A Toast to Men

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"A Toast to Men"
An image of Ford sitting in front of a colorful wall with holes. The image contains text about the song title, the artist's name, and promotional material on the music video.
Single by Willa Ford featuring Lady May
Released2003
GenrePop
Length3:12
LabelLava
Songwriter(s)Willa Ford, Rhonda Robinson, Toby Gad
Producer(s)Toby Gad
Willa Ford singles chronology
"Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)"
(2001) 		"A Toast to Men"
(2003)

"A Toast to Men"

sorority party. The title and chorus feature a profane word, which attracted media attention. Ford said she wanted to revolutionize pop music by using the word "fuck
", and was surprised her label chose it as a single because of its explicit content.

Lava released "A Toast to Men" in 2003 as the lead single from Ford's second studio album, SexySexObsessive, which was canceled following issues within the record company. A music video and an extended play (EP) of remixes were released to promote the single. Gay.com included the song on a 2003 sampler album, and it was featured in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business.

"A Toast to Men" received positive reviews, and some critics praised its

Hot Singles Sales Billboard chart and number 11 on the Dance Singles Sales Billboard chart. After SexySexObsessive was canceled, Ford ended her music career and transitioned into acting and interior design
.

Production and composition

"A Toast to Men"
"A Toast to Men" is a pop song with hip hop and dancehall influences.[4][5] The explicit lyrics were controversial,[6] specifically its use of the word fuck in its chorus and one of its titles.[5][7]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Following the release of her debut studio album Willa Was Here in 2001, Willa Ford took two years to develop new music.[8] She wrote "A Toast to Men" with Lady May and the song's producer Toby Gad. Ford and Lady May are credited under their legal names Amanda Williford and Rhonda Robinson, respectively.[4] Although Gad was a successful producer in Europe, he had difficulty finding work in the US. He collaborated with Ford at the suggestion of her record label Lava and met her manager David Sonenberg, who would later become his "exclusive manager".[9] Tom Coyne was the mastering engineer for the track.[10]

"A Toast to Men" is a three-minute, 12-second

sorority party.[8][4] In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, Ford described the lyrics as being about "a bunch of chicks dancing and getting it on in a no-boys-allowed situation". She said she purposefully used profanity to reflect an ongoing "revolution" in how pop music was perceived by the public, explaining: "I wanted it to be sexy and fierce and be OK to say the word 'fuck'."[8]

Release and promotion

In 2003, Lava released "A Toast to Men" as a

promotional CD.[11] The single shortens Lady May's name to May.[4][12] An edited version of the song without the intro was issued in October 2003,[13] and an extended play (EP) containing four remixes was made available the following month.[12] A music video was released to promote the track further, which Billboard's Chuck Taylor praised as "saucy (but graciously playful", writing it "adds fuel to the flamboyant raunch" of the song.[4] Gay.com included "A Toast to Men" on their 2003 sampler album Gay.com Winter 2003 CD, which they gave as a gift to new subscribers of the website.[14][15] The song featured in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business.[9]

A picture of Willa Ford in a white shirt, posing next to a man
After the song's release, Willa Ford (pictured left in 2013) transitioned out of music and into acting and interior design
.

"A Toast To Men" was intended as the lead single from Ford's second studio album Sexysexobsessive, which was scheduled for a 2004 release.[8][16] Ford was surprised by this choice, believing Lava would not promote something "that racy".[8] Although an edited version was sent to radio, Chuck Taylor said it did little to "hide the pre-dominant hook".[4] The lyrics attracted controversy,[6] and journalists compared it to Eamon's 2003 single "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" since both use "fuck" in their titles.[5][7] Radio personalities were uncertain how to introduce the songs on air without violating Federal Communications Commission guidelines against the use of profanity.[5]

Despite this, "A Toast to Men" was popular on radio and television.

Did Ya' Understand That", were not as successful as her debut single "I Wanna Be Bad" (2001).[20]

Sexysexobsessive was canceled following "record company turnovers and takeovers"; in a 2017 Billboard interview, Ford said she was put in a "no man’s land", and attributed these record label issues to her decision to leave the music industry.

gay clubs,[21] in 2019 interviews, she said she was not interested in recording new music.[22][23]

Critical reception

"A Toast to Men" received a positive response from critics. A

Complex article, Tara Aquino and Julian Patterson considered Lady May's featured appearances on other artists' songs, including "A Toast to Men", as a sign that the momentum built from her 2002 single "Round Up" was diminishing.[24]

Some publications praised "A Toast to Men" for its feminist message.[8][20] Rolling Stone's Gill Kaufman wrote that Ford "transforms a salty sorority chant into a female-empowerment anthem".[8] Michael Love Michael associated the single with feminism because the lyrics focus on "romantic and sexual agency". He commended Ford for "flipping the script for what young women in the pop mainstream could say and how they were expected to behave", writing her objectification of men separated her from other female pop singers.[20]

Track listings

Digital download[13]
No.TitleLength
1."A Toast to Men" (Edited version with Intro)3:12
EP[12]
No.TitleLength
1."F*ck the Men (A Toast to Men)"3:12
2."F*ck the Men (A Toast to Men)" (Johnny Budz Explicit Mix)5:58
3."F*ck the Men (A Toast to Men)" (Suraci & Jemini Naughty Club Mix)5:36
4."F*ck the Men (A Toast to Men)" (Suraci & Jemini Bad Girl Club Mix)3:09
5."F*ck the Men (A Toast to Men)" (GoodandEvil Explicit Remix)3:26

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[10]

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Billboard
Hot Singles Sales[18]
 45
Billboard
Hot Dance Singles Sales[19]
 11

Notes

  1. ^ The song was also known as "F*ck the Men (A Toast to Men)" and "A Toast to the Men (F**k the Men)", with the asterisks used as censors.[1] Some publications used the uncensored version, "Fuck the Men (A Toast to Men)", while discussing the song.[2][3]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Apple Music 2003b; Billboard 2004, p. 44; Tidal
  2. ^ a b c Manes 2004.
  3. ^ a b Maxim.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Taylor 2003, p. 43.
  5. ^ a b c d e Gardner 2003, p. E4.
  6. ^ a b Hainsworth 2009.
  7. ^ a b Aucoin 2004, p. B17.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Kaufman 2003.
  9. ^ a b Tobygad.com.
  10. ^ a b Tidal.
  11. ^ a b Apple Music 2003a; Apple Music 2003b; Taylor 2003, p. 43; Tidal
  12. ^ a b c Apple Music 2003b.
  13. ^ a b Apple Music 2003a.
  14. ^ gay.com.
  15. ^ Shapiro 2004.
  16. ^ The News-Times 2004.
  17. ^ a b AskMen 2007.
  18. ^ a b Billboard a.
  19. ^ a b Billboard b.
  20. ^ a b c d Michael 2019.
  21. ^ a b Kaplan 2017.
  22. ^ a b Rosa 2019.
  23. ^ Entertainment Tonight 2019.
  24. ^ Aquino & Patterson 2012.

Citations

External links

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