Good Kisser
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"Good Kisser" is a song by American singer Usher. The single was released on May 5, 2014, by
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
. The accompanying music video debuted the same day. The song was written by Andrew "Pop" Wansel,
Bobby Bloom Robert Bloom (January 15, 1946 – February 28, 1974) was an American singer-songwriter. He is known best for being a one-hit wonder with the 1970 song, "Montego Bay", which was co-written with and produced by Jeff Barry. Biography Bloom was bo ...
,
Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...
, Ronald "Flippa" Colson, Jameel Roberts, Terry Sneed and Warren "Oak" Felder, with co-writing done by Usher, produced by Pop Wansel and Co-produced by Ronald "Flippa" Colson, Jproof, Terry "Tru" Sneed, Natural and Oak Felder. Originally intended to be the lead single from his eighth
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''
Hard II Love ''Hard II Love'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Usher. It was released on September 16, 2016, by RCA Records. Recording sessions took place between from 2013 to 2016, including the executive production from Usher, alon ...
'', the song was scrapped from the standard edition track listing, with the track only being included on the Japanese edition of the album. In North America, the song reached number 65 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number one on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...
chart, and number 14 on the
Rhythmic Songs The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...
chart. It also charted in Australia, Flanders, France, Germany, the Netherlands and South Korea. "Good Kisser" was ranked at number two on ''Billboard''s "10 Best R&B Songs on 2014" list. It was nominated for
Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...
and
Best R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...
at the
57th Annual Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time ...
.


Background

"Good Kisser" was supposed to be a track from his upcoming eighth studio album, ''Flawed'', which Usher announced was in the works on March 19, 2013. Talking to ''
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'', he described the album as "everything you can imagine", saying that it's "gonna be freaking out of here". In an interview with Eric Bellinger by ''
Rap-Up ''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the ...
'', the former explained that he, along with
Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...
,
Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter who is notable for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. Among his most notable productions are "Be Wit ...
, and
Brian Alexander Morgan Brian Alexander Morgan is an American record producer from Wichita, Kansas, United States, best known for his work writing and producing with the R&B group SWV. Career In his early 20s, Morgan recorded a demo tape with his childhood friend LaChe ...
, were working on Usher's next album. Bellinger compared the album's music to Usher's '' Confessions'' (2004), saying that it is "more R&B, more urban" than Usher's ''Looking 4 Myself''. The latter declared that his next album would show that he is "still Usher". The official remix features an additional verse from
Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...
.


Production and composition

"Good Kisser" was written by Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Ronald "Flippa" Colson, Jameel Roberts, Terry Sneed and Warren "Oak" Felder, with co-writing done by Usher. It was produced by Pop Wansel, with co-production handled by Ronald "Flippa" Colson, JProof, Terry "Tru" Sneed, Natural and Oak Felder. In an interview, Pop discussed how the song was conceived: Pop later went to a Los Angeles studio to show the song to Mark Pitts, who later gave it to Usher for him to perform. Usher made some lyrical changes to the song, including the change of the word "suck" to "kiss" in order to make the song less "X-rated". "Good Kisser" is an uptempo "stripped-back soul-funk" R&B song that has a "sensuous, sturdy bassline", "salsa drums", a "dusty vinyl pops", '"
Rich Harrison Richard Christopher Harrison (born 1979) is an American record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C., specializing in R&B and hip hop music. The winner of a Grammy Award, Harrison is well known for producing songs such as " Get Right ...
-recalling" "cowbell-heavy percussion", "jazzy keyboards", "handclaps" and Usher's "loose vocal delivery". According to ''
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 ...
'' writer Ryan Reed, the lyrics consist of "praising one particular set of lips", "setting the scene with lots of specific imagery". ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
''s "Good Kisser" described the lyrics as a mix between " 90s pop innocence and slightly naughtier, early ’90s R&B fare a la Bell Biv DeVoe". There are also "awesome innuendos and racy metaphors" in the song as well.
Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
's Carl Williott suggested the song wasn't about kissing, but rather an ode to
oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex per ...
. In addition, in the song Usher states that he has "lipstick on his leg".


Release and reception

In most countries, except for the United Kingdom, "Good Kisser" was issued as a single, by
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
on May 5, 2014. RCA will issue the single in the UK on June 15. It was Usher's first solo release since his song, "
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" (2012). Two teasers of the song and video had been released previously, one on April 29, and another one on May 2. The track was sent to
Urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...
radio stations in the United States on May 12, where on that same day, he also made a performance debut of the song on ''
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''. On the week that was issued May 24, 2014, "Good Kisser" landed a hot shot debut on the US ''
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 ...
''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
at number 70, and on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart at number 18. It also made a debut on the
Rhythmic Songs The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...
chart at number 32. The track was downloaded more than 29,000 times and got 13 million radio plays on the week ending May 11. While dropping to number 73 on the Hot 100 and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart the next week, it had also made a new peak on the Rhythmic Songs chart of the twenty-fourth place. After a few weeks, the song reached number 65 on the Hot 100 issue dated June 28. In Europe, the song debuted at number 70 on the Belgian Flanders
Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...
chart, number 27 on the Flanders Urban chart, and number 133 in France. It made its start at number 44 and number seven on the
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pop and urban charts respectively, both official record chart of the Oceania country of Australia. In Asia, it debuted at number 36 on the South Korean International chart, with sales of 329,520. Reviews for "Good Kisser" have been mixed. ''
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 ...
'' writer Jon Dolan, giving it a 2.5 out of 5 star, called it a "half-mast funk-soul jam", say that it was "like watching a guy rev his engine for five minutes and never leave the driveway". In July 2014, ''
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 ...
'' listed "Good Kisser" as one of the "10 Best Songs of 2014 (so far)" saying that the song "simmers without boiling but leaves listeners fully satisfied".


Music video

"Good Kisser"'s accompanying music video, directed by Christopher Sims, was released on May 5, the same day of the release of the single. An official behind-the-scenes video came out on May 14. The video shows Usher dancing and drumming shirtless, and features model Felicia Fo Porter. ''
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'''s Patrick Ryan described the video as "
Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
's "
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
" video, only with fewer
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hats". As of April 2021 the video has over 50 million views.


Track listings

*Digital download #"Good Kisser" – 4:09 *Digital download #"Good Kisser" – 4:49


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{authority control Usher (musician) songs 2014 songs 2014 singles Songs written by Usher (musician) RCA Records singles Songs about kissing Songs written by Pop Wansel Songs written by Oak Felder Songs written by Bobby Bloom Songs written by Jeff Barry