"Candy" is a song by American rapper and singer

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

for her debut album, '' Amala'' (2018). Originally put out in 2016 on SoundCloud, getting an early release alongside other Amala songs Casual, Roll With Us, and All Nighter, but was officially released on March 23, 2018, as the second single from the album, through Kemosabe and

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

. The song was written by Doja Cat alongside producers Budo &

Yeti Beats David Alexander Sprecher (born July 2, 1981), known professionally as Yeti Beats, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his work with American singer and rapper Doja Cat, having produced her breakout singles "Candy", ...

and additional producer Cambo. "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 Budo and

and worked with the instruments. The song was mixed by

Neal Pogue Neal H Pogue (born December 27, 1963) 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 ...

. "Candy" was released on March 23, 2018, as the second single from Doja Cat's debut studio album '' Amala'' (2018). Following its release, she posted a preview on her

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. 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 LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...

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

up-tempo 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 ...

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. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

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

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 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 the ...

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, ...

'' 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 (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) 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 Chri ...

(Hollywood, California) * Mau Publishing, Inc./

Prescription Songs Prescription Songs is an independent music publishing and licensing company founded in 2009 by Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. History Between 2013 and 2017, Prescription Songs held a joint publishing deal with Nashville-based Big Machine Records t ...

(BMI), Yeti Yeti Yeti Music/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), GutterFunk/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), Cameron Bartolini Music (ASCAP) Personnel *

– vocals, songwriting * David Sprecher – songwriting; production,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

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

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue (born December 27, 1963) 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 ...

– mixing *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Childish Gambino's " This Is America", and is a six-time nominee for the Grammy Award fo ...

– mastering Credits adapted from '' Hot Pink (Japan Version)'' liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

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