"Candy" is a song recorded by American rapper and singer

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat ( ), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song ...

for her debut album, ''

Amala Amala may refer to: People * Amala Akkineni, South Indian actress * Amala Chebolu, playback singer in the Telugu film industry, also known as Tollywood * Amala Paul (born 1991), South Indian actress * Amala Shankar (1919–2020), Indian dancer ...

'' (2018). Released on March 23, 2018, as the second single from the album, through Kemosabe and

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

. The song was written by Doja Cat, Cameron Bartolini,

Budo Budo or buddo may refer to: * Budō, a Japanese term describing Japanese martial arts * Buddo hill Buddo, sometimes spelled as Budo, is a hill in Wakiso District, Central Uganda. Phonetically, Buddo is the correct spelling in Luganda, the na ...

and Yeti Beats, the latter two being the producers of the track, alongside Cambo, as an additional producer. "Candy" peaked at number 86 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Background and composition

"Candy" was written by Amala Dlamini and Cameron Bartolini. Bartolini also co-produced the single with

and Yeti Beats and worked with the instruments. The song was mixed by Neal Pogue. "Candy" was released on March 23, 2018, as the second single from Doja Cat's debut studio album ''

'' (2018). Following its release, she posted a preview on her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account. The audio video for the song premiered simultaneously as the single. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

, the song is performed in the key of G Minor with an

up-tempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be 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 mus ...

120 beats per minute.

Critical reception

"Candy" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Mike Wass of ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' praised it as a "trap-heavy hip-hop jam", and

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

's Matt Collar selected it as one of the album's highlights. Milca P. of HotNewHipHop praised the song's musical direction and said it "leans more toward the typically R&B-heavy catalog of the RCA signee".

Rap-Up ''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on th ...

added to their blog "Rising rapper-singer Doja Cat continues to ‘push the envelope’ on her latest, risqué and sensually-driven single, Candy." Andrew P. Hale for ''

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, f ...

'' described the song as "smooth but adult-oriented" and pointed it out for its sexual themes, writing that "A very smooth and intimate beat with a degree of excitement by Budo, Cambo, and Yeti Beats, Doja Cat rides it with confidence and talent. Better for husbands and wives, can't promote the content for the youth."

Credits and personnel

Recording and management * Engineered at The Himalayas (Los Angeles, California) * Mastered at

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and ...

(Hollywood, California) * Mau Publishing, Inc./Prescription Songs (BMI), Yeti Yeti Yeti Music/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), GutterFunk/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), Cameron Bartolini Music (ASCAP) Personnel *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

* David Sprecher – songwriting; production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Joshua Karp – songwriting; production *Cameron Bartolini – songwriting; additional production, engineering *

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's ''Speak ...

– mixing * Mike Bozzi – mastering Credits adapted from '' Hot Pink (Japan Version)'' liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 songs 2018 singles Doja Cat songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Doja Cat Songs written by Yeti Beats Song recordings produced by Yeti Beats Kemosabe Records singles Trap music songs