''Opulence'' is the debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) by American rapper

Brooke Candy Brooke Dyan Candy (born July 20, 1989) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and tattoo artist. Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she rose to prominence after starring in Grimes' music video for " Genesis" (2012). Following its success ...

, released as digital download by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

on May 6, 2014. The EP is preceded by the release of title track and lead single "Opulence" and is Candy's first major label release. The EP features production from

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

Kool Kojak Allan Peter Grigg, better known by his stage name Kool Kojak and stylized as "KoOoLkOjAk," is an American songwriter and record producer notable for music in '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', co-writing and co-producing Flo Rida's #1 ''Bil ...

Jesse Shatkin Jesse Samuel Shatkin (born 1979) is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums, One Direction, and Miley Cyrus, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for G ...

and Shea Taylor among others, including a feature with producer Cory Enemy and songwriting work from

Mozella Maureen Anne McDonald (born May 13, 1981), better known as Mozella, is an American songwriter and singer. Along with her album releases, Mozella co-wrote Miley Cyrus' 2013 single "Wrecking Ball", which peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Sh ...

Jesse Saint John Jesse St. John Geller (born October 5, 1989) is an American songwriter and singer. St. John has written for a number of artists, most notably Britney Spears, Kim Petras, Dorian Electra, Charli XCX, Brooke Candy, and The Neighbourhood, among other ...

and Sia, the latter also serving as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

of the project.

Background and promotion

Candy caught Sia's attention, and she contacted her via

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 ...

with the purpose of writing one song for her. Sia ended up executive producing Candy's debut record, helping her to get a record contract and to find, in Sia's words: " decent, nice, honest management, and ohelp ermake the art hewant to make from a place of positive mental health and love". Candy signed with

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 ...

in February 2014. She later joined Columbia's UK roster. The first single and title track was performed on April 3, 2014, at

Nicola Formichetti Nicola Formichetti (; born 31 May 1977) is a fashion director and fashion editor. Born in Japan, he is most widely known as the artistic director of the Italian fashion label Diesel and for being a frequent collaborator with singer-songwriter L ...

's debut

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

fashion show in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. It was later released on April 22, 2014, as a digital download along the premiere of its official music video directed by Steven Klein and styled by Formichetti. The song is featured in a scene of ''CSI'''s fifteen season episode "Under My Skin" and is part of the soundtrack of the basketball video game ''

NBA Live 15 ''NBA Live 15'' is a basketball simulation video game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One released on October 28, 2014, in North America and on October 31, 2014, in Europe. It features Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers as its cover ath ...

''.

Critical reception

The EP was generally praised by critics. Kevin Apaza from Direct Lyrics said "five songs featuring hard-hitting

synths A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...

, fierce and risqué lyrics, and a swagger by Brooke that can't be duplicated. She's making us excited about female rappers again. There just have to be more options than

Nicki Nicki is a given name, and may refer to: Film and television * Nicki Aycox (1975–2022), American actress best known for her roles as Syl on the series ''Dark Angel'' and Stella Vessey on the dramedy ''Ed'' * Nicki Chapman (born 1967), English ...

or Iggy!". Ashley Emma NG from Best Fan also praised the project, saying "''Opulence'' brings a fresh sound that is all Brook Candy. Some may not understand her lascivious and unconventional attitude, but you can't help but respect her hustle. Her confidence is indestructible, and not once does it come off as cocky."

Track listing

Credits taken from

Qobuz Qobuz (, commonly mispronounced: ), often stylized as qobuz) is a French digital music store and streaming service, launched in 2007 by Alexandre Leforestier and Yves Riesel. Qobuz is now owned by Xandrie SA. In June 2023, Qobuz offers over 100 ...

. ;Notes * signifies a co- producer ;Sampling credits * "Feel Yourself (Alcohol)" samples the 1997 song entitled " Alane" recorded by Wes.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2014 debut EPs Electronic dance music EPs Hip-hop EPs Pop music EPs RCA Records EPs Brooke Candy albums