"Worth It" is a song by American girl group Fifth Harmony, featuring American rapper Kid Ink. It impacted American rhythmic crossover radio on March 2, 2015, as the third and final single from the group's debut studio album, Reflection (2015). Written by Priscilla Renea and its producers Stargate, "Worth It" is a dance-pop and R&B song that incorporates a strong use of Balkan music and Middle Eastern music in its production. The lyrics discuss themes of feminism, self-worth and confidence, and include double entendres.
The song became a sleeper hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number 12, marking the group's highest-charting single at the time and the first top 20 single by a girl group in the US since "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" by The Pussycat Dolls in 2009. It reached number one in Lebanon, number three on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 in Australia and Hungary. It is certified Quadruple Platinum in the US and Gold or higher in eleven additional countries. The song has over 1.1 billion streams on Spotify. Directed by Cameron Duddy, the music video has themes of female empowerment with Fifth Harmony dominating men as business executives. It has received over two billion views on YouTube. The group promoted "Worth It" with several televised performances, including the season twenty-one finale of Dancing with the Stars, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and at the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Background and development
"Worth It" was produced and co-written by Norwegian production company, Stargate, consisting of duo Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen and Ori Kaplan, with additional writing from Priscilla Renea. The song was released on January 15, 2015, on streaming and downloading services but officially impacted American rhythmic crossover radio as a single on March 2, 2015. A Spanish version subtitled "Dame Esta Noche" (Spanish for "Give Me This Night") was released to iTunes on July 10, 2015, following the success of the single. The track features Kid Ink's English rap verse, while the group sings in Spanish.
Originally intended for recording by rapper Kid Ink, who ended up collaborating on the song, the lyrics and melody were changed to fit a female perspective. Kid Ink noted during an interview with Forbes that while he was "writing on their album", he was able to collaborate with "producers Stargate and Cashmere Cat" and this led to the development of the song. One of Kid Ink's verses from "Wit It" (the original version of the song) appears on this song. Speaking to Complex, Dinah Jane explained that the song was unplanned for the album, saying "there were no females on the song". After the song was presented to them by production team Stargate, they changed part of the lyrics and bits "of the concept" to "fit [their] perspective". Lauren Jauregui also shared similar sentiments, saying that she "didn't think" the track would "make the album". In an interview with Billboard, music director David Armbrecht explained that the song is a "message of self-empowerment, which is made clear in its triumphant 'Give it to me, I'm worth it!' chorus". The song speaks to women of "all demographics", he said, explaining that this can be applied to anyone in a "relationship" or "getting out of one" and it is likely that one can get "tired of the games" and deserve better, using the song to do just that.
Composition
Musically, "Worth It" incorporates dance-pop and contemporary R&B with influences of hip hop and Balkan music. The song contains elements from a variety of music genres. It can be noted mainly in its instrumentation, which incorporates a Balkan-inflected saxophone, trance synths and a trap-inspired Roland TR-808 drum machine. Songwriting and production is largely based on previous Kaplan and Stargate's productions, most notably Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty", which shows similar song scheme and use of horns during the hook. The song is written from the perspective of a woman telling a man that she is "Worth It", implying sexual connotation. However, it can be considered as a feminist anthem, according to Jeff Benjamin from Fuse, it can inspire "young girls to truly believe they're 'Worth It' and can own Wall Street or any other place on which they set their sights". This latter view of the song is highlighted in its music video.
The song opens with a saxophone sample that introduces the repetitive hook, where the group sings repeatedly the phrase "Give it to me, I'm worth it", backed by heavy bassline and "trappy beats" Followed by Kid Ink's rapped verse, Emilee Linder of MTV noted he insists that they "bring it back like they left something". Member Dinah Jane is then introduced, back by handclaps. Normani Kordei performs the pre-chorus (which is then performed by Ally Brooke after the second verse), while the second verse is sung by Camila Cabello, who delivers the song's most suggestive lines, "Come harder just because/I don't like it, like it too soft/I like it a little rough/Not too much, but maybe just enough". Lauren Jauregui is the only member of the band that doesn't sing a solo in the song. According to the sheet music published by Sony Music Publishing at Musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of C minor and is set in a time signature with a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute. Fifth Harmony and Kid Ink's vocal range spans from the low note of G3 to the high note of A5. The saxophone's melody spans the tonal range of E4 to C6.
Critical reception "Worth It" received mixed reviews from music critics, receiving praise for its catchy rhythm and attitude but was criticized for sounding similar to Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty". Rick Florino from Artistdirect praised "Worth It", giving it a five out of five star rating, claiming the song has "an empowering refrain that's impossible to shake, especially when coupled with a slippery beat". FDRMX also reviewed it positively, mentioning that "the production is solid and the lyrics are catchy" and also stating that the single is Fifth Harmony's most mature record yet. Several music publications considered it a strong contender for song of the summer.
Rebecca Mattina, from Andpop gave the song a mixed review, noting too-close a similarity to "Talk Dirty" but also stating that the track is "filled with lots of attitude" and rhythmic bounce. Conversely, Music Times gave it a positive review stating 'the intense, creeping music of "Worth It" is matched with deep harmonies from 5H and personally positive lyrics". They made a comparison to the first lead single of Reflection (2015), "Boss". In a review for their debut album, Reflection (2015), Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork commented that the song is an "exhaustive exquisite corpse of practically every radio hit of the last year and a half" and criticizes the "wholly unremarkable rap verse" performed by Kid Ink.
In a negative review, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard, stated that the song sounded "oddly incomplete." Lipshutz also highlighted the song's "repetitive phrasing." In a mixed-positive review, Amy Davidson, from Digital Spy, noted that "trumpets and saxophones have experienced a resurgence [and Fifth Harmony] have laid it on thick for some serious sax-sampling. 'Give it to me I'm worth it,' they determine, dripping with sass." Davidson also stated, "It mightn't be the most groundbreaking of tracks, but it's got enough attitude to forgive that." For their year-end list of best songs, Associated Press listed it at number three and Spin ranked it at 68. Artistdirect ranked the song at number one in their mid-year report.
Commercial performance North America On the chart dated February 7, 2015, "Worth It" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 82. It would exit the chart the following week and re-enter on the third week at number 93. On the Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic charts, the song debuted at 39 and 38, respectively. On the main chart, it would exit once again, this time for four weeks, before charting at number 92. For the week dated March 28, 2015, the song rose five spots to a new position at number 87. Following the release of the music video, which premiered at the Kids' Choice Awards, the song rose nine spots to number 78. The promotion from the video and the show's audience gave the song a 20 spot jump at number 58 for the week dated April 11, 2015. For the week dated April 18, 2015, the song rose 17 spots to a peak of 41. The following week, the song rose two spots at a new peak of 39, earning the group their second top 40 hit and their highest-charting single at the time of the publication. It recorded 48,000 digital sales, a five percent slip from the previous week and a four percent increase at 3.6 million streams. On the Mainstream Top 40 chart, the song would peak at number four, earning them their first top 10 hit as well as their first entry in the Rhythmic chart, where the song peaked at number 19
For the week dated May 2, 2015, the song rose five more spots to a peak of number 34 and two more spots the following week. The song rose 11 spots again to a new peak of 21, for the week dated May 16, 2015 and would be stationary for another week. The next week, the song rose two more spots at a new peak of 19, earning the group their first top 20 single, gaining radio airplay by 18 percent at a 31 million audience. This occurred a week after a minor controversy, where the group was scheduled to perform the track on the Billboard Music Awards but instead presented an award, citing time issues with the rehearsal and production of the song. Instead, they opted for a performance of the song at the season twenty finale of Dancing with the Stars. For the week dated June 6, 2015, the song rose two spots to number 17. It would fall one spot for the week dated June 13, 2015 and would stay there for one week before rising three spots to number 15. The song would rise one spot and staying at number 14, recording a rise of 7 percent at a 79 million audience for radio airplay and charting at number 10 on the Radio Songs chart for the week dated July 22, 2015. The song would reach its peak of number 12 on the chart dated August 8, 2015, becoming the week's streaming gainer. Since its release, the song has sold over 1,700,000 copies, according to a publication from Billboard, on May 12, 2017. It achieved a triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, for combined sales and track-equivalent streams units of three million; additionally, as of 2016, it was one of only twenty-two songs released in 2015 to be certified multi-platinum.
The song debuted at number 92 in Canada on the week marked April 11, 2015. For the following week, the song rose 25 spots at a position at number 67 and then another the week after that. It would rise 12 spots once again for the week dated May 2, 2015. The song would rise one spot for two consecutive weeks, before staying stationary for one week. It continued to rise in positions, two spots then six spots to a peak at number 44 for the week of June 6, 2015. It would rise another ten spots to peak at number 34, earning the group their first top 40 entry in this market. The following week, the song continued its rise, jumping 13 spots to number 21. It would rise once again, peaking at number 16, and earning the group their first top 20 entry as well for the week dated June 27, 2015. It rose one spot for two consecutive weeks before falling two spots at number 16. After a series of drops and rises, the song would peak at number 12, on the week of September 5, 2015. It was certified double platinum for selling over 160,000 digital copies. In Mexico, the song topped both its English and domestic charts. It was subsequently promoted through a Spanish release, where the group sang their verses in Spanish. It was certified platinum for selling 60,000 copies.
Elsewhere