"Beg for You" is a song by English singer and songwriter

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 Japanese-British singer

Rina Sawayama is a Japanese–British singer-songwriter, actress and model. Born in Niigata, Japan, she emigrated to London with her parents at age five. She is known for her musical versatility and has been labelled a "musical chameleon". In 2017, she ...

. It was released on 27 January 2022 as the third single from XCX's fifth studio album, ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' (2022). The song interpolates Swedish singer

September September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...

's 2006 single " Cry for You", as well as the song "Don't Cry" by Belgian dance group

Milk Inc. Milk Inc. is a dance music group that formed in the commercial dance scene in Belgium in 1995. The discography of the group includes a total of seven studio albums and 41 singles. History Milk Inc. released their first hit single "La Vache" i ...

The song received universal acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

Background

Charli XCX first teased a collaboration with Rina Sawayama in May 2021 on a

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live in which she discussed details about her upcoming album ''

'' and played multiple snippets of upcoming tracks from the album, including a 45-second-long one of the then-untitled collaboration with Sawayama. In December 2021, screenshots of text messages between XCX and Sawayama discussing a collaboration were posted on Instagram. On 21 January 2022, Sawayama revealed the title of the single on her TikTok account. The song premiered on 27 January 2022 on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. In an interview with ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', XCX discussed her inspiration behind "Beg for You". She stated that "It feels to me like one of those songs that comes on at the height of a party where you are a little bit uckedup, you maybe want to cry, but you also want to dance. When I was driving through

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

listening to this beat for the first time, I felt a real sense of

euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

- but also this quite

nostalgic Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, ...

thing. Because it's a

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

, it reminded me of being at home in the U.K., at a house party with my friends who I've known since I was 12 years old." Additionally, she revealed that her and Sawayama first collaborated on a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

for XCX's 2019 studio album '' Charli'', but the track was scrapped after Sawayama expressed a desire to create a pop track instead. The song's

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

was pitched to XCX, who "changed a few lyrics here and there, and sang it", and then forwarded it to Sawayama.

Music and lyrics

"Beg for You" is a UK garage song which "evokes the

bubblegum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

sweetness of early

2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty during the 9/11 attacks in 2001; the euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled durin ...

pop" and features a beat "evocative of '90s

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

", "wistful"

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s and a

drop Drop, DROP, drops or DROPS may refer to: * Drop (liquid) or droplet, a small volume of liquid ** Eye drops, saline (sometimes mydriatic) drops used as medication for the eyes * Drop (unit), a unit of measure of volume * Falling (physics), allowi ...

. The beat, along with the melody and hook are sampled from Swedish singer

's hit single " Cry for You". Lyrically, it is a "clubby and poignant message to a leaving lover" in which the singers "exchange verses about missing their respective loves when they depart, reminiscing about intimate moments when they're gone".

Critical reception

"Beg for You" received universal acclaim from music critics. The track was placed on ''

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 ...

''s NME Radio playlist and highlighted as "On the A List", with Karen Gwee calling it "perfect for a cathartic cry on the dancefloor". It was also placed on ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

''s list of "10 New Songs You Need to Hear Now" by writer Shaad D'Souza, who lauded it as the "apotheosis of the 000s rave revivaltrend", as well as

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's weekly "Bop Shop" selection, where XCX and Sawayama were praised for "turn nga blast from the past into a fresh new dance-floor banger". Jason Lipshutz of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' also had a positive view of the song and opined that "you'd be hard-pressed to find two artists in their shared genre with more personality on the microphone, and they each leave a lasting impression while hoisting up a pristine melody". "Beg for You" was celebrated by Steffanee Wang of ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

'' as "outstanding", a "sparkling gem", "an absolute smash" and "infinitely more swoon-worthy and addictive" compared to September's "Cry for You". ''

Consequence Consequence may refer to: * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior * Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...

'' selected it as their "Song of the Week", citing it as "a worthy collaboration between two artists who know what pop music needs to go from good to great". The release's use of a "Cry for You" sample, dubbed "one of tssecret weapons", was also praised. Justin Curto of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' thought it to be "extremely well-executed", Steffanee Wang deemed the interpolation "ingenious: keep all the best parts of the nostalgia, and update enough of it to bring it into the new age".

Music video

Backstage teasers for a music video have been posted on TikTok by Sawayama. The music video was later released on February 11, 2022.

Track listing

Digital download and streaming # "Beg for You" – 2:48 Streaming – bonus tracks # "Beg for You" – 2:48 # "New Shapes" – 3:20 # "

Good Ones "Good Ones" is a song by English singer and songwriter Charli XCX, released as the lead single from her fifth studio album, ''Crash'' (2022). The song was released on 2 September 2021. It is a synthwave, electropop, dance, and synth-pop song th ...

" – 2:16 Digital download and streaming – Pocket Remix # "Beg for You" (Pocket Remix) – 3:00 # "Beg for You" – 2:48 Digital download and streaming – A. G. Cook and Vernon Remix # "Beg for You" (A. G. Cook and Vernon of

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

Remix) – 4:09 # "Beg for You" (Pocket Remix) – 3:00 # "Beg for You" – 2:48

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Rina Sawayama Charli XCX songs Rina Sawayama songs 2022 songs 2022 singles Songs written by Charli XCX Songs written by Jonas von der Burg Songs written by Anoo Bhagavan Song recordings produced by Digital Farm Animals Songs written by Sorana (singer) UK garage songs Eurodance songs Asylum Records singles Warner Records singles Songs written by Rina Sawayama