"Bum Bum" is a song by American singer

Kat DeLuna Kathleen Emperatriz DeLuna (born November 26, 1987) is an American singer. DeLuna began pursuing a career as a singer when she was a teenager and later signed with Epic Records. Her debut single, " Whine Up", released in 2007, went on to become ...

featuring

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

, released by

eOne Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series. The company began on June 1, 1973 ...

as a standalone single on March 30, 2015. A

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song, it samples and interpolates Sister Nancy's " Bam Bam" (1982) and Shaggy and Rikrok's " It Wasn't Me" (2000). The instrumental has

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

influences and the lyrics are about sex. The song was included on DeLuna's

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

''Loading'' (2016). Critics had a mixed response to "Bum Bum", which peaked at number 32 on the Rhythmic ''Billboard'' chart. The song was promoted with a

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 ...

released on June 16, 2015. In it, DeLuna dances and appears nude. Noise Cans and Frank Delour released remixes for the single.

Composition and lyrics

"Bum Bum" was written by Thomas Allen, Harold Brown, Orville Burrell, Morris "B.B." Dickerson, Rickardo Ducent, Leroy Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Shaun Pizzonia, Winston Delano Riley, Howard Scott, and Brian Thompson. A ''Vibe'' writer described it as a

song with

influences and "island vibes". Mike Wass of Idolator called it a

slow jam A slow jam is music with rhythm and blues and soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is from a ...

and contrasted its "soft and mellow" sound with DeLuna's past music, which was frequently

uptempo A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

club music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create s ...

. "Bum Bum" samples and interpolates of Sister Nancy's 1982 song " Bam Bam" and Shaggy and Rikrok's 2000 single " It Wasn't Me". DeLuna said that Hook chose the samples. As part of a

press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

, she described the sample as "evidence that music transcends generations" and said "Bam Bam" had "left musical imprint culturally". ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'''s Rawiya Kameir cited "Bum Bum" as a possible indicator of

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

's resurgence in

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...

. Throughout the song, DeLuna gives instructions to a lover, such as: "We can do it in the shower / We can do it on the floor / You can get it every hour, there's so much more." She teases her partner: "Go hard but don’t break it".

's verses include "Shawty came in and she caught me red handed staring at her butt"; Kameir said he acts like a "charming

lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

". According to ''HotNewHipHops Trevor Smith, "Bum Bum" was one of several singles about butts released in 2015.

Release

"Bum Bum" was uploaded to DeLuna's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on March 30, 2015. The same day, it was released only as a digital download on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and DeLuna's official website. The song was included on the

''Loading'' (2016). Wass considered "Bum Bum" to be DeLuna's return to US radio after primarily promoting her music in Europe. On May 20, 2015, Caribbean producer Noise Cans uploaded a remix on his

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

account; it replaces the samples with a different instrumental. Producer Frank Delour also released a remix, featuring a faster tempo and a "more sunny and tropical" sound. DeLuna said the cover art was inspired by Roman and Greek statues of nude women and

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (né Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''The New York Times, New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically ch ...

's photography of nude figures. She connected the artwork with

women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

, saying that she wanted to "bring the essence of empowering women". She said: "It's empowering to have your body be a piece of art rather than a sex symbol. I want women to know that their flesh and soul are a symbol of power and beauty."

Reception

"Bum Bum" received mixed responses from critics. Wass praised it as "a hip-dipping slow jam that celebrates women and makes you want to move". Criticizing the title as "juvenile" and the song for having an "overarching silliness", Smith commended DeLuna and Songz for "hold ngdown the reggae-tinged record with winking glee".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Andy Kellman dismissed "Bum Bum" as "boilerplate reggae-pop fusion". Commercially, "Bum Bum" reached number 32 on the Rhythmic ''Billboard'' chart on June 27, 2015. It remained on the chart for five weeks.

Music video

The

was uploaded to DeLuna's YouTube channel on June 16, 2015. Throughout it, DeLuna "shakes, winds, jiggles, pats, rubs, pops, and drops her butt"; Songz is not included in the video. DeLuna appears nude in certain scenes; she said it was a commentary on power and not intended to be purely sexual. Kameir believed the video would get a continuation due to a "mysterious title screen" at the end. Wass described the video as "eye-popping" and one of the most "outrageous" released in 2015, and Kameir said that it "proves that subtlety is passé".

Charts

References

{{authority control 2015 songs Kat DeLuna songs Songs written by Shaggy (musician) Songs written by Trey Songz Trey Songz songs