Paper or Plastic (song)
"Paper or Plastic" | ||||
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Single by Brooke Candy | ||||
Released | June 8, 2016 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:55 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | NONFICTION | |||
Brooke Candy singles chronology | ||||
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"Paper or Plastic" is a song recorded by American singer Brooke Candy. It was written by Josh Cumbee, Shari Short, and Afshin Salmani, and produced by NONFICTION for Candy's unreleased album Daddy Issues. It was released as the fifth promotional single from the record. In 2017, Candy left RCA to focus on releasing a second extended play (EP), and the release of Daddy Issues was cancelled.
Moving away from her past rap sound from her 2014 EP Opulence, the track is a mid-tempo pop song revolving around issues relating to commercialism, superficiality, and capitalism. In the lyrics, Candy sings about how women must abandon their innocence to get an independent life. Critical response to "Paper or Plastic" was mixed; some music critics praised the sound while another criticized it alongside the other promotional singles for the album.
Darren Craig directed the song's music video, which Candy envisioned as a satire on political and socioeconomic repression of women and misogyny. In the video, Candy appears with a group of oppressed women who rise up against a tyrannical man and shoot him with golden rifles. The visual attracted critical attention from media commentators, who discussed the possible inspirations for the women and the setting. Critics positively responded to the music video, complimenting it as vibrant and outrageous.
Background and release
"Paper or Plastic" was written by Josh Cumbee, Shari Short, and Afshin "AFFSHeeN" Salmani, and produced by Cumbee and Salmani under their production team alias NONFICTION. Mark "Exit" Goodchild served as the mixing engineer, and the programmers and recording engineers were Cumbee and Salmani. Cumbee played the guitar for the track, while the keyboard was provided by Cumbee and Salmani.[1]
The song was made available on June 8, 2016 by
Music and lyrics
"Paper or Plastic" is a two-minute, fifty-five second
The instrumental features a "pop melody and fizzing electronics" while Candy sings the lyrics: "Time keeps on wasting, but I'm too high to be wasting with all this yolo and rap shit, my heart is elastic". Noisey's Daisy Jones interpreted the words as a reference to Australian singer Sia's 2013 single "Elastic Heart", who served as the executive producer of Daddy Issues. The song continues with the lyrics: "Living for the days, living for the nights, living for the chance to give what's right, now tell me who the hell you think I am."[4] During the song's hook, Candy sings "Why do all the good girls have to die/ Living in a bad girl's paradise"; Yasmeen Gharnit wrote that the section discusses how women must discard their innocence to achieve independence.[10] Other parts include: "Go buy a life that's fantastic cause all you are is your assets” and "You can't buy love without passion / So please don't do nothing drastic".[11][13]
Critical reception
Critical response to "Paper or Plastic" was mixed. Daisy Jones praised the song as a "pure shot of sparkling pop", describing it as "sweet, poppy and hella catchy".
Music video
Background and synopsis
A music video, directed by Darren Craig, was released on July 15, 2016.[16] Prior to the release, Candy uploaded a preview of the visual to her official Instagram account.[9] It was originally scheduled to be released earlier, but was delayed due to incidents of gun violence in the United States; Candy attributed the delay to her desire to avoid censoring the video. She said that she took two years to fully develop the concept behind the visual, explaining that she created it as a "satire on oppression and the current state of the world".[17] Yasmeen Gharnit interpreted the video as Candy taking a stance against the patriarchy.[10] Echoing Gharnit's sentiments, a writer for Ranconteur.la wrote that it was a "story of patriarchal oppression with stylistic innovation and panache".[18] According to Candy:
It’s a direct response to the current tyrannical and oppressive political, economic, and social climate we live in… Living in a hostile, misogynist environment requires women with good intentions to fire back and leave any idealism from their girlhood behind.
— Brooke Candy, Ranconteur.la[18]
In the video, Candy is shown living with a cult on a farm populated by abused women and a tyrannical man.[16] Candy and the other women are seen performing various chores around the house.[9] The man demands that the women prepare dinner, and drags one of them outside by her hair. These opening sequences are accompanied by the sounds of a piano, the women's cooking knives, and the man's ax.[12][18] The women seek vengeance against the man, removing all of their clothing, confronting him while he is chopping wood, and shooting him with golden rifles.[16] The visual also includes scenes of Candy posing with a white horse while wearing oversized hats and holding decorated machine guns.[16]
Analysis and reception
The visual attracted critical analysis from media commentators. A writer from Promonews.tv interpreted the characters as representing a
The video received a positive response from critics following its release. Rachel Sonis of Idolator wrote that the video was "just as fantastic and strange you’d expect".
Track listings
Credits
- Songwriting – Josh Cumbee, Shari Short, and Afshin "AFSHeeN" Salmani
- Production – NONFICTION
- Keyboard – Josh Cumbee and Afshin "AFSHeeN" Salmani
- Guitar – Josh Cumbee
- Mixing engineer – Mark "Exit" Goodchild
- Programming – Josh Cumbee and Afshin "AFSheeN" Salmani
- Recording engineer – Josh Cumbee and Afshin "AFSheeN" Salmani
Release history
Region | Format | Date | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Worldwide[1][2][3] | Digital download | July 8, 2016 | RCA |
References
- ^ a b c "Paper or Plastic". Tidal. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Paper or Plastic". iTunes Store. July 8, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Paper or Plastic". Amazon. July 8, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ Noisey. Archived from the originalon April 23, 2017.
- ^ Idolator. Archived from the originalon April 23, 2017.
- ^ Alexandra Weiss (June 14, 2017). "Brooke Candy Goes Back To Basics". Bullett Magazine. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017.
- Noisey. Archivedfrom the original on August 4, 2017.
- ^ Idolator. Archived from the originalon April 23, 2017.
- ^ Idolator. Archived from the originalon April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c Gharnit, Yasmeen (July 14, 2016). "Brooke Candy + Her Sister Wives Take Control Over Their Lives In Her New Music Video". Nylon. Diversis Capital. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b "New Brooke Candy Track Paper or Plastic". Hungertv.com. July 8, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Davies, Mimi (July 19, 2016). "Paper or Plastic, Brooke Candy's New Music Video". Asbomagazine.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ NewNowNext. Archived from the originalon April 23, 2017.
- ^ Cheng, Zarah (July 8, 2016). "TGIF: Brooke Candy Drops Infectious New Track "Paper or Plastic"". Hypebae. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- Idolator. Archivedfrom the original on August 21, 2017.
- ^ Idolator. Archived from the originalon April 23, 2017.
- ^ Jones, Daisy (July 23, 2016). "Watch Brooke Candy take revenge on her patriarchal oppressor". Dazed. Dazed Media. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Brooke Candy Gets Her Revenge in 'Paper or Plastic' Video Directed by Darren Craig". Raconteur.la. July 15, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b Knight, David (July 19, 2016). "Brooke Candy 'Paper Or Plastic' by Darren Craig". Promonews.tv. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
External links
- "Paper or Plastic" (Audio) on YouTube
- "Paper or Plastic" (Music Video) on YouTube