Background and production
In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Diplo explained "Bubble Butt" first began taking shape while he and Bruno Mars were working on material for No Doubt's Push and Shove (album), last album. The producer "put a beat on" and Mars decided to rap. In another interview with ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'', Ron Perry, President of Songs Publishing, explained that he wanted Diplo to sign with his company, and in order for this to happen, Diplo had requested that Perry get a "couple rappers" on the track. Perry enlisted 2 Chainz and Tyga on the recording in a matter of weeks. The original version was leaked on April 11, 2013. "Bubble Butt" was initially written by Diplo, Thomas Pentz, Switch (house DJ), David Taylor, Mars, Tyga, Michael Stevenson and Mystic (singer), Mystic. Production was handled by Major Lazer and Valentino Khan, while Chris Carmouche was in charge of mixing. Tyga recorded his verses at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Dan Gerbarg and Howie Weinberg mastered the song at Howie Weinberg Mastering in Los Angeles. Unlike the original, the single version features verses written and performed by 2 Chainz.Release and live performances
The single version was first made available by Because Music and Alternative Distribution Alliance via Music download, digital download on May 24, 29 and 31, 2013, in France, the United Kingdom, and Belgium respectively. The song was released for digital download in Italy on June 4. It was added to contemporary hit radio in the United Kingdom on July 29, by Because and Mad Decent. The remix for "Bubble Butt" was also issued via digital download on September 10 in Australia and October 4 in Singapore by Secretly Canadian and Warner Music Singapore, respectively. The former has a different remix version, including South Korean rappers G-Dragon and T.O.P (rapper), TOP instead of 2 Chainz. On December 11, 2013, Warner sent the song for Airplay, radio airplay in Italy. In 2018, the song was included in their first greatest hits compilation, ''Major Lazer Essentials''. The song was played several times at Major Lazer's shows, including at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella along with 2 Chainz, Rock Werchter, at Rock Werchter, and at Pukkelpop in 2013. It was also performed in 2014 at both the Moshcam concert and Roskilde Festival. When the track was played, women from the audience were invited to dance and twerk along. The performance included smoke canons, giant flags and zorb balls.Composition
Musically, "Bubble Butt" is an electronic dance music (EDM), hip hop music, hip hop, and dancehall song. It is a "swaggering" and energetic number that draws heavily from crunk inspirations. It was composed with the intention of being played at clubs. The track features squawking samples, heavy bass, "squiggly synths", clap beats, and bubble-popping sound effects, culminating with the "bub-bub-bubbing hook". ''Consequence of Sound''s Derek Staples noted the resemblance between "Bubble Butt" and Major Lazer’s "Pon de Floor" (2009). Both songs feature lyrics that are seen as an anthem to twerking, "ass-shaking" and big buttocks. Mars repeats the chorus multiple times, "Bubble butt, bubble butt, turn around, stick it out, show the world you got a bubble butt", which draws inspiration from Rihanna's "Rude Boy (Rihanna song), Rude Boy" (2010), while Tyga raps "Damn, bitch, talk much?/I don't want interviews/Ha! I'm tryin' ta get into you/then make you my enemy". Mystic is found "lyrically wining circles around Bruno Mars and Tyga". Critics found that the combination of the track's lyrics and its catchy beat would make a "dance-floor hit".Critical reception
"Bubble Butt" has received mixed reviews from Music journalism, music critics. Sam Gould of MOBO Awards, MOBO complimented the "maddening beat" calling it an "infectiously naughty number which will have staggering effects on pretty much anyone within a 5-mile radius." AllMusic's David Jeffries called the song "fat", with the "Ying Yang Triplets" (Mars, Tyga, and Mystic) making sure that crunk is not over. Matthew Jacobs writing for ''HuffPost'' said it "is a bizarre electro-feminist anthem ... or just bizarre". He added, that the track is "splendidly absurd." ''Consequence of Sound''s Derek Staples called "Bubble Butt" a "booty-bouncing anthem". Staples considered it an "essential track" that needed to be added, "to your club-banger playlist." Nate Patrin of ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork'' praised Tyga's verse, naming it "the most shut-the-fuck-up verse of the year". Iyana Robertson of ''Vibe (magazine), Vibe'' called the original song "addictive", while also praising the remix that included 2 Chainz verse, and predicted the track to be heavily played in clubs. Puja Patel from ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' found "Bubble Butt" to be ridiculous and believed it was meant to become one of the "most gloriously overplayed songs of the summer". He compared its bass, hook and "catchiness" to Big Boi’s "Shutterbugg" (2010) and Jimmy Spicer’s "The Bubble Bunch" (1982). Kate Hutchinson from ''Drowned in Sound'' gave the song a mixed review, saying Mars's singing is not the "worst thing on the album", and noting that it features a "minimal hip-hop bounce...deceivingly intricate jungle of trilling and squawking samples", reminding listeners that Diplo is a "talented" producer. Killian Fox writing for ''The Observer'' found the track to be childish. ''NME''s Lucy Jones found the song to be the worst on the album, as it repeats the chorus several times and has shallow lyrics. The song found its way on several best-songs-of-the-year-lists. On the list of the 100 best songs of 2013 compiled by ''Rolling Stone'', the song was placed at number 76. Critics called it a "joyfully jiggly and deliriously physical as its subject", dubbing it as a "twerk-enticer". ''PopMatters''s Ryan Lathan ranked the song as the ninth-best dance single of 2013. Lathan dubbed the song as an "undeniably addictive song [which] had the desired effect of flooding dance floors everywhere this year." Carl Williott of Idolator (website), Idolator considered it one of "the most mindlessly awesome song of the year." The single was one of ''Spin''s 40th Best Songs of the mid-year of 2013. Jordan Sargent of ''Spin'' called it a hidden "gem" on Major Lazer's album, continuing by labelling it "a flagrantly fun and ridiculous track with the year's catchiest chorus". Ashley Lyle from ''Billboard'' called it one of the best hip-hop collaborations of Mars, a "fun twerk anthem".Commercial performance
In the United States, the original version of "Bubble Butt" peaked at number 56 on the week of August 24, 2013, spending a total of nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and becoming Major Lazer's first song to reach the Hot 100. It was also the first Major Lazer track to enter the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Songs chart—reaching number eight. It peaked at number 13 on the US Rhythmic (chart), Rhythmic chart and reached number 17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ranking. "Bubble Butt" further reached number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs ranking. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it gold for track-equivalent sales of 500,000 units. Following its remixed single release featuring 2 Chainz, "Bubble Butt" entered at its highest position, number 39, on the ARIA Charts, Australian Singles Chart. The remix also entered the Dutch Top 40, Dutch Tipparade, peaking at number two, and reached number 27 on both the UK Indie Chart, UK Indie and UK R&B Chart, UK R&B charts. In Belgium, the album version of "Bubble Butt" peaked at number eight on the Ultratop Flanders Urban and number 24 on the Ultratop 50 Flanders charts. The same version reached number 12 on the MegaCharts, Mega Dance Top 30 in Netherlands. "Bubble Butt" also notably peaked at number one in Lebanon. The Singapore version of the single charted at number one on the South Korean International Singles chart.Music video
Development and synopsis
An accompanying music video for "Bubble Butt" was directed by Eric Wareheim of comedy team Tim & Eric. Regarding the concept of the video, he explained that "in [his] perfect world Buttzilla would be Queen of all humans. She would set things right and focus our united attention on the most important thing in our short lives...BOOTY." In the video, three young and thin women with blue hair reside in their apartment late at night, unenthusiastically listening to seapunk, seapunk music and taking pictures on their mobile phones. A flying giantess with big buttocks subsequently lands next to their apartment. After spotting the women, she opens her mouth and hoses shoot out and slither into the apartment through the window, terrifying the women as the hoses poke into their buttocks and inflate them to an abnormal size. Following this, the apartment walls collapse to reveal the dancefloor of a nightclub; the women start dancing with their new butts. The giantess (referred to in the credits as "Buttzilla") blows bubbles that pop on the dancefloor and release large-butted women who also begin dancing. From then on, the video mainly focuses on three of the newly appeared women, who wear yellow pigtails, a ponytail and short hair, respectively. There is also a woman hanging from the ceiling by ribbons performing acrobatic moves. The aforementioned women dance throughout the rest of the video. At one point the acrobat woman explodes into confetti that rains down on the other women. The woman in pigtails continues dancing, unaware that one of the giantess' hoses is coming up behind her. The hose wraps around her waist and violently yanks her off the dance floor. The dancer struggles in the grip of the hose as she is pulled into the giantess' mouth and eaten. After swallowing the woman alive, Buttzilla flies away as the video ends.Reception
Several publications dubbed the video as Not safe for work, NSFW (not safe for work). ''Consequence of Sound'' Michael Roffman called the video a "sensational" and "bizarre masterpiece". ''Paper (magazine), Paper''s Abby Schreiber thought she couldn't describe the video only using words, daring the reader to view it instead. Claire Lobenfeld writing for ''Stereogum'' and ''Music Feed''s Sarah Bella found the "Bubble Butt" music video to be very colored and reggae-influenced. Bella dubbed the video as "totally insane" and as containing more shots of buttocks than an "American Apparel ad." Matthew Jacobs from ''Huff Post'' described the video as "an eccentric science fiction, sci-fi rendering" and "splendidly absurd". Josh Modell of ''The A.V. Club'' described the video as a "saga about Buttzilla". Modell advised enjoying the video "responsibly" and advised the viewer to be Age of majority, of age. Idolator (website), Idolator's Carl Williott found the video to be one of the most "mindlessly twerksome" in 2013, accompanied by a "highbrow fare" visual. However, Williott felt that the featured artists on the track should have been seen in the music video as well.Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Free The Universe''. * Diplo, Thomas Pentz – songwriting * Switch (house DJ), David Taylor – songwriting * Bruno Mars – lead vocals, Songwriter, songwriting * Tyga – lead vocals, songwriting * Mystic – lead vocals, songwriting * 2 Chainz – lead vocals, songwriting * Major Lazer – Record producer, production * Valentino Khan – production * Chris Carmouche – Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing * Dan Gerbarg – Audio mastering, mastering * Howie Weinberg – masteringCharts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
* {{authority control 2013 songs 2013 singles Dancehall songs Major Lazer songs Bruno Mars songs Tyga songs 2 Chainz songs Songs written by 2 Chainz Songs written by Bruno Mars Songs written by Diplo Songs written by Switch (house DJ) Songs written by Tyga Because Music singles