dance-pop song that uses a synth-heavy backing[2] and incorporates elements of trance pop and electropop it both its production and beats.[3] Opening with a synth infused backing and sounds interpreted as hand claps, Kesha opens the song proclaiming, "Hot and dangerous if you're one of us, then roll with us 'Cause we make the hipsters fall in love".[4][5] Vocally, the song follows in the footsteps of Kesha's previous singles, in which Kesha uses her "signature" talk-singing vocal style throughout the song.[6] Kesha uses layered vocals that are enhanced in some parts with the use of auto-Tune.[7]

According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "We R Who We R" is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate beat rate of 120 beats per minute. The song is written in the key of C minor and Kesha's vocal range spans from the note of E♭4 to the note of B♭4.[5] It has a basic sequence of Cm–Fm–E♭–A♭ as its chord progression.[5] The song's lyrics convey a message of pride and teen homosexuality awareness, inspired by bullying that had led to multiple suicides of gay youth.[8] Bill Lamb of About.com noted that the lyrics were representative of Kesha and her fans stories writing, "she and her fans are themselves with no apologies, and she will be honest in telling their story".[9]

Critical reception

Bill Lamb from About.com gave the song a positive review, giving the single four out of possible five stars.[8] Lamb wrote that though there was nothing particularly original here musically, "[Kesha]'s inspiration is solid, and she knows how to inspire a party and a crowd. It's time to simply give in and have fun along with [Kesha]."[8] Lamb also commended Kesha's "genuine humor" present throughout the song saying, "Only [Kesha] would really sing about looking "sick and sexy-fied," wearing hot pants in the club, and the extra credibility given by, "Jesus on my necklace."[8] Lamb ended his review writing that though her "sing-speak style" is unlikely to win any vocal awards, "We R Who We R" is solid kick off to Cannibal.[8] Robert Copsey from Digital Spy gave the single five out of five stars.[10] Copsey praised Kesha for not buckling under the harsh scrutiny she has been subject to over the length of her career; citing her boozy antics and processed vocals as examples, he wrote, "we've never disputed that she carries it all off in a fashion that's frank, fearless and unashamedly fun." Dr.Luke's production was complimented with the songs chorus being the highlight of the review.[10] Copsey ended the review calling the songs Kesha's most "poppermost effort to date".[10]

Jocelyn Vena from MTV News gave the song a positive review writing, "[Kesha] has found a chart-topping formula, combin[ing] killer beats with lyrics about super-fun parties and hot pants."[11] Vena commented that though the song isn't ground breaking and doesn't stray too far away from previous singles "Tik Tok" or Take It Off", that hardly matters as "it's another uber-fun tune about how awesome it is to dance the night away" with an "inspired [message about] the recent rash of suicides among gay youth."[11] Jason Lipshutz from Billboard gave the song a positive review praising the production of Dr. Luke and the songs chorus.[4] Lipshutsz commented on the songs similar musical composition comparing it to "Tik Tok" writing, "Instead of straying from the "TiK ToK" formula, "We R Who We R," [...] smartly maximizes Ke$ha's most appealing qualities." The review was ended concluding, "We R Who We R" demonstrates that Ke[s]ha still has mileage left in her electro-pop sound as she gears up for her next album."[4] Nitsuh Abebe from NY Magazine complimented the songs chorus and trance pop elements. Abebe wrote that the song embodied an "almost spiritual, sense of being subsumed and out-of-body."[3] Rolling Stone gave the song two and a half stars out of five, referring to the combination of Kesha and the songs themes as an "awkward fit".[12] Rolling Stone later placed the song at 50th in its Best 50 Singles of 2010.[13]

Chart performance

In the United States, "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, shifting over 280,000 digital copies.[14] As such, the song became the seventeenth song in the history of the chart to accomplish that feat. The song's charting also gave Kesha her fifth straight top ten hit in the United States.[14] The following week, the song dropped from the number one position, to position five selling another 220,000 copies.[15] After being present on the charts for five weeks, the song reached one million paid downloads, becoming the fastest selling song to reach the one million downloads mark since "Love The Way You Lie", by Rihanna and Eminem had done so.[16] During the songs ninth and tenth weeks on the chart the song surpassed the two million paid downloads mark selling 411,000 copies and 319,000 copies. With this feat the song became one of only ten songs to sell more than 300,000 copies in a single week more than once.[17][18] On Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs and Pop chart, the song reached a peak of twenty-nine and two, respectively.[19][20]

On the Canadian Hot 100, the song debuted and peaked at number two selling 21,000 digital downloads.[21] In Australia, "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the charts on the issue date entitled November 17, 2010.[22] The song remained atop the charts for two weeks before dropping to the number two position on its third week on the chart.[22] The following week the single regained the number one position and held it for one week, giving the single a total of three weeks atop the chart.[22] It has since been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 70,000 units.[23] In New Zealand, the song entered and peaked at number four on its first week on the chart.[24] The song has been been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of 15,000 units.[25] On the issue date entitled January 8, 2011, "We R Who We R" entered the UK single chart at position ninety-five.[26]

Music video

File:We R Who WE R Music video.jpg
A still from the music video showing Kesha as she stage dives off a roof top building only to be caught by party goers beneath her.

The music video for "We R Who We R" was directed by Hype Williams and was filmed in downtown Los Angeles.[27] Kesha explained the idea behind the video as well as the experience during an interview with MTV News, She explained that the video was different from her other videos noting that it was going to show a sexier side of herself, she elaborated, "This video is a little bit 'sexy time". "[For] this video, I kinda thought, 'I should be blowing things up, So we closed down downtown Los Angeles and, I mean, I'm not going to give away all of it, but I do blow some stuff up."[28]

The music video is presented as an underground party.[29] The video starts off with futuristic flashing lights, Kesha, seen wearing a ponytail and sparkled leotard, walks through the 2nd Street Tunnel with fellow party goers, the scene features explosions amongst the background and drag races.[29] Close-up beauty shots of Kesha show her wearing eyebrows complete with actual studs, and her glitter eye makeup. As cars zoom by the video the transitions into a new location at a different party. Midway through the party Kesha changes outfits, now wearing an American-flag top and pink hot pants. As the songs hook kicks in Kesha is seen standing on the edge of a building, the music stops and Kesha stage jumps backwards off of the buildings rooftop.[29] She is subsequently caught by the party goes beneath her and the music starts back. The final scenes of the video show Kesha dancing among the party goers on the rooftop smiling while singing "We R Who We R".[29]

Jocelyn Vena from MTV News noted that the video makes a departure from Kesha's previous music videos in which humor is usually present, she wrote the video shows a "darker and sexier" side of the songstress.[29] Tanner Stransky from Entertainment Weekly was positive in the review of the video.[30] Stransky commented on the songs lyrical inspiration noting the video doesn't follow the same message, not citing that as a negative but instead writing, "it doesn’t so much inspire self esteem as much as it inspires just a plain ol’, trashy, Ke$ha-ed out good time. Code word: party!".[30] The review was ended quoting a line from the song, "There’s not much to it. But do we still love it? In a direct quote from Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R,” “yes, of course we does!”".[30]

Live performances

"We Are Who We R" was performed for the first time on the Australian X Factor on November 14, 2010.[31] Prior to the performance minor controversy was sparked when Kesha's male background dancers were seen wearing red armbands. The armbands were subsequently removed due to authorization by Kesha fearing they were too similar to the likes of the swastikas symbol.[31] A company representative from Sony issued the following statement regarding the incident, "The costumes that had been supplied locally had the dancers wearing red armbands and [Kesha] was concerned that they looked like Nazi uniforms, [She] requested they be removed as this was simply not part of the brief."[31]

"We R Who We R" was performed for the first time in North America live on November 21, 2010 at the 2010 American Music Awards.[32] The performance started off with Kesha opening with previous single, "Take It Off" while playing on the keyboard, soon after transitioning into "We R Who We R". The performance featured Kesha wearing a mirrored body suit and a black leather jacket.[32] Male background dancers surrounded the stage throughout the performance with confetti falling from the ceiling towards the song's synth filled finale. As the performance ended Kesha played riffs on a guitar, then turning the guitar around, revealed black writing with the word "hate" with a slash through it.[32] She then proceeded to smash the guitar into pieces ending the performance.[32]

Track listing

Personnel

Source:[36]

Charts, certifications and precession

Chart precession and succession

Order of precedence
Preceded by
"Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna
"The Time (Dirty Bit) by The Black Eyed Peas
 Australian Singles Chart number-one single
November 8, 2010 – November 22, 2010
November 29, 2010 		Succeeded by
"The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas
"The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas
Preceded by U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
November 13, 2010 		Succeeded by

Release history

Region Date Format
Australia[56] October 22, 2010 Digital download
Austria[57]
Belgium[58]
Canada[59]
Germany[60]
Ireland[33]
Italy[61]
Netherlands[62]
New Zealand[63]
Sweden[64]
Switzerland[65]
United States[66]
United Kingdom[35] January 23, 2011
Germany[34] Januar 7, 2011 CD single

References

  1. ^ a b Stransky, Tanner (2010-10-14). "Kesha talks to EW about upcoming album 'Cannibal': 'It's fun as s--!'". Music Mix. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-10-14. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  2. ^ a b Doyle, Patrick (2010-10-15). "Kesha Says New Single Addresses Teen Suicides". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  3. ^ a b Abebe, Nitsuh (2010-12-03). "Party Down: Katy Perry on America's Glorious Past, Kesha on Our Postapocalyptic Future". NY Mag. New York Media. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  4. ^ a b c Lipshutz, Jason (2010-11-15). "Kesha, "We R Who We R"". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  5. ^ a b c "Kesha, 'We R Who We R' – Composition Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (2010-10-15). "Kesha's raucous new single, 'We R Who We R':Listen here". Music Mix. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-10-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ Brockington,Ryan (2010-11-12). "Kesha 'Blows'". New York Post. NYP Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
  8. ^ a b c d e Lamb, Bill. "Kesha - "We R Who We R"". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-10-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  9. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Kesha - Cannibal. Solid Effort Whether You Love Or Hate Kesha". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-12-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ a b c Copsey, Robert (2010-11-15). "Kesha: 'We R Who We R'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 2010-11-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  11. ^ a b Vena, Jocelyn (2010-10-15). "Kesha Goes 'Hard' On New Single, 'We R Who We R' Singer keeps the party going with first single from Cannibal". MTV News. MTV Networks (Viacom). Retrieved 2010-10-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  12. ^ Dolan, Jon (2010-11-03). "Kesha "We R Who We R" review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  13. ^ "Best Singles of 2010". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  14. ^ a b Lamb, Bill (2010-11-03). "Kesha's "We R Who We R" To Debut At #1 on Billboard Hot 100". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-11-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  15. ^ Grein, Paul (2010-11-10). "Week Ending Nov. 7, 2010: Rihanna Ties Rihanna". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  16. ^ Grein, Paul (2010-12-01). "Week Ending Nov. 28, 2010: The King And Queen Of Hip-Hop". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  17. ^ Grein, Paul (2010-12-29). "Week Ending Dec. 26, 2009: What Santa Brought". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  18. ^ Grein, Paul (2011-01-05). "Week Ending Jan. 2, 2011: This Is No Bomb". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
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  20. ^ a b "Ke$ha Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
  21. ^ "Nielsen Music: Canadian Update (November 5, 2010)". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
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  25. ^ a b "January 16, 2011: Radio Scope". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
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  27. ^ Goldner, Jonathan (2010-11-02). "Kesha's 'We R Who We R' Video: Check Out An On-Set Photo!"". MTV Networks. (MTV). Retrieved 2010-11-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  28. ^ Montgomery, James (2010-11-15). "Kesha 'Blows Some Stuff Up' For 'We R Who We R' Video Good-time girl says video for her first Cannibal single is 'a little bit sexy time.'". MTV News. MTV Networks (Viacom). Retrieved 2010-11-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  29. ^ a b c d e Vena, Jocelyn (2010-12-02). "Kesha's 'We R Who We R' Video Is Hot And Dangerous, Cannibal singer throws sexy, dark dance party in just-released clip". MTV News. MTV Networks (Viacom). Retrieved 2010-12-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  30. ^ a b c Stransky, Tanner (2010-12-02). "Kesha's 'We R Who We R' music video: Hot and Dangerous, indeed". Music Mix. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-12-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  31. ^ a b c Christie, Joel (2010-11-17). "Ke$ha calls halt to 'Nazi' dancewear". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney: News Limited. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  32. ^ a b c d Vena, Jocelyn (2010-11-21). "Kesha Proclaims 'We R Who We R' At AMAs Kesha destroys hate with her American Music Awards performance". MTV News. MTV Networks (Viacom). Retrieved 2010-11-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  33. ^ a b "We R Who We R - Single (Ireland)". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  34. ^ a b "We R Who We R – Single". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  35. ^ a b "We R Who We R - Single (United Kingdom)(Pre-order)". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  36. ^ (Media notes). {{cite AV media notes}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Format= ignored (|format= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Type= ignored (|type= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "Ke$ha – We R Who We R" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  38. ^ "Ke$ha – We R Who We R" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
  39. ^ "Ke$ha – We R Who We R" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
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  57. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (Austria)". iTunes Store (in German). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  58. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (Belgium)". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  59. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (Canada)". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  60. ^ "We R Who We R: Ke$ha: Amazon.de: MP3-Downloads". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
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  62. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (Netherlands)". iTunes Store (in Dutch). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  63. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (New Zealand)". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  64. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (Sweden)". iTunes Store (in Swedish). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  65. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (Switzerland)". iTunes Store (in German). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  66. ^ "We R Who We R - Single (United States)". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
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