"After the Afterparty" is a single by British singer

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

featuring American rapper

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

. It was released on 28 October 2016 by

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylu ...

and

Atlantic Records UK Atlantic Records Group LLC is an umbrella label owned by Warner Music Group. It oversees several labels assigned to its Atlantic Records unit. In total, the label group has nearly three hundred artists on its roster. History In 2004, Time Warner ...

intended as the lead single from XCX's scrapped third studio album, commonly referred to by fans as ''XCX World''. However, the song became a stand-alone single when tracks from the project were leaked

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...

and the album was ultimately cancelled.

Critical reception

Ailbhe Malone of ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' called the song "a turned-up banger, similar to '

We Can't Stop "We Can't Stop" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus, from her fourth studio album ''Bangerz'' (2013). It was released on June 3, 2013, by RCA Records as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Mike Will Made ...

' by

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

", but also claiming that it had a "layer of

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

gloss" due to the input of Sophie. Laura Snapes of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' described the song's " neon nihilism and aggressive self-possession are the drivers of Charli's career rather than its destructors" and commented on Charli's vocals at the end of track beginning to "slip and stutter". ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named it the tenth best song of 2016 on their year-end list.

Music video

The music video for "After the Afterparty" was released on 30 October 2016. The video was directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome) is an American music video director and choreographer. Awards Diane Martel was nominated for the Video of the Year for her work in "Blurred Lines" – Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell & T.I. in 2013. Fil ...

, and features XCX and Yachty partying with people dressed as

zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

and other creatures for Halloween.

A. G. Cook Alexander Guy Cook (born 23 August 1990) is an English music producer, singer, songwriter and the head of the UK record label PC Music. Cook released his first solo singles in 2014. He has also collaborated with PC Music artists such as Hannah ...

and Sophie both appear in the video as zombies.

Live performances

In November 2016, XCX sang "After the Afterparty" during the finale of ''

The X Factor Australia ''The X Factor'' is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped ''The X Factor'' after ...

''. On 8 February 2017, XCX also performed it on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!''.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Asylum Records singles Atlantic Records singles Warner Music Group singles Charli XCX songs Lil Yachty songs Song recordings produced by Stargate (record producers) Song recordings produced by Sophie (musician) Songs written by Charli XCX Songs written by Raye (singer) Music videos directed by Diane Martel Songs written by Lil Yachty Songs written by Fred Again Songs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen Songs written by Tor Erik Hermansen Songs written by Sophie (musician)