"2099" is a song by British singerCharli XCX featuring Australian singerTroye Sivan. It was released on 10 September 2019 as the fourth and final promotional single from Charli XCX's third studio albumCharli (2019).[2] The song was produced byA. G. Cook and Ö.[3]
The song became the second collaboration between the two artists after the pair have previously collaborated on the track "1999" in 2018. Charli XCX and Sivan premiered and performed the song live for the first time at their own Pride music festival "Go West Fest" in Los Angeles on 6 June 2019.[4][5] It was described as a sequel to their first collaboration "1999".[6]
In an interview withPaper, Charli compared the song to a voyage into space. Commenting on the lyrical context, she opined that "it felt kind of poetic, I suppose, to end on "2099" with Troye, going to the future, different year". As for a deeper meaning of the song, however, she suggested that "you can read into it as much as you want, but also if you don't want to, it's fine". She further elaborated on the outro, saying that she felt it to be "so over-the-top and aggressive".[7]
Emily Zemler ofRolling Stone described the song as a "futuristic, synth-heavy song" and noted the "pair sharing vocals over a layers of sound".[8] James Rettig atStereogum preferred the studio recording to the live version, stating that "its proper recording sounds even better, a futuristic flex that looks forward instead of back".[9] Writing forVulture, Craig Jenkins highlighted Sivan's performance on the song, saying how he "doubles down on the natural ghostly wispiness of his voice" and pointing out that "you can almost imagine "2099" as an artifact unearthed in a distant future".[10]
Charli XCX riding a jet ski, with another rider performing flips in the background. Sivan fueled fan speculation on whether he performed the flips or used astunt double.[11]
The music video was released on 17 September 2019 and was directed byBradley&Pablo.[12] It features the singers riding jet skis and doing several flips.[13] Alex Robert Ross ofThe Fader compared the visuals to the likes ofJames Bond.[13] Trey Alston ofMTV assumed the video to take place in the future and pointed out that both singers visibly "have a lot of fun".[14] Charli XCX herself described the video as "the best video ever".[15]
