"Girlfriend" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his cover (music), song covers uploaded to YouTube. Puth signed with the record labe ...

. It was written by Puth and

Jacob Kasher Hindlin Jacob Kasher Hindlin (born October 1, 1983), also known as J Kash and JKash, is an American songwriter and record producer. He has written songs for artists such as Charlie Puth, Maroon 5, One Direction, Dua Lipa, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, ...

, and produced by Puth. "Girlfriend" was announced on June 22, 2020, along with its official single artwork.

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and Rumson Records jointly released it on June 25, 2020. Initially recorded in 2018, Puth polished the song's production for its release in 2020. It was intended to be part of Puth's third studio album; however, the album was ultimately scrapped. Lyrically, the upbeat

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song sees Puth expressing his feelings to a love interest. "Girlfriend" peaked at number 28 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 advertis ...

Digital Songs Sales The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking so ...

and in the top 40 in Croatia and Hungary. It received positive reception from music critics, who praised its instrumentation and Puth's

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

Drew Kirsch Drew Kirsch is an American film and music video director. Career Kirsch is directing his debut feature film, '' He Bled Neon'', an upcoming thriller produced by XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures. The film stars Rita Ora, Joe Cole, and Paul We ...

directed the

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 "Girlfriend". Released on July 9, 2020, the video features Puth preparing for a dinner date at his home and dancing around the residence. In further promotion, Puth performed the song on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', and in several online series.

Background and release

In 2018,

released his second studio album, ''

Voicenotes ''Voicenotes'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. Almost entirely produced by Puth himself, the album was released by Artist Partner Group and Atlantic Records on May 11, 2018. Five singles have been released ...

'', which included eleven songs co-written by Puth and

. Around these recording sessions, Puth and Hindlin also wrote the song "Girlfriend"; however, it remained unreleased as Puth believed it was "too ahead of its time". The song was produced by Puth, who described it as an "80s-esque

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

-y kind of electropop". It was written to impress a love interest. Puth began to tease the song on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account in April 2020, in which he periodically posted the abbreviation "GF". Puth officially announced the song on June 22, 2020, when he posted its single artwork on his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account. While the song had been created a couple years ago, Puth believed that 2020 was "a perfect time" to release it. He worked on the song's production throughout 2020, and claimed that it was "one of my favorite songs I've ever made". It was released for

digital download Digital download may refer to: *Downloading, the processing of copying data to a computer from an external source *Digital distribution, a method of downloading software or audio-visual media as opposed to buying it at a traditional point of sale * ...

on June 25, 2020.

Composition and reception

"Girlfriend" is two minutes and 57 second long. Dmitry Gorodetsky played bass and Jan Ozveren played guitar on the song. It was produced and programmed by Puth. Chris Galland

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

ed it, Chris Athens

master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

ed it, and Manny Marroquin mixed it with assistance from Jeremie Inhaber, Robin Florent, and Scott Desmarais. The song is written in the key of

D-flat major D-flat major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. The D-flat major scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in w ...

and is set in

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 100

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. Puth's vocal range spans two octaves, from E♭₄ to E♭₆. Heran Mamo of ''

'' referred to "Girlfriend" as a "swoon-worthy summer bop", praising the song's "infectious pop beat". In the United States, "Girlfriend" debuted and peaked at number 28 on the

chart for the issue dated July 11, 2020.

Music video

directed the music video for "Girlfriend", which was released on July 9, 2020. Puth believed that the video allowed him to show off more personality than his previous work. He further stated that the video "meant to visually represent what I want people to do when they hear my music and that’s to have fun in their very own way". In the music video, Puth is inside his residence preparing for a dinner date. Dressed in a floral shirt, gym socks, and loafers, Puth cleans his house and plays

Twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

Live performances

On June 25, 2020, Puth performed the song on ''

''; this live version was released on digital download and streaming services five days later. He also performed it on ''

'' on July 3, 2020. To further promote the song, Puth performed it on several online series, including

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

' Open Mic and

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' In My Room.

Track listings and formats

* Digital download / Streaming # "Girlfriend" – 2:57 * Digital download / Streaming # "Girlfriend" (Live from Corden) – 2:59 * Digital download / Streaming # "Girlfriend" (

Haywyre Martin Sebastian Vogt (born August 8, 1992), better known by his stage name Haywyre, is an American electronic music producer, pianist, and performer. He is known for fusing elements of classical, jazz and funk into various genres of electronic ...

Remix) – 2:38

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. * Charlie Puth – producer, programmer, vocals, and writer * Nili Harary – A&R Administration * Jeremie Inhaber – assistant mixer * Robin Florent – assistant mixer * Scott Desmarais – assistant mixer * Dmitry Gorodetsky – bass * Jan Ozveren – guitar * Chris Athens – masterer * Manny Marroquin – mixer * Chris Galland – mixing engineer * Jacob Kasher Hindlin – writer

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs American pop songs Atlantic Records singles Charlie Puth songs Songs written by Charlie Puth Songs written by Jacob Kasher