Juice (Lizzo song)

"Juice" is a song recorded by American singer and rapper Lizzo. It was released on January 4, 2019, by Atlantic Records as the lead single from her third and debut major-label studio album, Cuz I Love You.^[4] The single was written by Lizzo, Theron Thomas, Sam Sumser, Sean Small and Ricky Reed; the latter also handled the song's production. Musically, it is a retro-inspired funk and funk-pop song that is based on a throwback groove. Lyrically, the song discusses self-love, and has been described as a self-esteem anthem.

"Juice"
Single by Lizzo
from the album Cuz I Love You
Released	January 4, 2019 (2019-01-04)
Genre	Funk-pop[1] hip hop[2] new wave[3]
Length	3:15
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Melissa Jefferson Eric Frederic Theron Thomas Sam Sumser Sean Small
Producer(s)	Ricky Reed Nate Mercereau (add.)
Lizzo singles chronology
"Boys" (2018) "Juice" (2019) "Blame It on Your Love" (2019)
Music video
"Juice" on YouTube

The song received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom referred to the song as Lizzo's best. Commercially, the single entered component R&B charts in the United States, while also reaching the top twenty in Scotland. The track is certified Double Platinum in the US and Gold or Platinum in five additional countries. A music video was released alongside the single, which contains several 1980s pop culture references. To promote the single, Lizzo performed the song on several shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The song is one of the tracks on the American version of Now That's What I Call Music! 71, released on August 2, 2019. In September 2019, the song spawned an internet meme after Polygon writer Jeff Ramos cut a trailer for House House's Untitled Goose Game using the song as its anthem.^[5][6][7] It was covered by Beth Ditto on the country music drama series Monarch.^[8]

Composition

"Juice" is a "bouncy",^[9] retro-inspired funk,^[10] funk-pop,^[1] and hip hop^[2] song with a heavy rap.^[11] Lizzo's delivery of the song has been described as "witty" and "full of fire".^[10] The single contains "midnight production" and a burnished throwback groove.^[9][10] It also has reverb-heavy guitar and "smug" spoken word.^[12] It contains "delightfully outrageous" lines such as "I be drippin' so much sauce / Got a bih lookin' like Ragu."^[13] The song lyrically talks about self-love,^[14] and has been described as a "self-esteem boosting anthem".^[15]

It is composed in the key of D minor. It has a chord progression of Dm - Eb/F - F/C - Bb - C, with Lizzo's vocals ranging from C₄ to D₅.^[16]

Critical reception

"Juice" received widespread acclaim from music critics upon release. Lollie King of Bustle wrote that the song "is sure to give you that much-needed confidence boost when you're feeling low."^[14] Christian Hoard, writing for Rolling Stone, praised the song as the singer's "finest" single to date, and called it "a near-perfect retro-funk nugget that would have felt just right on a mirror-balled dance floor in 1982."^[10] Joshua Bote, writing for NPR, stated that the song "continues [Lizzo's] winning streak of sing-songy, funk-heavy rap".^[11] Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound wrote that the song "doubles as a jam and one of those dusty workout tapes you've got lying around your house."^[9] Pitchfork listed the song as the 53rd best of 2019.^[17] Billboard magazine ranked "Juice" 46th on their Best Songs of 2019 list, calling it "irresistibly immediate and durably relistenable".^[18]

Accolades

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result	Ref.
2019	American Music Awards	Favorite Song — Soul/R&B	Nominated	[19]
	Q Awards	Best Track	Nominated	[20]
	Soul Train Music Awards	Song of the Year	Nominated	[21]
		Video of the Year	Won
		The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award	Nominated
		Best Dance Performance	Nominated
2020	Queerty Awards	Anthem	Won	[22]

Live performances

Lizzo performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Today, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[23][24]

Music video & in popular culture

The music video for "Juice" was released the same day as the single. The video, directed by Quinn Wilson, features the singer in an '80s-style workout program, late-night talk show, and selling products on an infomercial.^[25] It also contains references to Soul Glo commercials and a reference to ASMR YouTuber Spirit Payton.^[11] Taylor Bryant of Nylon magazine described the video as "just as fun as the song".^[26] The 2020 video game Just Dance 2021 has it as one of the dance songs.^[27]

A second music video, directed by Pete Williams, premiered on the WOWPresents YouTube channel on April 17, 2019. It features Lizzo with RuPaul's Drag Race alumni A'keria C. Davenport, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Soju, Mayhem Miller, Asia O'Hara, Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Detox Icunt, Morgan McMichaels and Sonique.^[28][29] It has also been used in the official trailer for Tim Story's 2021 film Tom & Jerry:The Movie as well as in a music video emphasising Tom's struggle to catch Jerry in the film.^{[citation needed]}

Plagiarism allegation

On October 18, 2019, singer CeCe Peniston accused Lizzo of plagiarizing the song's "Yeah-yeah" ad-lib from her 1990s single "Finally".^[30][31] Lizzo's lawyer rejected the claim, describing it as "opportunistic" and "specious".^[32]

Track listing

Digital download^[33]

1. "Juice" – 3:15

Digital download — Breakbot Mix^[34]

1. "Juice" (Breakbot Mix) – 2:52

Personnel

Adapted from Tidal.^[35]

• Lizzo – lead artist, songwriter
• Theron Thomas – songwriter, background vocals
• Ricky Reed – songwriter, producer, guitar, keyboards, programming
• Sam Sumser – songwriter
• Sean Small – songwriter
• Nate Mercereau – additional producer, guitar
• Asha Maura – background vocals
• Quinn Wilson – background vocals
• Shelby Swain – background vocals
• Jesse McGinty – saxophone
• Lemar Guillary – trombone
• Michael Cordone – trumpet
• Victor Indrizzo – percussion
• Robin Florent – mixer
• Manny Marroquin – mixer
• Scott Desmarais – mixer
• Chris Gehringer – masterer
• Ethan Shumaker – engineer
• Bill Malina – engineer
• Rouble Kapoor – assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2019–2020) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[36] 100 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[37] 5 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[38] 14 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[39] 86 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[40] 36 Croatia (HRT)[41] 16 Finland (Radiosoittolista)[42] 56 France (SNEP)[43] 100 Ireland (IRMA)[44] 51 Israel (Media Forest)[45] 4 Italy (FIMI)[46] 89 Lithuania (AGATA)[47] 86 Mexico (Billboard Ingles Airplay)[48] 6 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[49] 34 Switzerland Airplay (Schweizer Hitparade)[50] 61 Scotland (OCC)[51] 14 South Korea (Gaon)[52] 93 UK Singles (OCC)[53] 38 US Billboard Hot 100[54] 82 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[55] 37 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[56] 44 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[57] 26 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[58] 27 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[59] 28 US Rolling Stone Top 100[60] 54

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[61] 63 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[62] 90

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[63]	5× Platinum	350,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[64]	Gold	15,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[65]	2× Platinum	80,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[66]	Platinum	80,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[67]	Gold	45,000‡
France (SNEP)[68]	Platinum	200,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[69]	Gold	25,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[70]	Gold	25,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[71]	Gold	5,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[72]	Platinum	600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[73]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
Various	January 4, 2019	Digital download	Original	Atlantic	[33]
Italy	March 1, 2019	Contemporary hit radio		Warner	[74]
United States	April 2, 2019			Atlantic	[75]
	April 8, 2019	Hot adult contemporary radio			[76]
Various	May 10, 2019	Digital download	Breakbot Mix		[34]

References

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