"Friday" is the debut single by American singer Rebecca Black. It was written and produced by Los Angeles record producers Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson. The song's music video was released on February 10, 2011; it was officially released as a single on streaming platforms on March 14, 2011. A teen pop song, "Friday" features Black singing about her daily morning routine and her excitement for the upcoming weekend. The song makes heavy use of Auto-Tune, and also includes a rap verse from Wilson, which was uncredited on the single.
Black was inspired to record a song with Jey and Wilson's music production company, ARK Music Factory, after seeing a high school classmate produce a music video with them. The music video for "Friday" caught a sudden surge of hits after Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax comedian Michael J. Nelson called it "the worst video ever made" on Twitter and the song was featured on the Tosh.0 blog. The song's reception was highly negative, and it was parodied by numerous artists and comedians.
The original music video was removed from YouTube on June 16, 2011, due to legal disputes between ARK Music and Black.Gardner, Eric. "Rebecca Black's 'Friday' Taken Off YouTube (Analysis)", The Hollywood Reporter, June 17, 2011. The video was later re-uploaded to YouTube on September 16, 2011. The music video for the song is one of the most disliked YouTube videos of all time. Since the growth in popularity of the song and video, there have been numerous parody videos and remixes. On February 10, 2021, to commemorate the song's tenth anniversary, Black released an official hyperpop remix featuring 3OH!3, Big Freedia and Dorian Electra to more positive reviews.
Background and production "Friday" co-writer Patrice Wilson, a co-founder of ARK Music Factory, explained that he "wrote the lyrics on a Thursday night going into a Friday. I was writing different songs all night and was like, 'Wow, I've been up a long time and it's Friday.' And I was like, wow, it is Friday!"
An ARK Music Factory client told Black's mother about the company's production services in late 2010; Black was 13 at the time, and living in the Anaheim Hills planned community in Anaheim, California. Black's mother, Georgina Kelly, paid ARK Music $4,000 for a song and accompanying video that included a choice of two pre-written songs "Super Woman" and "Friday". According to Kelly, the payment covered one half or less of the production costs of the music video, and Black's family could have paid nothing in exchange for giving up all rights to the song. Black chose "Friday", as "Super Woman" "was about adult love–I haven't experienced that yet". "I felt like it was my personality in that song". ARK Music extensively used the pitch-correcting software Auto-Tune. Although Kelly had some doubts over the quality of the lyrics, Black assured her that "she sang it as they wrote it."
Composition
"Friday" uses the '50s progression, a I–vi–IV–V chord progression that many popular songs have used such as "Heart and Soul" and "Unchained Melody". It is performed in the key of B major at a tempo of 112 beats per minute. According to Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times, the familiar structure contributes to the song's catchiness, making it what others have called an earworm. The song also sees Black on a harmony track. In a review for Rolling Stone, writer Matthew Perpetua described the vocals as having "a peculiar tonality that inadvertently highlights the absurdity of boilerplate pop lyrics", adding that the tone in the refrain "sounds unlike anything else in pop music". He noted the sound as being not entirely agreeable to listen to, but stated that Black ultimately ends up "sounding like a distinct singer with an alluring sort of anti-charisma". The lyrics of the song speak about "hanging out with friends and having fun". The lyrics reflect the happenings of a day, in the life of a teenager like Black, like eating breakfast and going to school. "She's excited 'cause it's Friday. Which means a weekend full of possibility awaits", a Plugged In reviewer concluded.
Critical reception
"Friday" was panned by music critics, for its songwriting, instrumentation, Black's vocals, and the video choreography. Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo! Music asked if it could be "the worst song ever". On March 29, 2011, it surpassed Justin Bieber's "Baby" as the most disliked YouTube video, with 1.17 million dislikes, and once had over 3 million "dislikes", accounting for 88% of the total ratings of the video. The video was later removed, although it has since been officially re-uploaded.Youtube - The co-writer and producer of "Friday", Clarence Jey, said about the song that "the concept we feel seems to have crossed a lot of boundaries, for the better or worse". Observers have called it "bizarre", "inept", and "hilariously dreadful". The song and Black herself were "savaged" on social networks across the Internet,Lee, Ann. Rebecca Black savaged on Twitter over YouTube hit video Friday. Metro. March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. while being seen as a "YouTube laughing stock". On YouTube, the video was met with negative comments and video responses, including comments interpreted as "violent". ABC News Kevin Rutherford, a columnist for Billboard magazine, wrote, "Black's video for 'Friday' is one of those rare occurrences where even the most seasoned critics of Internet culture don't know where to begin. From the singing straight out of Auto-Tuned hell to lyrics such as 'Tomorrow is Saturday/And Sunday comes afterwards/I don't want this weekend to end' and a hilariously bad rap about passing school buses, 'Friday' is something that simply must be seen and heard to be fully appreciated." Many other reviewers also singled out the lyrics in particular for criticism, which were described as "overly simple and repetitive" by TNT magazine. Jim Edwards of BNET and Doug Gross of CNN both noted that the rap break from the considerably older rapper was "creepy". Time magazine ranked it number two on a list of "Top 10 Songs with Silly Lyrics".
Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews, a few reviewers had positive things to say about the song and video. Entertainment Weekly writer Joseph Lynch noted that there was "something sickeningly catchy about this tune that keeps you coming back for more." Rolling Stones Perpetua stated, "When you see this video, you immediately notice everything that it does wrong, but it actually gets a lot of things about pop music right, if just by accident." OK! Magazine also noted that "some are calling the 13-year-old signed singer the next Justin Bieber." After watching the video, singer Chris Brown said "Honest opinion? It was great. I'll be jammin to it on Friday, Friday." Fellow teenage singer Miley Cyrus denied that she had criticized Black, saying "I am a fan" and that she sang "Friday" while driving. Simon Cowell praised Black, saying "I love her [and] the fact that she's got so much publicity...People are so upset about the song, but I think it's hysterical...Anyone who can create this much controversy within a week, I want to meet. I love people like that." He observed that "Any song to do with the weekend annoys you. It reminds me of 'Saturday Night'... It's what we call a 'hair-dryer song,' a song girls sing into their hair dryers as they're getting ready to go out. But the fact that it's making people so angry is brilliant." Cowell advised Black not to "listen to anyone over the age of 18. I'm being deadly serious. Whatever she's done has worked. Whether you like her or not, she's the most talked-about artist in America right now. Nobody over the age of 18 should understand her or like her. So she should just do it her way."
Patrice Wilson released his sequel to the song on May 6, 2012, titled "Happy", focusing on Saturdays. Black released her own follow-up to the song, entitled "Saturday", in December 2013.
Chart performance By March 21, 2011, the "Friday" music video had been viewed more than 30 million times on YouTube. Forbes estimated that as of that date, Black and ARK Music had earned $20,000 from YouTube's revenue-sharing program, and Billboard estimated iTunes sales of approximately 43,000 copies, roughly equivalent to $26,700 in royalties. Within a week after being released on iTunes, it had jumped to 19 on their sales chart, on March 19, 2011. "Friday" debuted on the US Hot Digital Songs chart at number 57 and went on to peak at number 38. As of 2021, the song has sold more than 500,000 copies in the United States; consequently it was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"Friday" debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 33 on March 21, 2011. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 72 and rose to 58 the next week. It sold 87,000 copies in the United States over its first two weeks and has gone on to sell 442,000 copies, as of December 2013. The song also received airplay in Sweden. In the United States, it was played 12 times from March 16 to 22, considered low for a Hot 100 song. Despite the song's strong performance elsewhere, Georgina Kelly claimed in late March 2011 that her daughter had not received any money from the song's sales to that point in time, saying "We haven't received a dime from anywhere".
Chart (2011–2012) Peakposition Australian Digital Tracks (ARIA)40 Brasil Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard Brasil)"Brasil Hot 100 Airplay". Billboard Brasil (Brasil: bpp) (2): 96. March 2011.66 Brazil Pop Songs (Billboard Brasil)"Brasil Hot Pop & Popular Songs". Billboard Brasil (Brasil: bpp) (2): 97. March 2011.79 US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)1
Certifications
Music video Development and summary The concept for the music video is based on the lyrics and presented as a typical Friday for Black. She wakes up and goes to school, meeting her friends on the way. In the evening, after debating whether to sit in the front or back of a convertible, Black and her friends ride the car to a party at 7:45 pm. Patrice Wilson appears near the end of the song to deliver a short rap. The video was shot on January 6, 2011Rebecca (June 28, 2013). . Accessed on August 4, 2013. at Black's father's house with friends and family as extras, and requiring multiple takes over 12 hours. ARK Music, according to Black's parents, cautioned them and her that they should not expect her to become famous. Black hoped that her friends and family would enjoy watching the video on YouTube and that it would perhaps help her to later begin a singing career.
Reception The music video was first posted on February 10, 2011. Following its original release, it received 4,000 views, enough to please Black, before comedian Michael J. Nelson's Twitter account and a Tosh.0 blog post, Songwriting Isn't for Everyone, drew attention to it on March 11, 2011, turning the video into a viral hit. Criticism of the song's lyrics, the use of Auto-Tune on Black's vocals, and the content of the video also caused it to become viral. On May 9, 2011, comments became subject to prior approval for posting. Two days later, commenting was disabled altogether and archives removed. By June 15, 2011, the video had more than 166 million views, and 3.2 million dislikes from YouTube users against just 454,000 likes. It also peaked in the top 20 most watched YouTube videos of all time.