"Cry" is a song by American singer and rapper

Ashnikko Ashton Nicole Casey (born February 19, 1996), known professionally as Ashnikko ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Her 2019 single "Stupid (Ashnikko song), Stupid" featuring Yung Baby Tate gained viral popularity on the video-sha ...

featuring vocals from Canadian singer-songwriter

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elabora ...

. It was released on June 17, 2020 through

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as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from Ashnikko's debut mixtape, ''

Demidevil ''Demidevil'' (stylized in all caps) is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter and rapper Ashnikko. It was released on January 15, 2021, through Parlophone and Warner Records. The mixtape was supported by four singles: " Cry" featuring ...

''. It was produced by Ebenezer and written by Ashnikko, Grimes, Ebenezer, and Faangs. A

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

, and

hyperpop Hyperpop (sometimes called bubblegum bass) is a loosely defined electronic music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated during the early 2010s in the United Kingdom. It is characterised by an exaggerated or maximalist take on p ...

track, its lyrics are dedicated to Ashnikko's ex-best friend who had sex with her ex-boyfriend. The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, and was included on

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's list of the best songs of 2020. The animated music video for the song was directed by Mike Anderson and released the same day as the song. It was nominated for Best Pop Video – UK at the

2020 UK Music Video Awards The 2020 UK Music Video Awards were held on 5 November 2020 to recognise the best in music videos and music film making from United Kingdom and worldwide. The nominees were announced on 29 September 2020. Four new categories were included, R&B/Sou ...

Background and release

Ashnikko originally wrote "Cry" out of a desire to write a song reminiscent of American rock band

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

as a joke, but came to like the sound of the track and decided to expand upon it. After Grimes followed Ashnikko on

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, Ashnikko sent her a direct message asking her to appear as a featured artist on one of her songs, to which Grimes agreed. The song was co-written with Canadian singer-songwriter Faangs. The song was announced on May 27, 2020, while its release date was originally announced as June 3, 2020 via Ashnikko's

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account. The release was postponed in response to the

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, with Ashnikko tweeting "Now is NOT the time to be promoting music." It was released as the

from her 2021 mixtape ''

'', and became Grimes's first release after giving birth to X Æ A-12, her son with

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

. The track was released on June 17, 2020. A heavy metal version of the song featuring the band

Employed to Serve Employed to Serve is a British metalcore band from Woking, England. History Employed to Serve was formed in 2011 by current members Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin. In July 2020, several members of Employed to Serve and Renounced released an E ...

was released on August 4, 2020.

Composition

"Cry" has been described as

, and

. A distorted "

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

-adjacent" guitar riff and trap drums make up the song's instrumentation. The first verse is rapped by Ashnikko, which transitions into a chorus sung by Ashnikko in a raspy, belted "scream", followed by the second verse sung by Grimes in an "eerie" whisper. The song's lyrics were written about an old best friend of Ashnikko's who had sex with her ex-boyfriend, with Ashnikko asking the friend, "Bitch, are you tryna make me cry?/Are you tryna make me lose it?". Grimes's verse features heavy reverb and paraphrases the first line of

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's play ''

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'' with the lyric, "This is the winter of my discontent".

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's Fred Thomas described the song as "jittery", while Elly Watson of '' DIY'' described it as "feisty". Ed Power of ''

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'' deemed it "terrifying".

Critical reception

Brendan Wetmore of ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

'' called the song "an ambitious burst of anger" and "one of shnikko'smost expansive ongs sonically". Ashley Reese of ''

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

'' wrote that the track "does a great job making the case that nu-metal revival is for the girls", adding, "Honestly, my only complaint is that the two-minute and five-second long song isn’t longer." Megan Townsend of ''

Crack Magazine ''Crack'' is a monthly independent music and culture magazine distributed across Europe. Founded in Bristol in the UK in 2009, the magazine has featured Björk, MF Doom, Lil Yachty, FKA twigs, Gorillaz and Queens of the Stone Age on the cover ...

'' wrote that "Cry" was a "good introduction to shnikko'sworld as any", calling it "brilliant". Chris DeVille of ''

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'' called it "crunching" and "guitar-powered", stating, "Where modern nu-metal/pop hybrids are concerned, it's as good as anything

Rina Sawayama is a Japanese and British singer-songwriter, actress and model. Born in Niigata (city), Niigata, Japan, she immigrated to London with her parents at the age of five. In 2017, she Self-publishing, self-released her debut extended play, ''Rina ...

has done so far." In a ''

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'' review of ''Demidevil'', Nick Malone wrote that the song was one of several songs on the mixtape that was "serviceable, if forgettable", describing its chorus as "impassioned" and its verses as "weak".

named "Cry" the 84th best song of 2020, with LaTesha Harris writing, "The strength of 'Cry' is in the duality...the track – campy

inspired by nu-metal acts like Evanescence – is expansive and vulnerable, oscillating between vicious, throat-punching shrieks and delicate, honeyed breaths."

Music video

The music video for "Cry" was released on the same day as the song. It was directed by Mike Anderson and made as a CGI animation, partially due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

as well as Grimes's pregnancy. The video was inspired by

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

Synopsis

The video begins with a green-haired girl running down an alleyway in a dilapidated city, then hiding behind a destroyed car. Ashnikko, who appears as a demon with three heads and chunks of her body missing, begins chasing after the green-haired girl, who shoots at Ashnikko but trips. Ashnikko picks the girl up by the neck to see that she is wearing a pendant with half of a broken heart before ripping her body in half. A flashback shows Ashnikko, this time with no mutations, floating inside the head of a

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

in space, starting to cry when she sees her pendant, which has the other half of the broken heart. In a dark forest, Grimes, who is depicted as a group of identical fairies, shoots a beam of light into the sky, which hits the mecha, causing it to explode. Ashnikko starts floating in outer space, before Grimes taps her head, causing her to morph into her distorted, three-headed version. Back in the city, Ashnikko walks towards the green-haired girl and begins to mutate as Grimes's heads start to grow out of her limbs.

Reception and accolades

The video was named the fifth best music video released in June 2020 by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', with writer Eric Torres writing, "Equal parts frantic action thriller and intergalactic anime, 'Cry' dazzles even as it turns grisly." Writing for ''Paper'', Brendan Wetmore referred to the video as "a wild trip through Ashnikko's most glorious nightmares" and "an experience that is literally out of this world." ''Dork'''s Jamie Muir called the video a "must-watch" and "a gory out-of-this-world trip". In a less positive review of the video, ''Jezebel''s Ashley Reese wrote, "I can take it or leave it." "Cry" was nominated for Best Pop Video - UK at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

vocals, songwriting *

vocals, songwriting * Ebenezerproduction, songwriting, programming, recording * Matt Wolachassistant production * Melissa Storwicksongwriting * John Greenhammastering *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...

mixing

Charts

References

{{authority control 2020 songs 2020 singles Ashnikko songs Grimes songs Rap rock songs Nu metal songs Warner Music Group singles Parlophone singles Songs written by Ashnikko Hyperpop songs Animated music videos