"Call It Whatever" is a song recorded by American recording artist

Bella Thorne Annabella Avery Thorne (born October 8, 1997) is an American actress, singer, and writer. She first received recognition for her roles as Margaux Darling in the series ''Dirty Sexy Money'' (2007–2008) and as Ruthy Spivey in the drama series ...

. It was co-written by Pär Westerlund,

Rickard Göransson Rickard Göransson is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and musician. He was the lead guitarist for American alternative rock band Carolina Liar. He has written and produced for artists including Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Avril Lavi ...

and Skyler Stonestreet and produced by Paro. The Razor N Guido remix was included in her

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''.

Background

Thorne first heard the song while in Africa filming the movie '' Blended'' and got the chorus stuck in her head. She thought the song was "fun" upon hearing it for the first time and decided it would be a good match for her. Thorne spoke about the song saying "Call It Whatever is my youngest-sounding song, this song is definitely for my younger audience". The song was originally intended as the lead single from her unreleased debut album ''Call It Whatever'', before being scrapped

Composition

"Call It Whatever" has been described as a classic autotune-assisted bubblegum pop anthem that is radio friendly and has reminiscences of previous Disney stars. The song is an upbeat, flirty pop tune with a playful nature. Thorne's debut has been called "mainstream" and "following in the footsteps of many Disney Channel stars before her." Lyrically, Thorne said the song is about "a boy and a girl that didn't really know what to call

heir relationship Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

so they're calling it whatever because they don't care what anybody else calls it."

Critical reception

Alex Kritselis from Bustle.com gave a mixed review, describing the song as "hardly a masterpiece" also saying "In fact, in many ways, it's kind of a disaster. Thorne's barely there vocals are absolutely dripping with auto-tune. At times, she barely even sounds human. And yet… the song is so damn catchy." Thorne gained a lot of comparisons to other Disney stars who started music careers similarly to Thorne. She denied the comparisons by saying "I don't think about anything close to that. I don't think, 'Well, Miley went this way, and

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

went that way, so I have to go in the middle. That's not it. I'm just being me. My song is called 'Call It Whatever.' You can call me whatever, if you like me or not like me. I really don't care."

Music video

A music video for the song was filmed in early April 2014. The video was directed by Mickey Finnegan and premiered on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

on May 29. It shows Thorne dressed up as a waitress in the 1950s diner. She dances and serves food while trying to get the attention of her crush. The video takes place in Cadillac Jack's Diner in

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

, the same location used in the music videos "

Want U Back "Want U Back" is a song by English singer Cher Lloyd from her debut studio album, ''Sticks and Stones'' (2011). It was released as the third single from the album on 3 February 2012, and it was released as the lead single from the US version of ...

" by

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and "

Forget You "Fuck You" (stylized as "Fuck You!" or "F**k You!"), known as "Forget You" or "FU" for the clean versions, is a song by American recording artist CeeLo Green. It was written as a collaboration among Green, Bruno Mars, the Smeezingtons, and Br ...

" by

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarls ...

, as well as " La Da Dee" by

Cody Simpson Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian swimmer and singer-songwriter. Since his debut, he has released four solo studio albums: ''Paradise'' (2012), '' Surfers Paradise'' (2013), '' Free'' (2015), and ''Cody Simpson'' (20 ...

and Haley Reinhart's "

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". As of August 2016, the song's music video holds 58 million views on YouTube.

Commercial performance

Despite months of the single being unsuccessful, it finally made its debut on a US national chart on November 10, 2014. "Call It Whatever" debuted on the ''

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 ...

Hot Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart at number forty-seven on that date. After becoming the lead single from Thorne's EP, ''

'', it quickly rose to its peak position of number ten during its seventh week, becoming her first top ten hit on the chart. The song spent ten weeks on the chart before falling off the chart after the week of January 24, 2015.

Track listing

* Digital download # "Call It Whatever" – 3:02 * "Call It Whatever" – Remixes # "Call It Whatever" (Adam Turner Club Remix) – 7:23 # "Call It Whatever" (Adam Turner Instrumental Remix) – 7:24 # "Call It Whatever" (Adam Turner Radio Mix) – 4:06 # "Call It Whatever" (Razor N Guido Main Remix) – 5:54 # "Call It Whatever" (Razor N Guido Mixshow) – 5:25 # "Call It Whatever" (Razor N Guido Radio Mix) – 3:42 # "Call It Whatever" (RNG DuHb) – 5:24 # "Call It Whatever" (Razor N Gudio Instrumental Remix) – 5:24 # "Call It Whatever" (Riddler & Reid Stefan Remix) – 5:18 # "Call It Whatever" (Riddler & Reid Stefan Radio Mix) – 3:58 # "Call It Whatever" (Riddler & Reid Stefan Instrumental Remix) – 5:18 # "Call It Whatever" (Riddler & Reid Stefan Instrumental Radio Mix) – 3:58

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Bella Thorne songs Bubblegum pop songs Hollywood Records singles Songs written by Rickard Göransson Songs written by Skyler Stonestreet