"Skin" is a song by American singer

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...

. It was released through

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

on January 22, 2021. The song marks her first release with Island after previously being signed to

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

since 2014. It was written by Carpenter, Tia Scola and its producer Ryan McMahon. "Skin" is a

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

Composition

"Skin" is a

with a length of two minutes and fifty eight seconds. It was written by Carpenter, Tia Scola and Ryan McMahon. McMahon also handled the song's production. "Skin" is composed in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

, and has a tempo of 106 BPM. It uses compound time in verses and common time everywhere else with a chord progression of Em-D-G-B-C-D. Several publications suggested the lyrics are centered around the highly publicized "

love triangle A love triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneo ...

" between Carpenter,

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She began her career as a child, appearing in commercials and the direct-to-video film '' An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success'' (2015). She rose ...

and Joshua Bassett, posing as a response to Rodrigo's single "

Drivers License A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, car ...

", as the track was released only two weeks after Rodrigo's single had come out. Carpenter has since denied the claim that the song is a

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

, explaining that it isn't "calling out one single person". Carpenter has stated that,

"People will make a narrative out of something always ..and I think this was like a really interesting song for people to kind of misinterpret and make into something that it wasn’t really supposed to be in the first place."

Commercial performance

The week of its release, "Skin" debuted at 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 making it the highest debut on the chart for the week. The song also marked Carpenter's first Hot 100 entry with her previous singles " Thumbs" and "

Why Why may refer to: * Causality, a consequential relationship between two events * Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose * Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...

" charting on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

at numbers 1 and 21 respectively. Furthermore, the song reached number 12 in Ireland and the top 30 in the United Kingdom.

Music video

The music video for "Skin" was directed by Jason Lester and released on February 1, 2021. The 3-minute long music video features an appearance by Gavin Leatherwood, who plays Carpenter's love interest.

Live performances

Carpenter performed the song live 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 ...

''. She also performed the song at the 2021

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

. During this performance, Carpenter sang in front of a montage of videos with

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

youth appearing behind her, "sending a powerful message of love and acceptance to the trans community". On May 11, 2023, Carpenter performed the song during the second night in New York of leg two of the Emails I Can't Send Tour.

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 ...

. *

– lead vocals, songwriting, background vocals * Ryan McMahon – production, songwriting, programming, record engineering * Tia Scola – songwriting * Kevin Reeves – masterer * George Seara – mixer

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2020s ballads 2021 singles 2021 songs Sabrina Carpenter songs Songs written by Sabrina Carpenter Synth-pop ballads Island Records singles