Kitty Kat (song)
"Kitty Kat" | |
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YouTube |
"Kitty Kat" is a song by American singer
"Kitty Kat" was never released as a single but it garnered airplay on R&B radio stations, thus managing to chart on the US
Background
"Kitty Kat" was conceived partly at the
Music and lyrics
According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, "Kitty Kat" is a smooth[5] electro, hip hop soul and R&B song pacing in common time.[6] The nearly four-minute long track[7] is written in the key of D major.[6] The song features a moderately slow groove of 78 beats per minute, with Knowles' vocals range spanning from the note of G♯3 to C5.[6] Spence D of IGN Music noted that the beat is down-tempo and this goes in contrast with the previous works of The Neptunes, who usually favors electro clash amplification.[8] Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times noted that the song is similar to a Whitney Houston ballad[9] while Andy Kellman of AllMusic commented that it could have been pulled from one of the first three albums by the American musical artist, Kelis.[10]
In the song, the female protagonist feels that her love interest has underestimated her.
Critical reception
"Kitty Kat" received generally favorable reviews from critics. Eb Haynes of
Phil Harrison of
Music video
The music video for "Kitty Kat" was directed by
Matsoukas told that getting the cats to cooperate was a difficult step. She told MTV: "They were definitely the most diva out of anybody. Those cats were mad. We had animal trainers, but you really can't train a cat."[24] To get the effect of Knowles riding the cat, Matsoukas used a large plastic cow covered in a black fur drape for Knowles to perform on.[3]
The video was originally going to be its own music video as seen in the behind the scenes of B'Day Anthology with Knowles wearing more outfits and shooting more scenes than shown.[3] It begins with Knowles showing cat-like eyes with leopard print make-up and fashion on. In some parts of the clip, Knowles plays with an oversized ball of pink yarn and later plays with an oversized black cat. The clip ends with Knowles pulling the oversized cat on a gold chain off set and just immediately after that, the music video for "Green Light" begins. Rohin Guha of BlackBook magazine described the video as "deplorable".[27] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the video for "Kitty Kat" as "pure camp".[28]
In 2013, John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E! Online placed the video at number five on their list of Knowles' ten best music videos, writing "It's Beyoncé running around with a giant cat! And then riding it! What more could you want from a music video?!".[29]
Live performance
Beyoncé performed "Kitty Kat" for the first time a capella on
Credits and personnel
Credits are taken from B'Day liner notes.[1]
- Vocals: Beyoncé Knowles
- Writing: Beyoncé Knowles, Shawn Carter, Pharrell Williams
- Producing: Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, Beyoncé Knowles
- Recording: Jim Caruana, Geoff Rice (The Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles)
- Mixing: Jason Goldstein (Sony Music Studios, New York City), assisted by Steve Tolle
Charts
Chart (2007) | Peak position |
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US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[31] | 66 |
References
- ^ Sony Music Entertainment.
- ^ a b Dave de Sylvia (September 17, 2006). "Beyonce - B'Day". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ MTV Networks. p. 1. Archived from the originalon January 28, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ "Two New Beyoncé Tracks". Rap-Up. August 23, 2006. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Frere-Jones, Sasha (September 25, 2006). "Crazy from Love". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Garrett, Sean; Williams, Pharrell; Garrett, Sean (2006). "Beyoncé - 'Kitty Kat' - Digital Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. EMI Music Publishing. MN0075631.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b Joseph, Mike (September 11, 2006). "Beyoncé - B'Day". PopMatters. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ News Corporation. Archived from the originalon July 13, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ DeRogatis, Jim (September 3, 2006). "Spins - Beyonce, "B'day" (Sony)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Jon Pareles (September 4, 2006). "All That Success Is Hard on a Girl (or Sounds That Way)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Sal Cinquemani (August 29, 2006). "Beyoncé B'Day'". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ B. Selah, Makkada (November 28, 2006). "Flow Charts". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- E! Online. NBCUniversal. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Haynes, Eb (September 20, 2006). "B'Day". AllHipHop. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ Gardner, Elysa (August 30, 2006). "Beyoncé, raising her voice". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ Mayers, Norman (September 5, 2006). "Beyonce". Prefix Magazine. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ Sterdan, Darryl. "Review Album: Beyoncé - B'Day". Jam!. Sun Media. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Inskeep, Thomas (September 14, 2006). "Beyoncé: B'Day". Stylus Magazine. Todd Burns. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ "This Week's Hot Pick: Beyoncé's 'B'Day'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. September 11, 2006. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ Roberts, Michael (October 5, 2006). "Beyoncé - B'Day (Sony Urban Music/Columbia)". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- Time Out. Time Out Group Limited. Archived from the originalon February 12, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ a b c Vineyard, Jennifer. "Behind the B'Day Videos". MTV News. MTV Networks. p. 3. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ "Beyonce releases 'B'Day' video album". USA Today Company. April 25, 2007. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ "Video: Beyoncé - "Kitty Kat"". Rap-Up. March 28, 2007. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ Guha, Rohin (December 24, 2009). "Jay-Z & Beyoncé Merge Last Names". BlackBook. Vibe Media. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (April 7, 2007). "Upgrade B". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
- ^ Boone, John; Cady, Jennifer (February 1, 2013). "2013 Super Bowl Countdown: Beyoncé's Top 10 Music Videos Ever!". E! Online. NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ "Beyonce Whips Out New Costumes & Wiggery In Houston - Jay Z, Mathew Knowles, Slim Thug & Paul Wall Come Out + Bey Pays $60K To Finish Raleigh Show In Rain". theybf.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
- ^ "Beyonce Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2019.