"Bacon" is a song by American singer

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

featuring

Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

. It was released on July 12, 2016, as the second single from the former's third studio album, ''

Last Year Was Complicated ''Last Year Was Complicated'' is the third studio album by American singer Nick Jonas. It was released on June 10, 2016, by Island and Safehouse Records. The album features collaborations with Tove Lo, Ty Dolla Sign, and Big Sean. The album's le ...

''. The song was written by the artists alongside

Muni Long Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long”; formerly known as Priscilla Renea), is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed wi ...

and producer

Sir Nolan Nolan Lambroza (born July 25, 1990), better known as Sir Nolan, is an American record producer and songwriter based in Encino, Los Angeles, California. He has worked with notable artists such as Daniel Caesar, Tyla, Selena Gomez, Justin Biebe ...

. "Bacon" was nominated for the

2016 MTV Video Music Awards The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Sunday night, August 28, 2016 at 9:00–11:54pm EDT at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City. Adele's " Hello" was the most nominated video with seven categories. This ...

for the category

Song of Summer ''Song of Summer'' is a 1968 black-and-white television episode co-written, produced, and directed by Ken Russell for the BBC's '' Omnibus'' series which was first broadcast on 15 September 1968. It portrays the final six years of Frederick De ...

. It was the second consecutive year that Jonas was nominated for the award.

Background and release

On March 24, 2016, Jonas announced the song as part of the track list for his new album. In March, it was revealed that singer

had a feature on the record. According to Jonas the song is about when you are out of a relationship and you start to be okay with the fact that it's ended, saying "In my case my life was great, it’s so good that we should throw some bacon on it to make it even better". The track premiered on June 3, 2016, and was sent to US rhythmic radio on July 12, 2016, as the album's second single, replacing "

Chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable handheld power saw, power saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. Modern chainsaws are typically gasoline or electric and are used in activities such as t ...

", which had originally been confirmed for the position.

Critical reception

Kaitlyn Tiffany of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'' compared the song to "Lucozade" to

Zayn Malik Zain Javadd "Zayn" Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993) is an English singer-songwriter. He auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010, where he ended up being a part of five-piece b ...

and wrote that Ty Dolla $ign's verse is "explicitly about sex, but doesn't have anything to do with bacon". Kristie Rohwedder from ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

'' wrote that the song is "another reason to be stoked" for the album.

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

's Rachel Sonis called the song "super weird", saying that "I don’t get this one". Eddie Fu from

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

called it a "grown and sexy R&B track", also writing that "Ty Dolla $ign has shown he’s adept at working with pop acts in the past... and the R&B singer has delivered once again". Brianna Wiest of ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American progressive online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and ...

'' called it a "super catchy, upbeat song" that "may seem like your average, everyday, low-key newly-single anthem".

Composition

"Bacon" is composed in the key of A♯ minor. The verse, pre-chorus and chorus are sung by Jonas, while Ty Dolla $ign raps during the song's bridge.

Music video

A music video of the song was released on Tidal on June 6, 2016, with a 30-second teaser available to non-subscribers. The music video was filmed in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and is set in the vintage diner Ted's Frostop. It features Nick dancing with friends and eating bacon. Meanwhile, Ty Dolla $ign makes a cameo in a music video setting, complete with models and lowriders. On June 10, 2016, the music video was uploaded on Jonas'

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel.

Chord Overstreet Chord Paul Overstreet (born February 17, 1989) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Sam Evans on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in the Apple TV+ comedy series ''Acapulco'' since 20 ...

of Jonas's Safehouse Records label also appears in the video.

Commercial performance

The song reached the top 40 on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart at number 37 and the

Rhythmic Songs The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

chart at number 35, becoming his first single to miss the top 30 on both charts. The song failed to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but reached number 20 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart.

Live performance

On April 24, 2016, Jonas performed "Bacon" during his set at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. On June 10, 2016, he performed the songs on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''. On August 28, 2016, Jonas and Ty performed the song at the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

. On September 20, 2016, he performed the song solo on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

''. The song is also part of the set list of his

Future Now Tour The Future Now Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas. It was Lovato's fifth headlining tour, in support of her fifth studio album ''Confident (album), Confident'' (2015), and Jonas' third concert tou ...

Track listing

*Digital download – remixes #"Bacon" – 4:08

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Island Records singles 2016 singles 2016 songs Nick Jonas songs Ty Dolla Sign songs Safehouse Records singles Songs written by Sir Nolan Songs written by Nick Jonas Songs written by Ty Dolla Sign Songs written by Muni Long Bacon