"Lemonade" is a song recorded by

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

singer and songwriter

Alexandra Stan Alexandra Ioana Stan (born 10 June 1989) is a Romanian singer. Born in Constanța, she made her worldwide breakthrough with the 2010 single " Mr. Saxobeat", which was written and produced by Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi. They had previous ...

for her Japan-only reissue, ''

Cliché (Hush Hush) ''Cliché (Hush Hush)'' is the reissue of Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan's debut studio album, ''Saxobeats'' (2011). It was released for digital download on 2 October 2013 through Maan Studio; its deluxe edition was made available for ...

'' (2013). It was released for radio airplay in Italy on 12 June 2012, followed by its digital release on 14 June 2012 through

MediaPro Music MediaPro Music is a Romanian record label, part of the Universal Music Group. Launched in 1997, it became an integrated business of the Radio Company PRO in 2006. Between the main label and its sub-labels most music genres are covered, ranging from ...

in Romania and on 1 August 2012 in Japan. Written and produced by Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi, the single incorporates

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...

, reggae-pop and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

into its composition; it makes use of

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

and accordions. Upon its release, "Lemonade" was met with positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, with them naming it "catchy", "fresh" and a highlight, while one of them foresaw it as having a strong radio performance. It also drew comparations to the works of

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perfor ...

and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

. At the Radio România Actualități Awards gala in 2013, the recording received a nomination for Radio România Junior. An accompanying music video for the recording was posted onto

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

on 4 June 2012; it was shot by Iulian Moga in

Buftea Buftea () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, located north-west of Bucharest. One village, Buciumeni, is administered by the town. The film studios MediaPro Pictures and the Buftea Palace of the Știrbei family Știrbei, Știrbey or ...

, Romania, and portrays Stan walking through the city and being present at a block party. Commercially, "Lemonade" peaked on some European record charts, becoming a number-one hit in Bulgaria and reaching the top thirty in Romania, Italy, Japan and Slovakia. It was as well certified Gold by the

Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

(FIMI) for selling 15,000 copies in Italy.

Composition

Winston Cook-Wilson from Inverse called the song an

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

and "sunny"

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

recording featuring a "nonsensical"

. Bradley Stern, writing for MuuMuse, named the genre of the track " Ace of Base-esque reggae-pop", while labeling its lyrics as "completely nonsense" and noticing the use of accordions. Furthermore, Stern pointed out a "stuttering"

breakdown throughout "Lemonade", which, according to him, was inspired by

' "

Hold It Against Me "Hold It Against Me" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, '' Femme Fatale'' (2011). It was written and produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Billboard, with additional writing by Bonnie McKee. Luke explained ...

" (2011). Jonathan Hamard from

Pure Charts Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd ...

felt that the recording was of

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

genre, auguring "a major musical turn with reggae sounds". Romanian website Urban.ro stated that the single was a mixture of 1990's music,

' "

Milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mix ...

" (2003),

's "

Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, from her debut album, ''The Fame'' (2008). It was released as the third Single (music), single from the album in Australia, New Zealand and selected European countries, and ...

(2009) and some dubstep influences. The same portal also pointed out the change of Stan's artistry, with them explaining the departure from her previous

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...

styles. According to Stan's label,

, "Lemonade" portrays a positive lyrical message about enjoying life in every moment.

Reception

Upon its release, "Lemonade" received generally positive reviews from

. Website Inverse's Winston Cook-Wilson praised the track for being complex. Cook-Wilson continued into saying that the recording "is just something to sip on a hot day — also, a way to cool down when thinking about a loved one". Kevin Apaza, writing for

Direct Lyrics MRC II Distribution Company L.P., doing business as MRC (formerly Media Rights Capital), is an American film and television studio. Founded by Mordecai (Modi) Wiczyk and Asif Satchu, the company funds and produces film and television programming. ...

labelled the single "fresh and funky", confessing that he likes it better than its predecessors " 1.000.000" (2012) and "

Get Back (ASAP) "Get Back (ASAP)" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Alexandra Stan, released on 28 March 2011 by Play On / Jeff Records as the third single from her debut studio album, '' Saxobeats'' (2011). The track was written and produced by Marcel Proda ...

" (2011). Furthermore, Apaza foreseed "Lemonade" as a club hit with the help of "a few killer remixes".

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

declared the song as being "catchy", while stating that "you'd be hard-pressed to turn down a glass of what Stan’s serving this summer". Music channel Utv applauded the single, foreseeing it successful on radio. At the Radio România Actualități Awards gala in 2013, the recording received a nomination for Radio România Junior. "Lemonade" debuted at number 74 on the

Italian Singles Chart The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

, with it eventually reaching its peak position at number 25. It was certified Gold by the

(FIMI) for selling 15,000 copies in that territory. The recording remained a number-one hit in Bulgaria, while peaking at number 70 in Czech Republic, number 38 in Hungary, number 18 in Slovakia and number 27 on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by '' Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thu ...

. On native

Airplay 100 Multiple record charts have been inaugurated in Romania since the 1990s. The Romanian Top 100 was the country's national chart until 2012. Founded in 1995, it was a ranking based on the compilation of charts submitted by local Romanian radio stat ...

, "Lemonade" managed to peak at number 22.

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Lemonade" was posted onto the

channel of Stan's label, Maan Studio, on 4 June 2012 after it was previewed one day before. It was shot by Iulian Moga in April 2012 at the MediaPro Pictures studios in

, Romania. The clip commences with Stan entering a kitchen wearing a red-white striped dress. Subsequently, she is portrayed cutting lemons and making lemonade, following which she makes a phone call and walks down the street sporting a lemon-printed yellow dress and smiling into the camera. Next, Stan is seen singing in front of a red car, flirting with a man, which is followed by the appearance of two police men. They enter a store and the singer is presented selling lemons in the street. Afterwards, the video switches from color to sepia, as she is present at a block party; it closes with Stan posing in front of a backdrop designed with different types of shoes. Kevin Apaza from Direct Lyrics praised the clip, naming it one of her best works yet. He went on into calling the video "cute" and comparing one of Stan's outfits to gipsy culture. Urban.ro was positive towards the music video, stating that it "illustrates the single beautifully" and that they like "the colors, the styling, all".

Los 40 Principales Los 40 (The 40, stylized as LOS40 and formerly ''Los 40 Principales'', es, Los Cuarenta) is a Top 40 music radio network and radio station brand in many Spanish-speaking countries from PRISA Radio. The station has its origins as a music show ...

cited the clip in their list of Stan's best videos along with " Dance" (2014), " Cherry Pop" (2014), "

Thanks for Leaving "Thanks for Leaving" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Alexandra Stan for her second studio album, '' Unlocked'' (2014). It was made available for digital consumption on 28 April 2014 through Fonogram Records and Roton as the record's first ...

" (2014), "

" (2012), "Get Back (ASAP)", "1.000.000" (2011), " Mr. Saxobeat" (2011), " Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)" (2009) and "

All My People "All My People" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan for her Japan-only reissue album, ''Cliché (Hush Hush)'' (2013). Written and produced by Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi, the track features vocal collaboration fr ...

" (2013).

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Cliché (Hush Hush)''. ;Recording *Recorded at Maan Studio in

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, Romania. ;Technical and songwriting *Andrei Nemirschi –songwriter, producer *Marcel Prodan –

songwriter 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 ...

, producer *Alexandra Stan – lead

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 ...

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release

Process

The track was first released for radio airplay in Italy on 12 June 2012, following which it was made available for digital download in Romania on 14 June 2012 through

. Subsequently, "Lemonade" was released in Italy through

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

one day later, with a remixes EP being premiered in that country on 24 July 2012 by Vae Victis. From August to October 2012, the recording was released to Japan, Spain and the United States through Maan Studio,

Blanco y Negro Music Blanco y Negro Music (short Blanco y Negro translated from Spanish "Black and White") is a Spanish record label which was founded in 1978. It is one of the leading dance music record companies in Spain. On January 17, 1983, Blanco y Negro Music be ...

and

Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

, respectively.

History

References

External links

* {{authority control Alexandra Stan songs 2012 singles 2012 songs English-language Romanian songs Dance-pop songs Reggae fusion songs Dubstep songs Romanian songs