"Kiss Me More" is a song by American rapper and singerDoja Cat featuring American singerSZA from the former's third studio albumPlanet Her (2021). It was released on April 9, 2021, as the album's lead single throughKemosabe andRCA Records. "Kiss Me More" was written by the artists alongside producersYeti Beats andRogét Chahayed, as well as Tizhimself andCarter Lang, who both provided additional production, andLukasz Gottwald. It has been described as adisco or rap influencedpop song.
As itinterpolates the melody of the chorus fromOlivia Newton-John's 1981 single "Physical", additional co-writing credits on the track go toSteve Kipner and Terry Shaddick. "Kiss Me More" became a number-one song in New Zealand, Mexico, Malaysia and Singapore, and reached the top five in eighteen countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. It also reached the top ten in India and Hungary, top twenty in Portugal, top thirty in France and Slovakia and top forty in Brazil and Germany. It is also the longest-running all-female top 10 hit in American chart history.[2] It has accumulated over two billion streams on Spotify.[3] The song won theGrammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (becoming both Doja and SZA's first Grammy wins) and was also nominated forRecord of the Year andSong of the Year.
Doja Cat released her second studio album,Hot Pink, in November 2019.[4] The album spawned sevensingles, including "Juicy", "Say So", and "Streets". "Juicy" gave Doja Cat her first entry intoBillboard's USHot 100 chart.[5] It then wentviral on the video-hosting applicationTikTok, where it served as background music for severalInternet dance challenge clips.[6] Aided by their popularity in TikTok, "Say So" and "Streets" became her first songs to top the US Hot 100 and reach the top 10 of theBillboard Global 200, respectively.[5][6][7]
Looking back at the success ofHot Pink, staff writers atBillboard observed that Doja Cat had the "innate ability" to produce hit singles, and argued that she was becoming a "quintessential[Generation] Z pop star". After the album had performed great on the charts, the senior staff at Doja Cat's record label,RCA, believed that they needed to release a good follow-up song that would attain Internet-driven commercial success just like her previous singles. Such a song turned out to be "Kiss Me More", featuring American singer-songwriterSZA.[5]
In early January 2021, Doja Cat revealed that her upcoming studio album features numerous guest appearances, including SZA.[8] On March 5, 2021, SZA first mentioned "Kiss Me More" during an interview withV.[9] She revealed that the song was "a different strut and I'm just excited",[10] while Doja Cat replied by praising SZA, saying "I commend artists, like you, who stick to something".[11] On April 8, 2021, Doja Cat took to social media to reveal the cover art and announce the release of the song for April 9.[12][13][14] In an interview withZane Lowe forApple Music, she said: "I wanted to make a song about kissing. I just thought it would be cute. That doesn't happen too often, but just a song that's solely about kissing."[15][16]
"Kiss Me More" is apop,[17][18][19]pop rap,[20]bubblegum pop,[21]dance-pop[22] andR&B[23] song largely influenced bydisco.[24][25] It is composed in4 4 time and thekey ofA-flat major, with a moderately fasttempo of 111 beats per minute (BPM) and a chord progression ofB♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7–D♭maj7.[26] Doja Cat opens the song with vocals that recall "the gentle airiness of a light breeze", before two crashes ofcymbals "act like glue" as they precede thebeat drop.[27] The song is "bolstered" by a "sunny, glimmering riff" and both singing and rap verses which critics noted to spotlight Doja Cat as equal parts singer and rapper.[27] It is distinguishable by its slightly distorted signature guitar lead.[28] Lyrical themes include "romance, passion, bold sexual desires, and tenderness all at once".[22] The song's chorusinterpolates the melody fromOlivia Newton-John's "Physical",[20][29] to which songwritersSteve Kipner and Terry Shaddick are also credited as co-writers.[30]
"Kiss Me More" received critical acclaim. Some critics drew resemblance between the song and Doja Cat's breakthrough 2020 hit "Say So".[31][32][23][33]Jon Caramanica ofThe New York Times wrote that it "mixes the breeze of lite1980s funk with the bawdiness of2020s hip-hop, a juggling act that Doja Cat has pioneered, if not trademarked, by now."[34] Justin Cutro ofVulture described it as "a silky, playful R&B jam",[23] while writers atRolling Stone deemed it a "groovy, disco-inflected jam".[24] Heran Mamo ofBillboard wrote that "the slinky, sensual jam will definitely be a summer playlist staple with its groovy bass line".[17] Writing forNylon, Steffanee Wang described the song as "a mid-tempo pop number with guitar and sticky melodies".[35] Writing forTeen Vogue, Claire Dodson described the song as "excellent" and "a shimmering ode to kissing [...] with a somewhat melancholy underlying melody that contrasts well with that signature soft-disco Doja beat."[36] Anders Hare ofRated R&B wrote that the "sunkissed, bouncy tune [...] features both musical prowesses sensually crooning about embracing the now with their significant others."[37] Doja Cat and SZA's vocals were described as "smooth", "sultry" and "evocative".[38] Jason Lipshutz ofBillboard praised the duo's delivery and noted that they "keep their rhymes tight and chorus vocals breathy, but don't mince words".[33] Both the song and its accompanying music video received all-round praise for its dreaminess[23][39][25][16][40] and sensuality.[39][11][41][25][31]
Complex ranked "Kiss Me More" seventh on its mid-year list of the best songs of 2021 and named it one of the most "infectious" songs of the year. Describing it as "light and uptempo" and deeming it "a masterclass in disco-adjacent pop music", they praised Doja Cat's "terrific job balancing singing and rapping over a catchy riff" with her "snappy flow" and "tongue-in-cheek punchlines".[42]Insider crowned "Kiss Me More" the best song onPlanet Her and hailed it as "easily one of the best songs released [in 2021]" since "every moment of this song is disarming and brilliant."[43] Brandon Yu ofMic deemed it "the most refined showcase of her many talents thus far".[44] In an album review forConsequence, Carys Anderson agreed that the song "sums up every layer of Doja Cat’s complex celebrity" with its infectious guitar line and chanted refrain, ultimately making it "a summery summation" of the "hyper-feminine, hyper-sexual, hyper-futuristic aesthetic" ofPlanet Her.[45]
"Kiss Me More" appeared on many mid-year best-of lists, with several critics identifying it as one best songs of the year so far. The following is a selected list of publications.
Doja Cat (right, next to SZA) plays a video game mimicking the seductive journey towards the aliens' lair on Planet Her, which has a display of trapped male astronauts in the background.[31][35]
The music video was filmed throughout the week of March 15–19, 2021, directed byWarren Fu.[69] It premiered the same day as the single.[70] It features an astronaut (played by American actorAlex Landi)[71][72] who crash-lands and explores the fictional "Planet Her", where Doja Cat and SZA portray seductive aliens who "provide soulful ambiance to his journey." At the end, he wakes up in a glass tube displayed among a collection of other men who have tried to explore the planet before him.[73][31][11][74][35]
Emlyn Travis ofMTV praised the music video, describing Planet Her as "a mysterious, flourishing world filled with glittering oases, calmingzen gardens,pastel sunset skies, andblossoming cherry trees that is ruled by two larger-than-life queens".[73] Meaghan Garvey ofBillboard noted that the video is "bathed in pastel hues and high-femme futurism, and while it's over-the-top sexy, it still ends with Doja and SZA cracking each other up while playing a video game in a galaxy far, far away."[75] Erica Gonzales ofHarper's Bazaar described the video as a "fantastical" one that "only their creative minds could pull off."[25] Jem Aswad ofVariety deemed it "trippy",[31] while Jackson Langford ofNME described it as "sensual sci-fi".[11] Mekishana Pierre ofEntertainment Tonight noted that it was "as playful and sugary-sweet as the track itself".[41] Trishna Rikhy ofV wrote: "A celestial visual and sonic experience, the hints ofsurrealism Doja Cat constantly threads through her videos still lingers".[38] John Wohlmacher ofBeats Per Minute noted that the fact that these "playful goddesses" were more interested in videogames than men shows just how clever the thematic approach toPlanet Her was.[28]
Doja Cat performed a solo version of "Kiss Me More" for the first time atTriller'sinaugural Fight Club event in April 2021.[76] Doja Cat and SZA performed the song together at the2021Billboard Music Awards in May 2021.[77] Doja Cat again performed a solo version of the song within amedley at the2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards later that month.[78] During a solo virtual concert as part ofAmerican Express's "Unstaged" campaign, SZA performed her verse from the song as well as the chorus usually sung by Doja Cat.[79] She performed it in the same manner during a solo virtual concert as part ofGrey Goose's "In Dream" campaign.[80] Doja Cat also included the song in the setlist for herThe Scarlet Tour and SZA did the same for herSOS Tour.
On July 22, 2022,Sony Music Japan announced a remix of "Kiss Me More" was released to digital stores, with Japanese comedianNaomi Watanabe replacingSZA as a featured artist.[212] The remix was produced by Kentaro Fuji with Japanese lyrics and vocal direction by Japanese rapperAwich. The remix was Watanabe's second official music recording, her previous being "Kira Kira" with Japanese-American singerAi in 2017.
^Berman, Judy; Bruner, Raisa; Chow, Andrew R.; Lang, Cady; Moon, Kat (June 23, 2021)."What Will Be 2021's Song of the Summer?".Time. RetrievedJuly 14, 2021.slinky and smooth R&B-infused pop number
^"Top 100 Brasil" (in Brazilian Portuguese).Crowley Broadcast Analysis. RetrievedJune 21, 2021.Note: In "SEMANA REFERÊNCIA" select June 14, 2021 - June 18, 2021. To access the full Top 100, click on "VER TOP 100 COMPLETO" and enter your name and email. Then enter the code you received by email.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 25. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 20. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
^"מדיה פורסט - המצעד הישראלי השבועי" [Media Forest - the weekly Israeli charts].Media Forest. July 3, 2021. RetrievedJuly 12, 2021.Note: Select "27 27-06-21 03-07-21" in the drop-down menu and select the "שירים מובילים - רדיו - בינלאומי" (second from left) subheading.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 47. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 18. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
^"渡辺直美がラップで全世界デビュー、ドージャ・キャット楽曲に参加" [Naomi Watanabe makes her worldwide debut rapping and participates in Doja Cat's song].www.cinra.net (in Japanese). July 22, 2022. RetrievedJuly 22, 2022.
