"Bitter" is a song by American singer

Chanté Moore Chanté Torrane Moore (born February 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and author. The first signee with record executive Louis Silas, Jr.'s Silas Records, she rose to prominence with her debu ...

. It was written by Moore,

Katrina Willis Katrina C. Willis (born October 2, 1971) is a singer/songwriter, musician and producer. She was one of four co-writers of Aretha Franklin's Grammy Award-winning single "Wonderful". and Luther Vandross's "Say It Now". With two others she wrote The ...

, and

Laney Stewart Laney Stewart (born January 10, 1966) is an American songwriter, music producer, musician, music publisher, music executive, manager and youth mentor. He has written, produced and published hits for some of the biggest names in R&B, hip hop and ...

for her fourth studio album ''

Exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website * '' Exeposé'', a student-run newspaper of the University of Exeter Film and TV ...

'' (2000), while production was helmed by the latter. A

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

song about the pain and anger after a relationship has been shattered by lies, it was released as the album's second single on November 17, 2000. "Bitter" garnered largely positive reviews from music critics and peaked at number 10 on the

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

chart.

Background

"Bitter" was written by Chanté Moore along with songwriter

, and frequent collaborator

for her fourth studio album ''

'' (2000). Production on the track was overseen by Stewart. Moore reportedly recorded the song in one take. In 2013, she commented in an interview: "I was very genuine when I sang that song. I sang it one time through and, burst out laughing at the end and never recorded it again." With the original version making use of the word "

Nigga ''Nigga'' (), also known as "''the N-word''", is a colloquial term in African-American Vernacular English that is considered as a vulgar word in most contexts of its use. It began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur agai ...

," two further versions with slightly different lyrics were also recorded however.

Critical reception

"Bitter" earned largely positive reviews from critics. Chuck Taylor from ''

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 advertis ...

'' called "Bitter" by "far the best song" on its parent album ''

'', citing it as a return to Moore's "signature sound – from the wondrous whispering vocals to the slow, simple music track." ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' described the song as "a moving testament that invokes

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

's phrasings," while ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' editor Charlotte Robinson found that "Bitter" was particularly "great" because it was containing "engaging, unusual lyrics ..with the music of a sappy love song." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''s Craig Seymour noted that Moore "forgoes contemporary R&B histrionics on "Bitter," instead dismissing a lover with cool civility." ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' called the song "a brutally frank 'leave me alone' ballad."

Music video

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 ...

for "Bitter" was directed by Aaron Courseault. A continuation of the video for " Contagious" (2001), her collaboration with

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

, R. Kelly makes a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in "Bitter."

Track listings

US promo single # "Bitter" (radio edit) – 3:12 # "Bitter" (LP version) – 3:12 # "Bitter" (instrumental) – 3:12 # "Bitter" (a cappella) – 3:10

Credits and personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of ''Exposed''. * Malik Crawford – recording * Kevin "KD" Davis – engineering, mixing *

– vocals, writer *

– producer, programming, writer * Craig Taylor – assistant engineer *

– writer

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straight Up (Chante Moore song) 2001 singles 2000 songs Chanté Moore songs MCA Records singles Silas Records singles 2000s ballads Downtempo songs