Didn't Wanna Do It
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"Didn't Wanna Do It" (
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
: ''Давай Закрутим Землю''; ''Davai Zakrutim Zemlyu''
Translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...
: ''Let’s Make The Earth Turn'') is a song by the
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n recording artist and songwriter
Julia Volkova Yulia Olegovna Volkova (; born 20 February 1985), better known by the alternative spelling of Julia, is a Russian singer best known for being a member of the Russian girl group t.A.T.u., along with Lena Katina. Formed in Moscow, Russia by Ivan ...
from her studio album. "Didn't Wanna Do It" was written by Julia Volkova, Saeed Molavi, Nadir Benkahla and the
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
-nominated producer Taj Jackson, with production by Saeed Molavi & Nadir Benkahla (known as
The Euroz ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
). The song was chosen as the second single, and was released digitally on August 21, 2012. Musically, the song is a
dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
song, which features elements of
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
and
Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...
. The song's homoerotic lyrics are a first-person account of the singer's sexual encounter with another woman and the ambivalent feelings the experience evoked. Bisexuality has been a frequent theme of Volkova's work, such as in her first single as t.A.T.u., "
All The Things She Said "All the Things She Said" is a song by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. from their first English-language studio album, '' 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane'' (2002). The song was first released in the United States as a DVD single on 13 August 2002, then ...
" (2002) as well as " Loves Me Not". The single's accompanying artwork caused criticism and controversy among fans. "Didn't Wanna Do It" received mixed to positive reviews from critics, as most enjoyed the sexual-oriented style of the song and the production, though some felt the composition lacked originality. The accompanying
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
, released on Volkova's YouTube channel, features a female as she witnesses her boyfriend cheating on her. Volkova then helps her become more sexual, and takes her to a "Free Love Club," where both women party. The video received positive reviews from critics.


Background

In August 2011, Volkova had signed to the Russian label Gala Records, a subsidiary of
EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...
. While her studio album was in production, she released her first solo single entitled "Woman All The Way Down", which was also recorded in
Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
. Not long after, the Russian version and the music video were released on her website. The single turned out to be a
buzz single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mus ...
. In March 2012, it was reported by the press that Volkova would be one of the 25 artists in the Russian final selection who would compete to represent Russia at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song "Running Scared (Ell & Nikki song), Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, El ...
in
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. The Russian broadcaster RTR later confirmed her participation among the other 25. She entered the competition with the
Eurovision 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasting Unio ...
winner
Dima Bilan Dima Nikolayevich Bilan (, ; born Viktor Nikolayevich Belan [] on 24 December 1981) is a Russian singer. In 2002, Bilan participated in the first edition of New Wave. At the end of the contest, he finished in fourth place. He represented Russ ...
as a duo with the song "Back to Her Future". They finished in second place with 29.25 points. The winning entry, " Party for Everybody" by the Russian ethno-pop band
Buranovskiye Babushki Buranovskiye Babushki (, ; ; both meaning "Buranovo Grannies") is an Udmurt-Russian ethno-pop band comprising eight elderly women from the village of Buranovo, Udmurtia. Buranovskiye Babushki represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contes ...
, was 38.51 points ahead of them. She then recorded a studio version, which was released on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
not long after.


Composition

"Didn't Wanna Do It" is a
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
-oriented song, with elements of
Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...
and
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
music. According to Volkova on her website, "The song is a departure from t.A.T.u.'s signature sound that catapulted Julia to worldwide fame and critical acclaim but the new musical direction is undeniably her own." MuuMuse compared the lyrics to
LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...
by saying "The feisty brunette's since ditched t.A.T.u.'s brooding act and decided to toss her head back, throw back a few shots and enter into LMFAO-like territory: “I didn't wanna do it…but I did”. MuuMuse also compared the composition to
Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles, composed of Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, Jon Street, Ray Ro, DJ Virman, and Jerm Beats. They signed with Martin Kierszenba ...
saying "Julia laments across the bubbly, unhinged Euro-dance anthem, trading dooming synthesizers for Far East Movement-friendly thumps." ''The Prophet Blog'' noticed the production off
auto-tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...
in the song and said it resembled 2NE1's "
I Am the Best "I Am the Best" () is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1. YG Entertainment released the song for Music download, digital download and Streaming media, streaming as the third Single (music), single from the group's 2NE1 (2011 EP), self-tit ...
" (2012). It also commented on the lyrics, saying it "seduces another woman, then regrets it and claims she never wanted to do it in the first place." For the release off the Russian version, "Davai Zakrutim Zemlyu", the song's pitch is different to the original version so it can suit Volkova's vocals.


Release and artwork

"Didn't Wanna Do It" was her first worldwide single. It was expected to be released in July 2012, but was delayed until 21 August 2012. On 14 July 2012, Volkova, along with
t.A.T.u. t.A.T.u. (, ) were a Russian pop duo consisting of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The two started out as part of the children's musical group Neposedy before being managed by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov and signing with Russian reco ...
's fansite AllMyLove.org, posted the picture of the single cover artwork on Facebook. The artwork, a drawing inspired by graphic novels, caused controversy among fans. It is said to be inspired by the Australian artwork of t.A.T.u.'s single "
All the Things She Said "All the Things She Said" is a song by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. from their first English-language studio album, '' 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane'' (2002). The song was first released in the United States as a DVD single on 13 August 2002, then ...
", but many fans argued that it did not share any similarities.


Critical reception

"Didn't Wanna Do It" received generally positive reviews from mainstream and independent music critics. According to Volkova herself, "With the collision of its stomping bass, raw, grinding synths and the infectious, unforgettable chorus this song has all the makings of a summer hit." MuuMuse gave it a positive review, describing it as catchy saying "It’s a ridiculously raunchy, filthy fun club cut, and that chorus ain’t leaving my brain anytime soon." ''The Prophet Blog'' gave it a mixed review, calling Volkova in the song "naive and innocent", while saying "With beauty created by the surgeon’s knife, buckets of autotune, and porno-pop music videos, Yulia is basically the Russian Nicki Minaj." However, he later went on to give the song and video a positive review stating that "Julia Volkova’s “Didn’t Wanna Do It” is flawless."


Music video

The music video was premiered on MuuMuse on 31 July 2012. It was directed by Hindrek Maasik and shot in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. Volkova said of the shooting, "I didn't expect that it would be so hot. We were constantly trying to hide in the shadows. The sun was just unbearable. I was sweating like a mouse the whole time and my make-up was leaking. It was such a pain to film." The song starts with a woman catching her boyfriend cheating on her with her own mother. After crying outside in the streets, she sees a flyer saying "LOVE PROBLEMS? CALL (S)EXPERTS: 69", which she dials. It turns out to be Volkova, who helps her become more sexual, teaching her some erotic dance moves and taking her to her house where she tries out some clothes. The pair then drive to a "Free Love Party", where the partygoers drink, dance, and have sex. An uncensored version was released on her website, with full frontal
nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...
and onscreen sex, though the censored version has only brief full-frontal nudity.


Live performances

On 27 August 2012, Volkova performed the Russian version of the song ("Давай закрутим Землю") at Diskoteka Muz TV, in
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
,
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
. Following the performance, she sang the Russian version of the song "Back To Her Future ("Любовь-сука"), with the Russian singer
Dima Bilan Dima Nikolayevich Bilan (, ; born Viktor Nikolayevich Belan [] on 24 December 1981) is a Russian singer. In 2002, Bilan participated in the first edition of New Wave. At the end of the contest, he finished in fourth place. He represented Russ ...
. On 8 September 2012, Volkova performed at Ello Festival in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, performing all the songs in Russian, including " Я сошла с ума" ("
All The Things She Said "All the Things She Said" is a song by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. from their first English-language studio album, '' 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane'' (2002). The song was first released in the United States as a DVD single on 13 August 2002, then ...
"), "Сдвину мир" ("All Because of You") and "Давай закрутим Землю" ("Didn't Wanna Do It").


Track listing

* Didn't Wanna Do It (Explicit) # "Didn't Wanna Do It" (Explicit) - 3:44 # "Давай закрутим Землю" (Explicit) - 3:45 * Didn't Wanna Do It
/ref> # "Didn't Wanna Do It" (Clean) - 3:44


Release history


References

{{authority control 2012 singles 2012 songs