"Popular Song" is a song by Lebanese-British recording artist

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

, released as the second single in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from his third studio album, ''

The Origin of Love ''The Origin of Love'' is the third studio album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was released in France on 17 September 2012, and in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2012, via Casablanca Records and Barclay Records respec ...

''. The song features American singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

and is included on her debut album, '' Yours Truly''. The track was written by Mika,

Priscilla Renea Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long"), is an American singer and songwriter. Under her birth name, her solo debut studio album, ''Jukebox'', was released through Capitol R ...

, Mathieu Jomphe and Stephen Schwartz, and produced by Mika and Greg Wells. The radio version featuring Ariana Grande was produced by Jason Nevins. It was released as a promotional single on 21 December 2012. It was originally scheduled to impact

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

in the United States on 13 August 2013, but was later pulled out of rotation. The song samples and remixes " Popular" from the musical ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...

''. The album version of the song features vocals from

, and features mature language. The single version replaces Renea with

, removes the mature language, and modifies the instrumental arrangement and tempo to create a version which heavily links to Mika's former hits, " Grace Kelly" and "

We Are Golden "We Are Golden" is the first single from English singer Mika's second studio album, '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells and features the gospel choir of Andraé Crouch. Release The single made its radio ...

". The version with Ariana Grande is the main version which was officially released.

Background

The original version of the song was made available on Mika's third studio album, ''

'', and features vocals from songwriter

. This version is based on the original from ''

'', and uses a very rough tempo and instrumentation, to fit in with the theme of the album. However, for the track's release as a single, Mika decided to completely change the arrangement, and create something similar to his hit single " Grace Kelly". To do this, he enlisted the help of American actress and performer

, rewrote some of the lyrics, changed the instrumentation and tempo, and reworked the song's structure. The new version was released to the

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on 21 December 2012, being released as the album's second single in the

Music video

The music video was released on 29 April 2013, directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. It features a

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

theme, being set in a 'spooky, dark, "Addams Family"-esque high school'. The video features

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

from

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

and

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

. Mika uses a Sony Xperia Z to text an invitation for a dinner party to his popular classmates who are bullying him. This is interlaced with scenes of the two brewing a potion in a witch's cauldron and scenes of them falling victim to bullying. Mika and Grande return to Mika's mansion in his talking car, a 2013 Mini Cooper. At the dinner party, the bullies consume their drinks drugged with the potion, and turn to stone. They are then ruthlessly smashed into pieces by Mika and Grande, with the former using a candlestick and the latter using a food tray. However, the video ends with a twist: as Mika and Grande have a toast and the former takes a sip from his drink, the video flashes back to when the two were children and Mika is seen kicking down Grande's castle made of wooden blocks. As Grande glares coldly at him, Mika subsequently turns to stone as well. The video then ends with Grande smirking evilly at the camera. The gothic theme of the video and its vengeful nature, as well as the costume worn by Mika as he and Grande are shown 'cooking', is generally considered reminiscent of the aesthetic and plot of the

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

musical '' Sweeney Todd'', tying back to the musical theatre roots of the song established in modifying a song from ''

''. , the video has accumulated over 206 million views 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 ...

Critical reception

Bryon Flitsch of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's Buzzworthy noted that "Popular Song" is a different view of Mika's previous efforts, stating that its "peppy beat + catchy melody + playful lyrics = perfect song to bounce around to." Furthermore, Flitsch also praised Grande's vocals in the song for being "flawless" alongside Mika's. Marques Daniels of examiner.com felt that "Popular Song" is a song to inspire bullied and unpopular people to stand up. Daniels also praised the song for being a stand out track.

Commercial performance

"Popular Song" debuted and has since peaked at number 87 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and was certified gold in 2015 by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for selling over 500,000 copies in the country.

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 singles Mika (singer) songs Ariana Grande songs Songs written by Mika (singer) Music videos directed by Chris Marrs Piliero Songs written by Muni Long Songs written by Stephen Schwartz (composer) Song recordings produced by Greg Wells 2012 songs Songs written by Billboard (record producer)