Mmm Papi
Encyclopedia
"Mmm Papi" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

. The song was written by Spears and Nicole Morier
Nicole Morier
Nicole Morier is a Los Angeles-based American Pop, Electropop singer-songwriter. She began her career in 2002 as one half of the electro-rock duo Electrocute before becoming a songwriter for artists including Britney Spears, Tom Jones, Wynter Gordon and Sky Ferreira...

, while additional writing and song production were done by Canadian band Let's Go to War
Let's Go To War
Let's Go to War is a Canadian electro-rap trio formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The music group is made up of members Henry Walter, Adrien Gough, and Peter-John Kerr. The band is signed to Last Gang Records....

, whose members are Henry Walter, Adrien Gough and Peter-John Kerr, for Spears' sixth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

, Circus
Circus (Britney Spears album)
Circus is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. The album was first released on November 28, 2008 by Jive Records. Spears started work on the album in early 2008 with a range of producers including long-time producers Bloodshy & Avant and Danja...

(2008). "Mmm Papi" is noted for having a Latin pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...

 influence, similar to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

's "La Isla Bonita
La Isla Bonita
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, on February 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Originally written as a lament, the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna accepted it...

" (1987). The lyrics of the song tell about a woman who has an attraction to a man, longing for him to come and take her away.

"Mmm Papi" received generally unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics. Many said the song represents Spears' trouble with men, and speculated that its lyrics deal to either her father Jamie Spears or paparazzi Adnan Ghalib. The speculations were later denied by co-writer Morier. The song was also compared to Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...

's "Come On-a My House
Come on-a My House
"Come on-a My House" is a song performed by Rosemary Clooney on her album Come On-A My House, released on June 6, 1951. The song was written by Ross Bagdasarian and noted Armenian American writer William Saroyan in the summer of 1939 but did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording...

" (1951). Despite not being released as a single, "Mmm Papi" managed to peak at number ninety-four on Billboard Pop 100, due to moderate airplay on mainstream top 40 radio stations, singles sales, and digital downloads
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

.

Background

It was confirmed in 2008 that Spears was in the process of recording her sixth studio album. Spears manager Larry Rudolph
Larry Rudolph
Larry Rudolph is a personal manager. He is best known as the manager of Britney Spears from 1999–2004, briefly in 2007, and 2008-present.-Career:...

 confirmed the singer would spend "her summer in the recording studio" to work on it. Despite no official album confirmation at the time, Rudolph revealed they were happy with her progress and that she had been working with a range of producers, such as Sean Garrett
Sean Garrett
Garrett Hamler, better known by his stage name Sean Garrett is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He has produced fifteen number one singles in only seven years of producing music. That number puts him in fifth place on the Billboard list of producers with the most number...

, Guy Sigsworth
Guy Sigsworth
Guy Sigsworth is a U.K. based composer, producer and songwriter. In his career to date he has worked with many famous artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian and Alanis Morissette...

, Danja and Bloodshy & Avant
Bloodshy & Avant
Bloodshy and Avant are a music production and songwriting team from Sweden made up of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg...

. "Mmm Papi" was written by Spears and Nicole Morier
Nicole Morier
Nicole Morier is a Los Angeles-based American Pop, Electropop singer-songwriter. She began her career in 2002 as one half of the electro-rock duo Electrocute before becoming a songwriter for artists including Britney Spears, Tom Jones, Wynter Gordon and Sky Ferreira...

 during Summer and Spring of 2008. Among the songs they worked on were "Mmm Papi", "Rock Me In" and "Whiplash". Both wanted to do something that Spears had not done before. "Mmm Papi" and "Rock Me In" were included in Spears' sixth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

, Circus
Circus (Britney Spears album)
Circus is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. The album was first released on November 28, 2008 by Jive Records. Spears started work on the album in early 2008 with a range of producers including long-time producers Bloodshy & Avant and Danja...

(2008); however, "Whiplash
Whiplash (Selena Gomez & the Scene song)
"Whiplash" is a song by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene, from their third studio album When the Sun Goes Down . It was written and produced by Greg Kurstin, with additional writing by Nicole Morier and Britney Spears. Morier had co-written "Heaven on Earth" for Spears' fifth studio album...

" failed to make the cut. Morier explained, "There’s a couple songs we started that were great ideas but just incomplete. Maybe we’ll hear them with fresh ears someday and put them out, but I usually just like to start anew."

Additional writing and song production were done by Canadian band Let's Go to War
Let's Go To War
Let's Go to War is a Canadian electro-rap trio formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The music group is made up of members Henry Walter, Adrien Gough, and Peter-John Kerr. The band is signed to Last Gang Records....

, whose members are Henry Walter, Adrien Gough and Peter-John Kerr. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Walter revealed they first sent several demos to Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...

 for Circus. After selecting it, Spears' management required several changes to the song, making "Mmm Papi" "substantially different from what was submitted." Walter revealed they had no contact with the singer for the song production, and considered "Mmm Papi" as "something different for Britney" and "a fun track and is not trying to be anything it's not." Spears recorded her vocals for the song in 2008 at Train Tracks Studios and Conway Recording 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,...

 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, with Walter and Eric Eylands. Guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 was provided by Chris Worthy, and audio mixing
Audio mixing
Audio mixing may refer to:*Audio mixing *Audio mixing *Live sound mixing...

 was done by Tony Maserati.

Composition

"Mmm Papi" is a latin pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...

 song that lasts for three minutes and twenty-two seconds. The song has dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

 elements and a 1960s go-go vibe
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...

, and incorporates into its melody handclaps and a rock guitar. Anna Dimond of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

 perceived influences of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

's "La Isla Bonita
La Isla Bonita
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, on February 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Originally written as a lament, the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna accepted it...

" (1987) in the song, and called it an "ode to the tropical life (and perhaps its masculine fruits)". It has been suggested that its lyrics deal with either her father Jamie Spears or paparazzi Adnan Ghalib. However, this was denied by Morier, who said "the song is definitely not about Adnan and in the whole time I worked with [Spears] last spring and summer I never once saw that guy." Morier described "Mmm Papi" as a fun upbeat song, while saying the title "came out of [the line] Mmm Papa Luv U."

Reception

"Mmm Papi" received generally unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

said the track was fun, but panned for appearing on Circus to "revisit the Lolita
Lolita
Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...

 persona of ...Baby One More Time
...Baby One More Time (song)
"...Baby One More Time" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It served as Spears' debut single from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time . Written by Max Martin and produced by Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, "...Baby One More Time" was released on September 30, 1998,...

". Chris Willman 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...

said the song "giddily sets [Spears] littlest-girl voice against a guitar right out of 1960s go-go rock." John Murphy of musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...

 said that "any indication of her chat-up lines [in "Mmm Papi"] may explain her recent trouble with men," while Caryn Ganz of 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...

said the singer "shows she has psychodrama to spare on [the song]," and considered it "a go-go romp with daddy issues." Eric Henderson of 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 :...

 commented, "the jaw-dropping "Mmm Papi" is the nexus of cock-hungriness." Chris Richards of The Washington Post said the song "tries to replicate the strutting come-ons of "Toxic
Toxic (song)
"Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, co-written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. After trying to choose between " Boom Boom" and "Outrageous" to...

", but quickly goes rancid as Spears indulges in some of the most cloying singing of her career," while Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

compared its style to Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...

's "Come On-a My House
Come on-a My House
"Come on-a My House" is a song performed by Rosemary Clooney on her album Come On-A My House, released on June 6, 1951. The song was written by Ross Bagdasarian and noted Armenian American writer William Saroyan in the summer of 1939 but did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording...

" (1951). Powers also said Spears have "a fairly horrific pan-Latin accent" in the song.

Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...

 of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

criticized "Mmm Papi" as the "most disturbing [song] of [Circus]." Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...

called "Mmm Papi" "an attempt at 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 new wave sound that doesn't work." Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star called it "awful," along with "My Baby", and a "baby-talk horror." Poppy Cosyns of The Sun criticized the song's lyrics, deeming it as "bizarre lyrics which reference [Spears] love/hate father-daughter turmoil." Pete Paphides
Peter Paphides
Peter Paphides is a British journalist and broadcaster.Between 2005 and 2010 he was employed as the chief rock critic of The Times and presented The Times weekly music podcast for Sounds Music supplement...

 of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

said "Mmm Papi" "couldn't be less sexy if Christine Hamilton were singing them," while a review by The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

said the song portrays "the former Mouseketeer as some kind of robotic nymphomaniac doll – groaning and grunting "let's make out" with the chilly distance of a future-sex cyborg unit." Darryl Sterdan of Jam!
Jam!
Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....

 gave "Mmm Papi" a positive review, saying, "between the hip-swivelling groove, the twangy guitar, the surfy organ lines and the silly vocals, this might be the most enjoyable cut on the disc. Pure fun." Despite not being released as a single, "Mmm Papi" did manage to peak at number ninety-four on Billboard Pop 100, on the week of December 10, 2008, due to moderate airplay on mainstream top 40 radio stations, singles sales, and digital downloads
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

.

Credits and personnel

Credits for "Mmm Papi" are adapted from Circus
Circus (Britney Spears album)
Circus is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. The album was first released on November 28, 2008 by Jive Records. Spears started work on the album in early 2008 with a range of producers including long-time producers Bloodshy & Avant and Danja...

liner notes.

Technical
  • Recorded at Train Tracks Studios in Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

    .
  • Additional recording at Conway Recording 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,...

     in Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

    .
  • Mixed
    Audio mixing
    Audio mixing may refer to:*Audio mixing *Audio mixing *Live sound mixing...

     for Two Chord Music, Inc. at Canaan Road Studios and Looking Glass Studios in New York City, New York.


Personnel

  • Britney Spears — lead vocals, background vocals, songwriting
    Songwriter
    A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

  • Nicole Morier — background vocals, producer
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

    , songwriting
  • Henry Walter
    Let's Go To War
    Let's Go to War is a Canadian electro-rap trio formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The music group is made up of members Henry Walter, Adrien Gough, and Peter-John Kerr. The band is signed to Last Gang Records....

     — songwriting, producer, vocal recording, programming
  • Adrien Gough
    Let's Go To War
    Let's Go to War is a Canadian electro-rap trio formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The music group is made up of members Henry Walter, Adrien Gough, and Peter-John Kerr. The band is signed to Last Gang Records....

     — songwriting, producer, programming

  • Peter-John Kerr
    Let's Go To War
    Let's Go to War is a Canadian electro-rap trio formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The music group is made up of members Henry Walter, Adrien Gough, and Peter-John Kerr. The band is signed to Last Gang Records....

     — songwriting, producer, programming
  • Eric Eylands — vocal recording
  • Chris Worthy — guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

  • Tony Maserati — mixing
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