"Hello Kitty" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
, taken from her self-titled fifth studio album, ''
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
'' (2013). It was written by Lavigne,
Chad Kroeger
Chad Robert Kroeger ( Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nickelback, Kroeger has been involved with a variety of collaboration ...
,
David Hodges
David Hall Hodges (born December 5, 1978) is an American songwriter and record producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a studio contributor to the rock band Evanescence from 2000–2002. He has since had success co-writing and co–produci ...
and
Martin Johnson. Production was handled by Kroeger and Hodges, with additional production by Brandon Paddock and Kyle Moorman. Musically, "Hello Kitty" is a
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
,
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
, and
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
song, featuring an
electro-influenced drop. The song was influenced by Lavigne's affinity to the Japanese brand
Hello Kitty
, also known by her full name , is a fictional Character (arts), character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphi ...
, and has some sexual content.
The song was released as a Japan-only fourth single. It was mostly panned by Western
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 ...
, who criticized its sound and called it immature, while it was generally well-received in Japan.
Lavigne shot a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the track in Japan which was released on April 21, 2014. Due to the video's popularity, the song charted at number 75 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, becoming the second highest charting single from the album.
Background
Three months after the release of ''
Goodbye Lullaby
''Goodbye Lullaby'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. It was released on March 2, 2011 through RCA Records. Recording sessions for the album began in November 2008 and continued over a period of nearly two ...
'' (2011), Lavigne announced that work on her fifth studio album had already begun, having eight songs written. Lavigne stated that the album would musically be the opposite of ''Goodbye Lullaby'', with a release date rumoured for sometime in 2012. Lavigne explained, "''Goodbye Lullaby'' was more mellow,
utthe next one will be pop and more fun again. I already have a song that I know is going to be a single, I just need to re-record it!."
In an interview, Lavigne said about her collaboration with Kroeger: "I have a song called Hello Kitty, which I wrote about Hello Kitty because I'm obsessed, and it's a really fun thing that I've never done before. It kind of has a kind of glitchy,
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
feel to it and it's... the only one on the record that sounds like that. It's really different and a lot of my friends I've played it for really like it. I'm having a lot of fun with that one."
Composition
"Hello Kitty" is a
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
,
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
, and
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
track that is three minutes and eighteen seconds long.
"Hello Kitty" was written by Lavigne,
Chad Kroeger
Chad Robert Kroeger ( Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nickelback, Kroeger has been involved with a variety of collaboration ...
,
David Hodges
David Hall Hodges (born December 5, 1978) is an American songwriter and record producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a studio contributor to the rock band Evanescence from 2000–2002. He has since had success co-writing and co–produci ...
and
Martin Johnson, while the song was produced by Kroeger and Hodges. Brandon Paddock and Kyle Moorman became assistants in its production.
The song was engineered by John Hanes, musical mixed by Serban Ghenea and additional programming was held by Paddock and Moorman.
[''Avril Lavigne'' Album notes (2013).] Lavigne described the lyrics while talking to ''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'', "'Hello Kitty' was such an interesting topic and subject
..It was really exciting for me. I didn't want it to sound like anything I'd done before. I wanted it to sound over the top so I ended up hiring a new producer to help me with it."
The opening line of the song , is a reference to the Japanese
Kawaii
''Kawaii'' is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy and childlike.Kerr, Hui-Ying (23 November 2016)"What is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of cu ...
culture. ''Kawaii'' is Japanese for "cute", and the word is popularly used to describe endearing physical characterizations in
Manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
and
Japanese video games
Video games are a major industry in Japan. Japanese game development is often identified with the golden age of video games, including Nintendo under Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi, Sega during the same time period, Sony Computer Ent ...
. She was later asked about the double meaning of the song, on account of the interchangeability of the
sexual euphemisms
A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...
'kitty' and 'pussy', to which she responded, "Obviously it's flirtatious and somewhat sexual, but it's genuinely about my love for Hello Kitty as well."
Additionally, she said at
MuchMusic Awards, "It's really fun
ndit's about a slumber party and loving the kitty."
Critical reception
![Avril Lavigne - Hello Kitty (Live at Casino Rama)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Avril_Lavigne_-_Hello_Kitty_%28Live_at_Casino_Rama%29.jpg)
"Hello Kitty" was generally panned by
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 ...
. While labeling it "weird", Nick Catucci from ''
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 ...
'' called it "a
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
track that seems to acknowledge its own tokenism by adopting a '
J-Pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
American Funtime Now!' sheen."
Despite praising her "techno-pop" influence, 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 ...
'' felt that "it's a bold stab at a genre outside of Lavigne's oeuvre, but it never comes together. By the 20th time 'Hello Kitty, you're so pretty' is declared, the listener's attention is already on the next track."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote that the song "bypasses bubblegum so it can settle into the embarrassing".
While reviewing and stating that most of the album was "soggy", Chuck Eddy from ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' felt that "Hello Kitty" was the most playful song on the album and called it "
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
-via-
Kesha
Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...
".
Robert Corpsey from ''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'' was mixed on his opinion of the song, writing that "the juddering electro-pop beats of 'Hello Kitty' serve as an ode to her you-know-what as well as her sizeable Japanese fanbase. As a curveball, it works brilliantly; but as an attempt to make her sound current in today's
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
-pop dominated charts, it falls considerably short."
Craig Manning of
AbsolutePunk
''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...
called it "the biggest leap of faith," describing it as "a trippy patchwork of EDM and pop that pays loving tribute to Lavigne's sizable Japanese following."
Bradley Stern of MuuMuse named it "an off-the-walls EDM-infused stomper, where Lavigne conjures
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
's bouncy, Japanese-minded ''
Love. Angel. Music. Baby''." Laurence Green from
musicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
called it a "trashy EDM moment; laced with snatches of Japanese lingo," pointing out that it "feels like a weird misstep more suited to a
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
album than the predominantly rock-centric sounds present on the rest of the record."
A reviewer from
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
remarked that "Hello Kitty" is "laughably bad" and "insipid", and criticized Lavigne's attempt at trying to draw in a younger crowd.
Gregory Hicks from ''
The Michigan Daily
''The Michigan Daily'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other stu ...
'' gave the song a negative review, referring to it as an "obligatory 2013-dubstep mess created for the sole purpose of attempting to follow a trend."
Chart performance
"Hello Kitty" debuted at number 84 on the
Gaon Singles Chart
The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...
and at number 70 on Download International Chart with 4,038 copies sold in its first week.
It also spent one week on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, at number 75, due to the popularity of the video, where 73 of the 92 percent of its chart points were attributed to
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
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
views, according to
Nielsen BDS
Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...
.
It became her second-highest charted song from her self-titled album; "
Here's to Never Growing Up", peaked at number 20 in June. It also became her highest debut on
Streaming Songs
The Streaming Songs chart is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists each week's top streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services in the United States. The chart represents one of the three component ...
to date, as the track debuted at number 14 (besting "Here's to Never Growing Up", which opened at number 26 in May following its official video debut). The song also surged to 5,000 downloads sold in the tracking week ending Sunday April 27, up from a negligible number the week before, according to
Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
.
[ On the Japanese Hot Top Airplay chart, "Hello Kitty" debuted at number 82 for the week ending of May 12, 2014.]
Music video
The music video for "Hello Kitty" was filmed in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and premiered on Lavigne's official website on April 21, 2014. It was widely reported that the video was removed from her YouTube channel amid criticism and controversy. However, a spokesperson for Lavigne stated that the song's video was never officially released to YouTube and was stated to go live on April 23, and removals of the video from YouTube were merely unofficial uploads following its original premiere on Lavigne's website. The video officially went live on YouTube as planned on April 23, 2014.
Synopsis
The majority of the "Hello Kitty" music video finds Avril Lavigne parading around with four identically dressed Japanese women behind her, performing dance moves, in locales like a bedroom
A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping and sexual activity. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds (ranging from a crib for ...
, a candy store
A confectionery store (more commonly referred to as a sweet shop in the United Kingdom, a candy shop or candy store in North America, or a lolly shop in Australia and New Zealand) sells confectionery and the intended market is usually children. M ...
and a street
A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...
. The video also shows Lavigne playing guitar, wearing glasses, eating sushi
is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...
, waving at admirers and fans and taking a single photograph,[ wearing gloves that are paired with pastel hair extensions and a pink tutu covered in three-dimensional cupcakes.]
Reception and criticism
The video was heavily derided by Western critics. Jason Lipshutz of ''Billboard'' panned it as "even more abhorrent than the song."[ While acknowledging that the album's previous videos were "excellent", he pointed out that the "Hello Kitty" video "tries to do nothing. Its laziness is demonstrated in the first 21 seconds, during which Lavigne holds a plush stack of cupcakes, shakes her hips, stares at the cupcakes, bounces her shoulders, and then, when she sings the line 'Someone chuck a cupcake at me'... tosses the fake cupcakes at the camera, her lip movement not matching up to the backing track whatsoever."][ Alexa Camp of '']Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' called it "truly eyebrow-raising, taking cultural mis-appropriation to cringe-inducing levels."[ '']The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' suggested that "'Hello Kitty' will make your eyes and ears bleed".
Its depiction of Japanese culture was met with widespread criticism from Western critics. This included suggestions of racism, which Lavigne responded to by stating: "I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video...specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN Japan." Nobuyuki Hayashi, a Tokyo-based tech and social media expert, commented that most of the reactions on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
were favorable, adding: “the people who are blaming the artist for racism are non-Japanese... but most Japanese people are not taking it that seriously.” Hiro Ugaya, a Tokyo-based journalist and media commentator, assumed that "images of cultures outside of one's own in mass media are always different from the reality. ..When you're trying to reach the majority of consumers, images tend to be lowest common dominator ic.
Live performances
Lavigne included "Hello Kitty" on her The Avril Lavigne Tour
The Avril Lavigne Tour was the fifth concert tour by Canadian recording artist Avril Lavigne. The tour was supporting her fifth studio album, ''Avril Lavigne'' (2013). Beginning December 2013, the tour played over 78 concerts in America and Asia. ...
(2013–14) as the opening track. An instrumental version of "Hello Kitty" was used as an interlude on the Head Above Water Tour
The Head Above Water Tour was the sixth concert tour by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. Launched in support of her sixth studio album, ''Head Above Water (album), Head Above Water'' (2019), the tour began on September 14, 2019 in Seattl ...
(2019).
Credits and personnel
*Lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
by Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
*Written by Avril Lavigne
*Electric guitar by Martin Johnson
*Engineered by John Hanes
*Mixed by Serban Ghenea
Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer.
Early life and education
Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...
*Produced by Martin Johnson
*Additional production and programming by Brandon Paddock, Kyle Moorman
*Additional vocal production by Chad Kroeger, David Hodges
*Recorded by Brandon Paddock, Kyle Moorman, Martin Johnson
Credits Adapted from the liner notes of ''Avril Lavigne'' (2013).
Charts
Awards
References
External links
*
Avril Lavigne's website
{{authority control
2014 singles
2013 songs
Avril Lavigne songs
Dubstep songs
Epic Records singles
Hello Kitty
J-pop songs
Japan in non-Japanese culture
Macaronic songs
Music video controversies
Race-related controversies in music
Songs written by Avril Lavigne
Songs written by Chad Kroeger
Songs written by David Hodges
Songs written by Martin Johnson (musician)
Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles
Sony Music singles