"It's 'Cause I Am" is a song by American country music singer

Callista Clark Callista Clark (born September 29, 2003) is an American country music singer from Zebulon, Georgia. She released her debut EP, Real to Me, on February 12, 2021, with the EP's lead single " It's 'Cause I Am" peaking at No. 30 on the ''Billboard'' ...

. It was released on March 29, 2021 as lead single from her debut studio album ''Real to Me: The Way I Feel''. Clark wrote the song, along with Cameron Jaymes and

Laura Veltz Laura Veltz is a Grammy-nominated American songwriter and musician. She previously was the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of family pop-rock group Cecilia. She was nominated for the first ever Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year at the 65 ...

. "It's 'Cause I Am" was produced by Nathan Chapman.

Background

Real to Me,

's debut EP, was released on February 12, 2021, with the impact date for "It's 'Cause I Am" to country radio set for March 29, 2021. "It's 'Cause I Am" was written on December 16, 2019 in Nashville by Clark, Cameron Jaymes and Laura Veltz at Jaymes' backyard studio "The Garden Shed". Clark told ''Taste of Country'' that the track was "about someone telling you that you can't do something", and that "it's always been a special song to me, and it's the one song that I thought people my age could really relate to". In an interview with ''Sounds Like Nashville'', Clark said that she wrote the song after an encounter with a man in a

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who saw her with a guitar and said "pfft, good luck", with Clark saying the song was addressed to "anybody who made me feel small or less than I was", and it was her way of "putting them back in their place a little and boosting my confidence".

Critical reception

'' Forbes'' Rianna Turner called "It's Cause I Am" an "unapologetic declaration of confidence", comparing it to other "empowering country woman hits" such as "

Man! I Feel Like a Woman! "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain from her third studio album, ''Come On Over'' (1997). Written by Twain and her longtime collaborator and then-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who also produced th ...

" and " Girl". In a piece for ''

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 ...

'', Tom Roland said that the song's "staggered phrasing, the rock-edged chords and the confident conclusion" were similar to a

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

song, and that Clark's timbre is "older than her chronological age", comparing it to

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...

in the 1990s.

Commercial performance

Released to US country radio as a single on March 29, 2021, the song first appeared on the ''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart at number 60, on the chart dated for April 3, 2021. The song has since risen to a peak of number 20 on that chart. Clark claimed on June 8, 2021, that the song had received one million streams on Spotify. As of June 10, 2021, Spotify's artist page for Clark lists "It's 'Cause I Am" as having 1,060,021 streams.

Music video

A music video for "It's 'Cause I Am" was released on June 4, 2021, directed by Audrey Ellis Fox. Clark said of the video that "I couldn’t be more excited to release my first music video! This is the kind of thing I’ve always dreamed about. Being on set and watching it come to life was surreal."

Credits and personnel

* Callista Clark − lead vocals, background vocals, composition, lyrics * Nathan Chapman − production, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, mixing * Cameron Jaymes − composition, lyrics * Laura Veltz − composition, lyrics * Aaron Sterling − drums * Kevin Kadish − electric guitar * Brian David Willis − engineer * Dave Cohen − keyboards * Ted Jensen − mastering engineer * Jeff Balding − recording engineer

Charts

Release history

References

{{reflist 2021 debut singles Callista Clark songs Songs written by Laura Veltz Song recordings produced by Nathan Chapman (record producer) Big Machine Records singles 2021 songs