"Lips Are Movin" is a song by the American singer-songwriterMeghan Trainor, taken from her debut major-label studio album,Title (2015). It was written by Trainor and the album's producer,Kevin Kadish.Epic Records premiered the song onMTV News on October 15, 2014, and released it to the United Statescontemporary hit radio stations on October 21, as the secondsingle fromTitle. Aretro-tingeddoo-wop andpop song withgirl groupharmonies andbubblegum pophooks, "Lips Are Movin" was inspired by Trainor's conflict with her record label. However, critical commentary has described it as a song about Trainor leaving her significant other after discovering he is cheating on her.
Kevin Kadish produced and co-wrote "Lips Are Movin".
American songwriterKevin Kadish metMeghan Trainor in June 2013 at the request of Carla Wallace, the co-owner of Trainor's publishing firm Big Yellow Dog Music. Kadish liked Trainor's voice and booked a writing session with her.[1] They subsequently co-wrote the song "All About That Bass" in November 2013 and pitched it to different record labels, all of which turned it down due to itsdoo-woppop production assynth-pop was more popular at the time.[2][3]L.A. Reid, the chairman ofEpic Records, heard it and encouraged Trainor to record it herself. She signed with the label in 2014 and released it as her debutsingle in June that year.[3] The song reached number1 in 58 countries and sold 11 million units worldwide.[4][5][6]
Following the success of "All About That Bass", Trainor'sA&R suggested that she and Kadish write more songs together.[7] Kadish produced eight tracks for her debut major-label studio albumTitle (2015), and co-wrote seven of them, including "Lips Are Movin".[a][10] Following the album's initial completion, the two had an additional day to work together and went into the studio. Trainor overheard the instrumental track for "Lips Are Movin" through Kadish's headphone box and insisted they write it that day. Trainor started singing the song'sverse after Kadish came up with the line "I know you're lying, your lips are moving", and they finished writing it within eight minutes.[7] In a 2014 interview, he spoke fondly about writing with Trainor: "It's almost like we share a brain musically when we're writing a song. I've never had that with anyone before."[11]
An 18-second sample of the introduction of "Lips Are Movin", where Trainor sings the titular line overretro-tinged production which makes use of handclaps.
Kadish stated that the lyrics of "Lips Are Movin" were inspired by Trainor's frustrations with her record label.[7] However, reviewers, includingThe Tennessean's Dave Paulson andMTV News' Christina Garibaldi, deemed it a track about leaving a significant other after being cheated on, an interpretation Kadish is open to.[7][13][19]
MTV News reported the song "Title" (2014) would be released as Trainor's second single, in September 2014.[20] Kadish went to New York to meet with Reid and voiced his regret about not having "Lips Are Movin" ready in time for the release of Trainor's debutextended playTitle that month, and its potential release as the follow-up single. Reid announced during the meeting that he was going with it as the second single and scrapping "Title", and was quoted by Kadish as saying, "I think this song will do better."[7]
On October 14, 2014, "Lips Are Movin" was briefly available to stream on mobile applicationShazam, and premiered along with its artwork on MTV News the following day.[13][19][21] Epic Records released the song tocontemporary hit radio in the United States on October 21,[22] and fordigital download in various countries.[23][24][25] British radio stationBBC Radio 1 added it torotation on December 26, 2014, and the record label sent it to radio stations in Italy on January 16, 2015.[26][27] In the UK, "Lips Are Movin" was made available to those who pre-orderedTitle, with its digital release as a single being held back until January 18.[12]Sony Music released aCD single exclusively for sale by United States retailerBest Buy on December 30, 2014, and in Germany on February 13, 2015.[28][29]
"Lips Are Movin" received widespread comparisons to "All About That Bass" frommusic critics.[14][30][31] Mikael Wood of theLos Angeles Times considered it one ofTitle's dozen versions of the latter, which he found as cheerful but also as annoying.[32] Writing forClash, Alice Levine remarked that the songs have the same "factory-produced sass" and theme of falsefeminism and empowerment, but being done a second time decreased its novelty.[33]The Boston Globe's Marc Hirsh derided "Lips Are Movin" for following the formula of "All About That Bass", writing that Trainor is a plunderer and "steals from herself" with the song.[34]Spin's Dan Weiss criticized the lyrics and compared them to the age-old joke about lawyers being liars.[35]Toronto Star's Ben Rayner wrote that it is "whitewashed into a fairly anodyne mush", and declared that its "hip-hop bump and plush bassline" are "pure cosmetic window dressing". He considered them an attempt to make Trainor's "old-timey aesthetic" feel contemporary.[36]
Other reviewers were positive of "Lips Are Movin".Billboard'sCarl Wilson complimented the lyrics, saying that they proved Trainor had "more going on than a topical trifle", but concluded that the song was risking "coming off as 'Bass, Part 2".[37] Brian Mansfield ofUSA Today called "Lips Are Movin" the "better record" of the two.[38] Garibaldi described it as an up-beat and catchy "ladies anthem",[19] and aBillboard critic stated that the "upbeat and sassy" song's similarities with "All About That Bass" would lead to "great things" for it.[37] In a favorable review, Andrew Hampp from the same magazine said that "Lips Are Movin" helped solidify Trainor "as the self-proclaimed queen of her own genre, 'she-wop'".[17] Erlewine declared it the best song on the album and wrote that it would help the listener accept Trainor's "pastiche and performance" skills,[18] andChicago Tribune's Matt Pais considered it a showcase of Trainor's "versatility, confidence, vulnerability and smartness".[39]
"Lips Are Movin" debuted at number 93 on the USBillboard Hot 100 issued for November 8, 2014.[40] On December 10, 2014, the song moved from number 13 to number 8 and became Trainor's second consecutive top-10 entry, selling 110,000 digital downloads and earning 7.8 million streams.[16] It peaked at number 4 in its eighth week on the chart, receiving 116,000 sales and 8 million streams during the tracking week. This made Trainor the fifth female artist inBillboard Hot 100 chart history to follow her debut number-one single directly with a second top-five.[41][8] TheRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the single4× Platinum, which denotes four million units based on sales and track-equivalent on-demand streams.[42] On theCanadian Hot 100, "Lips Are Movin" peaked at number 7 and was certified 4× Platinum byMusic Canada.[43][44]
The song debuted at number 89 on theUK Singles Chart issued for December 21, 2014.[45] Following its digital release as a single in the United Kingdom,[12] it rose from number 50 to its peak of number 2 on January 25, 2015.[46] TheBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified "Lips Are Movin" Platinum.[47] In Germany, the song reached number 10 and was certified Gold.[48][49] It peaked at number 3 in Australia and was certified 5× Platinum in 2023.[50][51] In New Zealand, the track peaked at number 5 and was certified double platinum.[52][53] Elsewhere, "Lips Are Movin" charted within the top 10 of national record charts – at number 2 in Scotland[54] and Venezuela,[55] number 3 in Czech Republic[56] and Poland,[57] number 4 in Slovakia,[58] number 5 in Ireland,[59] Slovenia,[60] and Spain,[61] number 6 in Austria,[62] and number 10 in the Netherlands and[63] South Africa.[64] The song additionally made the top 30, at number 18 in Hungary[65] and Switzerland,[66] number 22 in Norway,[67] number 23 in Denmark,[68] and number 28 in Sweden.[69] It received a Double Platinum certification in Sweden,[70] Platinum in Mexico[71] and Spain,[72] and Gold in Denmark[73] and Italy.[74]
Trainor wanted to create something as "big and fun" as the music video for "All About That Bass", and did not want the video to just feature her yelling at a male love interest.[19][79] Hewlett-Packard and ad agency 180LA had been contacting record labels, wanting to help create a music video as part of the promotional campaign for the former's newly launched Pavilion x360laptop, when they thought of Trainor. A creative director for 180LA toldAdweek that they picked Trainor as her music would suit a "fun, high-energy campaign" and she had the potential to inspire the influencers' followers.[75] HP and Trainor picked out the influencers, which include AmericanYouTuberLiza Koshy, French dancersLes Twins,[75] and American dancerChachi Gonzales.[80] Trainor described the concept of the video in an interview with MTV News: "Here's me being sassy and other people dancing with me and having just a good time and trying to get through this feeling of, Ugh he's cheating on me again".[78] She said she was excited about it and concluded "it still feels very 'Meghan Trainor,' which is amazing!".[79]
The video depicts behind-the-scenes events of a music video shoot. The x360 laptop appears frequently in the music video as aproduct placement, beginning with its use as a digitalclapperboard in the opening scene.[75]
In the music video, Trainor, in a black leather jacket, sings in front of a pastel blue backdrop.[82] She performs choreography with the influencers in subsequent scenes, on vibrant studio sets of bright colors.[83] Themeta concept of the visuals also depicts Trainor getting her makeup done and choosing wardrobe.[82] Lips are used as amotif throughout the video; they appear as close-ups of Trainor's mouth, lip-shaped earrings and sunglasses, and as a large drawing in the backdrop, the latter of whichYahoo! Music writerLyndsey Parker compared to those in a poster forThe Rocky Horror Picture Show.[81] Trainor is later seen lying on a lip-shaped sofa.[81] One of Trainor's outfits include a bubblegum-colored dress with two cat faces on it, which Mike Pell ofMTV UK compared to the topKaty Perry wore at the2014 MTV Europe Music Awards.[83]
The music video's release reportedly boosted Trainor'ssocial media presence, including an 11% surge inTwitter followers, 16% onFacebook, 41.3% on Instagram, and an almost 100% increase on Vine.[77][79] Hampp said that in being the first-ever music video created entirely by social media influencers, its production was a "historic milestone in the realm of YouTube creators".[79] James Cowan ofCanadian Business believed that some could see Hewlett-Packard's involvement as a dull brand trying to appear modish by attaching itself to influencers, but a more enthusiastic viewer may call it "arts patronage for the 21st century", and noted that the sponsorship is so limited that no one would notice it without searching.[77]
Pell called it a thematic continuation of the "All About That Bass" video, due to the bright and ebullient sets featured in both clips.[83]Fuse's Hilary Hughes wrote that the "Lips Are Movin" music video offered a bolder look for Trainor, which constituted a style shift from the latter and "definitely made a statement", but retained its "cheekiness and big-eyed adorable vibes".[82] Parker wrote that Trainor's cat outfit was a "fashion statement" that was bound to get attention, and remarked that the excessive use of lips as a motif could be seen as Trainor's informal campaign for aM.A.C. Viva Glam endorsement deal.[81]
Trainor performing "Lips Are Movin" on theJingle Ball Tour on December 10, 2014.
Trainor performed "Lips Are Movin" live onNBC'sToday on November 5, 2014, where she gave an interview and received a plaque.[84] On November 27, she performed the song at theMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on aGoldieBlox float.[85] Trainor performed it on the finale ofThe Voice'sseventh season on December 16.[86] She performed a medley of "Lips Are Movin" and "All About That Bass" on theseason 19 finale of America'sDancing with the Stars.[87] Trainor performed an acoustic version of the former song onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 15, 2015, during which she played the guitar.[88] She performed it duringToday's 2015 Toyota Concert Series as well as their 2016 Citi Concert Series.[89][90]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^"Classifiche".Musica e Dischi (in Italian).Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. RetrievedJune 3, 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Meghan Trainor".
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201502 into search. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
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