"Circo Loco" is a song by Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

and Atlanta-based rapper

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

from their collaborative studio album ''

Her Loss ''Her Loss'' is a collaborative studio album by Canadian rapper Drake and Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage. It was released on November 4, 2022, through OVO Sound and Republic Records. Featuring a sole guest appearance from Travis Scott, the albu ...

''. It was sent to Italian

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on November 11, 2022, as the lead single from the album. Produced by

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian Record production, record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has work ...

Tay Keith Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

and 40, it contains a sample and interpolation of " One More Time" by

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

. The song garnered controversy over a perceived diss toward American rapper

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

Composition

"Circo Loco" features "progressing" chords and "booming" bass in production, backed by the sample. In his verse, Drake first raps about his sex life, and then addresses the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion by Canadian rapper

Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and convicted felon. He received initial recognition from the mixtape ''Conflicts of My Soul: The 416 Story'', rel ...

in 2020, suggesting in his lyrics that she was lying about the incident: "This bitch lie 'bout getting shots, but she still a stallion / She don't even get the joke, but she still smiling". He also raps about ending his feud with

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

for their

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

performance in support of

Larry Hoover Larry Hoover (born November 30, 1950)"Larry Hoover"
''Biography.com''. Retrieved 18 April 2019. ...

and raising awareness on

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, claiming that he only did it to appease

James Prince James L. Smith (also referred to as James Prince, J. Prince, or Lil J.) (born October 31, 1965) is an American music executive, promoter and manager. He is the CEO and co-founder of the Houston based record label Rap-A-Lot. Smith and his son ...

, who planned the concert. 21 Savage raps about and threatens his enemies in his verse.

Controversy

The song generated controversy due to Drake's lyrics about Megan Thee Stallion, who responded on Twitter with a series of posts condemning it. 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 ...

, a songwriter of "Circo Loco", denied the song was referring to Megan on

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, saying, "It's not about Megan, it's about women lying about their butt shots, saying it's real when it's fake." On December 23, 2022, Lanez was convicted in a jury trial on three felony charges in respect to the shooting: assault with a semiautomatic handgun, having a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and

gross negligence Gross negligence is the "lack of slight diligence or care" or "a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party." In some jurisdictions a person injured as a result of gross negl ...

in discharging his firearm.

Critical reception

The song received generally negative reviews from music critics, with particular criticism directed toward the sample as well as Drake's lines alluding to Megan Thee Stallion. Alex Swhear of ''

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'' regarded the song "ill-advised in its Daft Punk sample and the perplexing bars that follow, in which Drake appears to make light of the alleged assault of Megan Thee Stallion by Tory Lanez". Marcus Shorter of ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "Taking swipes at Megan Thee Stallion on 'Circo Loco' puts that misogynistic behavior on full display." Matthew Ritchie of ''

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'' commented that the song "feels cheap and soulless", while Paul A. Thompson of ''

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'' described it as having a "hammily stupid Daft Punk flip". Josh Svetz of '' Paste'' wrote, "'Circo Loco' has been criticized for the Megan Thee Stallion diss, but its worst crime is butchering Daft Punk's classic 'One More Time'."

Charts

Release history

References

{{21 Savage 2022 singles 2022 songs Drake (musician) songs 21 Savage songs Songs written by Drake (musician) Songs written by 21 Savage Songs written by Boi-1da Songs written by Tay Keith Songs written by 40 (record producer) Songs written by Lil Yachty Songs written by Thomas Bangalter Songs written by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Song recordings produced by Boi-1da Song recordings produced by Tay Keith Song recordings produced by 40 (record producer) OVO Sound singles Republic Records singles Diss tracks