Cannibal (EP)
Encyclopedia
Cannibal is the first extended play
(EP) by American recording artist Kesha
, released on November 19, 2010. The EP is a followup companion to her previous record, Animal
. Originally the record was believed to only be released as a deluxe edition of Animal, but was instead sold and released as both an EP and a deluxe edition of Animal. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Dr. Luke
, as the executive producer, Benny Blanco
, Ammo
, Max Martin
, Bangladesh
and others. Musically, the songs on Cannibal are of the dance-pop
genre while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats. Throughout the album, the use of Auto-Tune
and vocoders
is prominent. Lyrically, the songs on Cannibal speak of ignoring judgement or hate and experiences based on love and heartbreak.
Critical reception of the album has been generally positive. A common complaint amongst critics was the overuse of Auto-Tune, while the album's production was generally highlighted. The album's lyrics were generally met with praise with Kesha being complimented for her authentic and unapologetic lyrical delivery. In the United States, the EP reached a peak of fifteen selling 74,000 copies in its first week of release. In Canada, the album achieved similar success reaching a peak of fourteen on the chart. Cannibal was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies.
Two singles were released from the album. The lead single, "We R Who We R
", was a worldwide success, reaching number one in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and charting within the top ten in numerous other countries. In the United States, the song became the seventeenth song in the Billboard Hot 100
's history to debut at number one. The album's second single, "Blow
", was released on February 8, 2011. The song accomplished top ten positions in multiple countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
, Cannibal was instead released both as a deluxe edition of Animal as well as a standalone extended play
(EP). The EP has been classified as a follow up "nine-song companion" record to Animal. Cannibal was originally intended to contain anywhere between four to eight tracks with the final outcome instead consisting of eight tracks, and a remix of her debut album's title track, for a total of nine tracks.
Recording of the album took place during September 2010, at Conway Studios
with Dr. Luke again as the executive producer. Like her debut album, Kesha worked with similar producers and writers such as: Dr. Luke
, Ammo
, Benny Blanco
and Max Martin
. Unlike her debut album though, Kesha enlisted the help of producer Bangladesh
. She explained the reasoning for enlisting his help was that she wanted to "add a tougher edge to her music". Kesha recorded the abundance of Cannibal over a two week span with a variety of producers. She said that the message she wanted to put out through this album was to create "good, positive, [danceable] music". She elaborated, "I feel like I’m creating this hopefully very youthful and irreverent movement of the kids, of like adolescence. I feel like the parents don’t get it, but the kids get it. And they deserve to have more good, positive music.”
genre, while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats. Throughout the album, the use of Auto-Tune
and vocoder
s are prominent. The album's title track, "Cannibal" makes use of synth and dance driven backings with Kesha singing about maneater tendencies and makes a reference to serial-killer, Jeffrey Dahmer
. Present throughout the song are snippets of Kesha yodeling. "Blow" shows a darker side of Kesha with lyrics like: "We get what we want/ We do what you don't." The song is more dominantly an electro infused track that uses a synth beat backing. Vocally the song uses snippets of Kesha's yodeling, combined with heavy use of auto-tune. "Sleazy
" changes pace from Kesha's normally persistent "talk-singing" vocal style, to a more rap driven style. She raps over a thundering bass line and ticking beat backing, while speaking about telling off rich guys trying to hit on her and buy her attention. The song has been cited for drawing influence from multiple songs including; Gwen Stefani
's "Hollaback Girl
" for its "swagga", Jennifer Lopez
's "Love Don't Cost a Thing
" for its "attitude", as well as combining "a touch of Lil Wayne
's "Milli
"".
"C U Next Tuesday" is dominantly an electro-pop ballad that is reminiscent of pop music from the late 1980s, the song has been cited for drawing influence of "new wave pop". Lyrically speaking, the song talks about "lost and unrequited love" "The Harold Song" has been cited as the album's power ballad that features a more stripped down vocal style portraying a vulnerable side of Kesha. Lyrically, the song speaks of a young love gone bad. Music reviewer Bill Lamb wrote that the song would make Avril Lavigne
proud. "Grow a Pear" has been compared to Katy Perry
's, "Ur So Gay
". The songs lyrics depict a man that would rather talk than have sex, to which Kesha responds in a negative way, saying "I just can't date a dude with a vag." The album's lead single, "We R Who We R", is a dance-pop
song that uses a synth-heavy backing. The song incorporates elements of trance pop
and electropop it both its production, and beats.
Lyrically, the song has been described as a pride anthem, with Kesha noting the songs lyrics were to be taken as "a celebration of any sort of quirks or eccentricities."
. Stephen Erlewine Thomas from Allmusic was positive in the review of Cannibal. Thomas was somewhat critical of the choice to release the EP noting that the only real reason for the release was that Animal had been "squeezed dry of hits". Although he was negative in that aspect, Thomas wrote this about Kesha, "She’s all ravenous id, spitting at strangers and backstabbing friends, humiliating hotties, and laughing at the wreckage in her wake. She is who she is and she offers no apologies." Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly
commented on Kesha's writing of the album noting that her "herky-jerky rhymes still sound like they came from the bathroom wall of a reform-school kindergarten", not citing that as a negative but instead noting, "Cannibal does have a sulfurous end-of-days whiff about it". Greenblatt ended her review of the album giving it a rating of "B+" and called "Sleazy" and "Blow" the standout tracks on the album. Will Hermes from Rolling Stone
noted that Kesha's main pop competitor was Lady Gaga
writing, "This EP proves Kesha would kick Gaga's ass in a freestyle battle" praising her rhyming and production by Dr. Luke calling Kesha the "snap queen of clubland." Chad Grischow from IGN
met the album with a positive review giving the album a rating of "passable". Grischow was critical of the production of the album and overuse of auto-Tune
writing that there was "so much overdubbing and autotune used that most of the songs may as well be sung by a spunky robot". He also noted that when Kesha's vocals were stripped down she could actually sing and called Kesha's ballads, "The Harold Song" and "C U Next Tuesday" as the album's best tracks. Grischow ended his review writing, "Cannibal proves to be too mired in mindless lyrics and excessive vocal effects to have any lasting appeal."
Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine
met the album with a mixed to positive review. Cinquemani praised Kesha for being able to pull off such authentic and unapologetic lyrics with ease. A complaint on the review was that the album was too similar to Animal noting that she failed to "branch out in any significant way". Cinquemani ended the review praising the "Animal (Billboard Remix)" for its "promise of something deeper, something beyond Dr. Luke's latest recycled formula." Gary Graff from Billboard wrote "Kesha sinks her teeth into some fresh flavors on "Cannibal," which will certainly enhance her "Animal" attraction." Spin
magazines Barry Walters reviewed Cannibal with a mixed outcome giving the album five out of a possible ten stars. Walters criticized the album as a whole stating that it was full of contradictions, noting that on "We R Who We R" "she sends out pride vibes to bullied gays," while on "Grow a Pear", "she emasculates a potential boyfriend." The production of the album was stated as a positive praising Dr. Luke for his constant club-pop hooks and ability to "render the hypocrisy [of the album] nearly irrelevant." Mesfin Fekadu from The Boston Globe
was mixed in his review of the album. Fekadu criticized the albums lyrical depth and use of auto-tune writing that the album was "filled with vapid lyrics and battles any T-Pain album for most use of the auto-tune." Kesha's mother, Pebe, was also targeted in the review criticizing her for helping write the albums title track, "Cannibal" which he called "disturbing" and "sad".
on the week of December 2, 2010 at position fifteen. The EP sold 74,000 copies in its first week of release. The following week the album dropped twenty-six positions to position forty-one selling an additional 26,200 copies. After being present on the chart for two months the album surpassed 250,000 in sales. In June 2011, the album received gold certification
by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 units. In Canada, Cannibal entered and peaked at number fourteen on the Canadian Albums Chart
.
" was released as the EP's lead single on October 22, 2010. Kesha said she was affected by the recent teenage suicides, in particular Tyler Clementi
who committed suicide after being outed as gay
by his roommate. She elaborated, "I was really affected [..] having been subject to very public hatred [myself]. I have absolutely no idea how these kids felt. What I'm going through is nothing compared to what they had to go through. Just know things do get better and you need to celebrate who you are." She hopes the song will be an anthem for "weirdos", and said, "Every weird thing about you is beautiful and makes life interesting. Hopefully the song really captures that emotion of celebrating who you are." "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
, shifting over 280,000 digital copies. The song became the seventeenth song in the history of the chart to accomplish that feat. The song also reached number one in Australia, the United Kingdom and number two in Canada, while charting within the top ten in numerous other countries. Critical reception of the song was positive with most critics praising the songs production and citing the song as strong dance-pop number, that combined strong beats with an inspiring message filled with genuine humor.
"Blow
" was released as the second single, and impacted U.S. radio on February 8, 2011. Critical reception of the song was mixed to generally positive. The song's hook and opening were generally praised but the song's chorus was met with mixed reaction, some critics praised the song for its party anthem vibe, while others called it uninspiring and ordinary. Commercially, "Blow" reached the top ten in the United States and Australia, becoming her sixth straight top ten hit in both countries as a solo artist. The song also reached the top ten in New Zealand, and the top twenty in Canada.
, where she performed her single "We R Who We R
" for the time on the Australian X Factor
on November 14, 2010. Following the performance Kesha appeared live on November 21, 2010, at the 2010 American Music Awards
where she once again performed the single. The performance first opened with previous single, "Take It Off
", before transitioning into "We R Who We R". "Blow
" and "Animal" were performed live on May 22, 2011, at the Billboard Music Awards. The performance was opened with "Animal" as Kesha sang suspended over the stage in a structure shaped like a diamond. Midway through the performance she dropped backwards into her crowd of background dancers then transitioned into "Blow". The performance featured glitter cannons and the dancers wore orange unicorn heads.
The album received further promotion from her first headlining world concert tour, entitled the Get Sleazy Tour
, which kicked off on February 15, 2011, in Portland, Oregon
.
" was made available on November 2, 2010 as part of an iTunes
exclusive countdown to the release of Cannibal. In Canada, the song entered the Canadian Hot 100
on the issue date entitled November 20, 2010 at forty-six. In the same week, "Sleazy" entered the Billboard Hot 100
at fifty-one. The title track, "Cannibal", was the next offering and was made available on November 9, 2010. In Canada, "Cannibal" entered the Canadian Hot 100 on the issue date entitled November 27, 2010 at sixty-two. In the same week, "Cannibal" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at seventy-seven. The next and final offering of the program was "Blow
" which was made available on November 12, 2010. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue date entitled December 4, 2010, reaching position ninety-seven and dropping off the chart the following week.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Cannibal, Dynamite Cop Music/Where Da Kasz at BMI.
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(EP) by American recording artist Kesha
Kesha
Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....
, released on November 19, 2010. The EP is a followup companion to her previous record, Animal
Animal (Kesha album)
Animal is the debut studio album by American pop singer Kesha. The album was released on January 1, 2010, by RCA Records. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Lukasz Gottwald , Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, and others...
. Originally the record was believed to only be released as a deluxe edition of Animal, but was instead sold and released as both an EP and a deluxe edition of Animal. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Dr. Luke
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...
, as the executive producer, Benny Blanco
Benny Blanco
Benjamin Levin , better known as Benny Blanco, is an American songwriter and producer from Reston, Virginia. He first came to the attention of Internet blogosphere producing a collaborative EP with Spank Rock. Working with producer Dr...
, Ammo
Ammo (musician)
Ammo is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. In November 2008, Ammo was signed to producer Dr. Luke's publishing company Prescription Songs as an exclusive producer and songwriter...
, Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh (producer)
Shondrae Crawford, better known as Bangladesh or Mr. Bangladesh, is a Grammy Award winning American record producer and disc jockey and rapper, who was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.- Life and career :...
and others. Musically, the songs on Cannibal are of the dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
genre while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats. Throughout the album, the use of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
and vocoders
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
is prominent. Lyrically, the songs on Cannibal speak of ignoring judgement or hate and experiences based on love and heartbreak.
Critical reception of the album has been generally positive. A common complaint amongst critics was the overuse of Auto-Tune, while the album's production was generally highlighted. The album's lyrics were generally met with praise with Kesha being complimented for her authentic and unapologetic lyrical delivery. In the United States, the EP reached a peak of fifteen selling 74,000 copies in its first week of release. In Canada, the album achieved similar success reaching a peak of fourteen on the chart. Cannibal was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies.
Two singles were released from the album. The lead single, "We R Who We R
We R Who We R
"We R Who We R" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha from her first extended play , Cannibal . The song was released as the EP's lead single on October 22, 2010. It was written by Kesha, with Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and Ammo. Production of the song was...
", was a worldwide success, reaching number one in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and charting within the top ten in numerous other countries. In the United States, the song became the seventeenth song in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
's history to debut at number one. The album's second single, "Blow
Blow (song)
"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's second single on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with...
", was released on February 8, 2011. The song accomplished top ten positions in multiple countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Background and development
Originally believed to only be a re-release of AnimalAnimal (Kesha album)
Animal is the debut studio album by American pop singer Kesha. The album was released on January 1, 2010, by RCA Records. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Lukasz Gottwald , Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, and others...
, Cannibal was instead released both as a deluxe edition of Animal as well as a standalone extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(EP). The EP has been classified as a follow up "nine-song companion" record to Animal. Cannibal was originally intended to contain anywhere between four to eight tracks with the final outcome instead consisting of eight tracks, and a remix of her debut album's title track, for a total of nine tracks.
Recording of the album took place during September 2010, at Conway Studios
Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios is a recording and post production facility in Hollywood, California.Conway has hosted a variety of producers, mixers and artists, such as Alicia Keys, Barbra Streisand, The Black Eyed Peas, Blink-182, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band,...
with Dr. Luke again as the executive producer. Like her debut album, Kesha worked with similar producers and writers such as: Dr. Luke
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...
, Ammo
Ammo (musician)
Ammo is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. In November 2008, Ammo was signed to producer Dr. Luke's publishing company Prescription Songs as an exclusive producer and songwriter...
, Benny Blanco
Benny Blanco
Benjamin Levin , better known as Benny Blanco, is an American songwriter and producer from Reston, Virginia. He first came to the attention of Internet blogosphere producing a collaborative EP with Spank Rock. Working with producer Dr...
and Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
. Unlike her debut album though, Kesha enlisted the help of producer Bangladesh
Bangladesh (producer)
Shondrae Crawford, better known as Bangladesh or Mr. Bangladesh, is a Grammy Award winning American record producer and disc jockey and rapper, who was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.- Life and career :...
. She explained the reasoning for enlisting his help was that she wanted to "add a tougher edge to her music". Kesha recorded the abundance of Cannibal over a two week span with a variety of producers. She said that the message she wanted to put out through this album was to create "good, positive, [danceable] music". She elaborated, "I feel like I’m creating this hopefully very youthful and irreverent movement of the kids, of like adolescence. I feel like the parents don’t get it, but the kids get it. And they deserve to have more good, positive music.”
Composition
Musically, the songs on Cannibal are of the dance-popDance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
genre, while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats. Throughout the album, the use of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
and vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
s are prominent. The album's title track, "Cannibal" makes use of synth and dance driven backings with Kesha singing about maneater tendencies and makes a reference to serial-killer, Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His murders involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism...
. Present throughout the song are snippets of Kesha yodeling. "Blow" shows a darker side of Kesha with lyrics like: "We get what we want/ We do what you don't." The song is more dominantly an electro infused track that uses a synth beat backing. Vocally the song uses snippets of Kesha's yodeling, combined with heavy use of auto-tune. "Sleazy
Sleazy (Kesha song)
"Sleazy" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal . The song was written by Kesha alongside Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Benjamin Levin, Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford and Klas Åhlund, with production done by Bangladesh, Dr. Luke and Levin...
" changes pace from Kesha's normally persistent "talk-singing" vocal style, to a more rap driven style. She raps over a thundering bass line and ticking beat backing, while speaking about telling off rich guys trying to hit on her and buy her attention. The song has been cited for drawing influence from multiple songs including; Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
's "Hollaback Girl
Hollaback Girl
"Hollaback Girl" is a song by American recording artist Gwen Stefani from her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. . As part of Stefani's vision of creating "a silly dance record", the song is influenced by 1980s dance and pop music...
" for its "swagga", Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
's "Love Don't Cost a Thing
Love Don't Cost a Thing (song)
"Love Don't Cost a Thing" is the lead single from Jennifer Lopez's second studio album, J.Lo . It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, besides being her first number one in the United Kingdom. Its Spanish-language version, "Amor Se Paga con Amor" , included on the Latin American edition...
" for its "attitude", as well as combining "a touch of Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
's "Milli
A Milli
"A Milli", abbreviated occasionally as "Milli", is the second official single, and the official street single from Lil Wayne's sixth studio album, Tha Carter III.-Background:...
"".
"C U Next Tuesday" is dominantly an electro-pop ballad that is reminiscent of pop music from the late 1980s, the song has been cited for drawing influence of "new wave pop". Lyrically speaking, the song talks about "lost and unrequited love" "The Harold Song" has been cited as the album's power ballad that features a more stripped down vocal style portraying a vulnerable side of Kesha. Lyrically, the song speaks of a young love gone bad. Music reviewer Bill Lamb wrote that the song would make Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
proud. "Grow a Pear" has been compared to Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
's, "Ur So Gay
Ur So Gay
"Ur So Gay" is the song released by pop singer Katy Perry, produced by Greg Wells and engineered by Drew Pearson. The song was Perry's first major label release, and was later placed on her major label album, One of the Boys. Capitol Records offered the song as a free download on their website...
". The songs lyrics depict a man that would rather talk than have sex, to which Kesha responds in a negative way, saying "I just can't date a dude with a vag." The album's lead single, "We R Who We R", is a dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
song that uses a synth-heavy backing. The song incorporates elements of trance pop
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
and electropop it both its production, and beats.
Lyrically, the song has been described as a pride anthem, with Kesha noting the songs lyrics were to be taken as "a celebration of any sort of quirks or eccentricities."
Critical reception
Cannibal received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. The album holds a score 73 out of 100 based on 11 critical reviews, according to the music review aggregator MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Stephen Erlewine Thomas from Allmusic was positive in the review of Cannibal. Thomas was somewhat critical of the choice to release the EP noting that the only real reason for the release was that Animal had been "squeezed dry of hits". Although he was negative in that aspect, Thomas wrote this about Kesha, "She’s all ravenous id, spitting at strangers and backstabbing friends, humiliating hotties, and laughing at the wreckage in her wake. She is who she is and she offers no apologies." Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
commented on Kesha's writing of the album noting that her "herky-jerky rhymes still sound like they came from the bathroom wall of a reform-school kindergarten", not citing that as a negative but instead noting, "Cannibal does have a sulfurous end-of-days whiff about it". Greenblatt ended her review of the album giving it a rating of "B+" and called "Sleazy" and "Blow" the standout tracks on the album. Will Hermes from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
noted that Kesha's main pop competitor was Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
writing, "This EP proves Kesha would kick Gaga's ass in a freestyle battle" praising her rhyming and production by Dr. Luke calling Kesha the "snap queen of clubland." Chad Grischow from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
met the album with a positive review giving the album a rating of "passable". Grischow was critical of the production of the album and overuse of auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
writing that there was "so much overdubbing and autotune used that most of the songs may as well be sung by a spunky robot". He also noted that when Kesha's vocals were stripped down she could actually sing and called Kesha's ballads, "The Harold Song" and "C U Next Tuesday" as the album's best tracks. Grischow ended his review writing, "Cannibal proves to be too mired in mindless lyrics and excessive vocal effects to have any lasting appeal."
Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
met the album with a mixed to positive review. Cinquemani praised Kesha for being able to pull off such authentic and unapologetic lyrics with ease. A complaint on the review was that the album was too similar to Animal noting that she failed to "branch out in any significant way". Cinquemani ended the review praising the "Animal (Billboard Remix)" for its "promise of something deeper, something beyond Dr. Luke's latest recycled formula." Gary Graff from Billboard wrote "Kesha sinks her teeth into some fresh flavors on "Cannibal," which will certainly enhance her "Animal" attraction." Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
magazines Barry Walters reviewed Cannibal with a mixed outcome giving the album five out of a possible ten stars. Walters criticized the album as a whole stating that it was full of contradictions, noting that on "We R Who We R" "she sends out pride vibes to bullied gays," while on "Grow a Pear", "she emasculates a potential boyfriend." The production of the album was stated as a positive praising Dr. Luke for his constant club-pop hooks and ability to "render the hypocrisy [of the album] nearly irrelevant." Mesfin Fekadu from The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
was mixed in his review of the album. Fekadu criticized the albums lyrical depth and use of auto-tune writing that the album was "filled with vapid lyrics and battles any T-Pain album for most use of the auto-tune." Kesha's mother, Pebe, was also targeted in the review criticizing her for helping write the albums title track, "Cannibal" which he called "disturbing" and "sad".
Commercial performance
In the United States, Cannibal entered the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
on the week of December 2, 2010 at position fifteen. The EP sold 74,000 copies in its first week of release. The following week the album dropped twenty-six positions to position forty-one selling an additional 26,200 copies. After being present on the chart for two months the album surpassed 250,000 in sales. In June 2011, the album received gold certification
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 units. In Canada, Cannibal entered and peaked at number fourteen on the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
.
Singles
"We R Who We RWe R Who We R
"We R Who We R" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha from her first extended play , Cannibal . The song was released as the EP's lead single on October 22, 2010. It was written by Kesha, with Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and Ammo. Production of the song was...
" was released as the EP's lead single on October 22, 2010. Kesha said she was affected by the recent teenage suicides, in particular Tyler Clementi
Suicide of Tyler Clementi
Tyler Clementi was an eighteen-year-old student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. His roommate Dharun Ravi had video streamed Clementi kissing another man over the Internet without Clementi's knowledge,...
who committed suicide after being outed as gay
Outing
Outing is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
by his roommate. She elaborated, "I was really affected [..] having been subject to very public hatred [myself]. I have absolutely no idea how these kids felt. What I'm going through is nothing compared to what they had to go through. Just know things do get better and you need to celebrate who you are." She hopes the song will be an anthem for "weirdos", and said, "Every weird thing about you is beautiful and makes life interesting. Hopefully the song really captures that emotion of celebrating who you are." "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, shifting over 280,000 digital copies. The song became the seventeenth song in the history of the chart to accomplish that feat. The song also reached number one in Australia, the United Kingdom and number two in Canada, while charting within the top ten in numerous other countries. Critical reception of the song was positive with most critics praising the songs production and citing the song as strong dance-pop number, that combined strong beats with an inspiring message filled with genuine humor.
"Blow
Blow (song)
"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's second single on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with...
" was released as the second single, and impacted U.S. radio on February 8, 2011. Critical reception of the song was mixed to generally positive. The song's hook and opening were generally praised but the song's chorus was met with mixed reaction, some critics praised the song for its party anthem vibe, while others called it uninspiring and ordinary. Commercially, "Blow" reached the top ten in the United States and Australia, becoming her sixth straight top ten hit in both countries as a solo artist. The song also reached the top ten in New Zealand, and the top twenty in Canada.
Promotion
To promote the album, Kesha made several performances worldwide. Her first televised appearance was in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where she performed her single "We R Who We R
We R Who We R
"We R Who We R" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha from her first extended play , Cannibal . The song was released as the EP's lead single on October 22, 2010. It was written by Kesha, with Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and Ammo. Production of the song was...
" for the time on the Australian X Factor
The X Factor (Australia season 2)
The X Factor is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The 2010 season premiered on 30 August 2010 and was won by Altiyan Childs on 22 November 2010. Ronan Keating emerged as the winning mentor of the series...
on November 14, 2010. Following the performance Kesha appeared live on November 21, 2010, at the 2010 American Music Awards
American Music Awards of 2010
The 38th American Music Awards were held November 21, 2010 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The awards recognized the most popular artists and albums from 2010. Nominees were announced on October 12, 2010. Justin Bieber was nominated for, and won, four awards, including Artist of...
where she once again performed the single. The performance first opened with previous single, "Take It Off
Take It Off (song)
"Take It Off" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her debut album, Animal. The song was written by Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald and Claude Kelly and it was produced by Dr. Luke with vocal editing done by Emily Wright. It was released as the fourth and final single...
", before transitioning into "We R Who We R". "Blow
Blow (song)
"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's second single on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with...
" and "Animal" were performed live on May 22, 2011, at the Billboard Music Awards. The performance was opened with "Animal" as Kesha sang suspended over the stage in a structure shaped like a diamond. Midway through the performance she dropped backwards into her crowd of background dancers then transitioned into "Blow". The performance featured glitter cannons and the dancers wore orange unicorn heads.
The album received further promotion from her first headlining world concert tour, entitled the Get Sleazy Tour
Get Sleazy Tour
The Get Sleazy Tour was the first concert tour by American recording artist Kesha in support of her first extended play, Cannibal. Officially announced on November 8, 2010, the tour visited the Americas, Australia and Europe. It was scheduled to visit Asia but due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake...
, which kicked off on February 15, 2011, in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Promotional songs
"SleazySleazy (Kesha song)
"Sleazy" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal . The song was written by Kesha alongside Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Benjamin Levin, Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford and Klas Åhlund, with production done by Bangladesh, Dr. Luke and Levin...
" was made available on November 2, 2010 as part of an iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
exclusive countdown to the release of Cannibal. In Canada, the song entered the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
on the issue date entitled November 20, 2010 at forty-six. In the same week, "Sleazy" entered the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at fifty-one. The title track, "Cannibal", was the next offering and was made available on November 9, 2010. In Canada, "Cannibal" entered the Canadian Hot 100 on the issue date entitled November 27, 2010 at sixty-two. In the same week, "Cannibal" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at seventy-seven. The next and final offering of the program was "Blow
Blow (song)
"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's second single on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with...
" which was made available on November 12, 2010. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue date entitled December 4, 2010, reaching position ninety-seven and dropping off the chart the following week.
Track listing
Tracklist as per the Cannibal audio CD.Personnel
- Klas Åhlund – Composer
- Ammo – Musician, Producer, Programming
- Billboard – Additional Production, Mixing, Musician, Producer, Programming, Remixing
- Benny Blanco – Musician, Producer, Programming
- Emily Burton – Management
- Joshua Coleman – Composer
- Shondrae Crawford – Composer
- Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford – Musician, Producer, Programming
- Megan Dennis – Production Coordination
- Megan Denniss – Production Coordination
- Dr. Luke – Executive Producer, Musician, Producer, Programming
- Eric Eylands – Assistant
- Sarai Fiszel – Make-Up
- David Gamson – Composer, Engineer, Mixing, Musician, Producer, Programming
- Chris Gehringer – Mastering
- Serban Ghenea – Mixing
- Erwin Gorostiza – Creative Director
- Aniela Gottwald – Assistant
- Lukasz Gottwald – Composer, Vocals (Background)
- Tatiana Gottwald – Assistant
- Allan Grigg – Composer
- Rani Hancock – A&R, Vocals (Background)
- John Hanes – Mixing
- Jacob Kasher Hindlin – Composer
- Sam Holland – Engineer, Vocals (Background)
- Chris "Hollywood" Holmes – Engineer
- Mathieu Jomphe – Composer
- Kool Kojak – Musician, Producer, Programming
- Greg Kurstin – Composer, Producer
- Benjamin Levin – Composer, Vocals (Background)
- Jeremy Levin – Assistant
- Ken Levitan – Management
- Nicki Loranger – Management
- Marjan Malakpour – Stylist
- Max Martin – Composer, Musician, Producer, Programming
- Ramsell Martinez – Hair Stylist
- Marc Nelkin – Composer
- Chris "Tek" O'Ryan – Engineer
- Irene Richter – Production Coordination
- Tim Roberts – Mixing Assistant
- Jack Rovner – Management
- Kesha Sebert – Composer
- Pebe Sebert – Composer
- Seth Waldmann – Engineer
- Eric Weaver – Engineer
- Emily Wright – Engineer, Vocals (Background)
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Cannibal, Dynamite Cop Music/Where Da Kasz at BMI.
Charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
14 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
15 |
Certifications
| Country | Certifications |
|---|---|
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
Gold |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | November 19, 2010 | Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
| Canada | November 22, 2010 | |
| United States | RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
|
| Japan | December 8, 2010 | Sony Music Japan |
| China | February 18, 2011 | Sony Music |
External links
- Cannibal at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...