| "Unlock It" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Promotional single byCharli XCX featuringKim Petras andJay Park | |
| from the albumPop 2 | |
| Released | 11 December 2017 |
| Genre | Art pop |
| Length | 3:52 |
| Label | Asylum |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Visualizer | |
| "Unlock It" onYouTube | |
"Unlock It" is a song by English singerCharli XCX featuring German singerKim Petras and American rapperJay Park. It was released on 11 December 2017 as the first promotional single from XCX's fourth mixtapePop 2 (2017). The track samplesA. G. Cook's "Beautiful" and premiered onZane Lowe'sBeats 1 show on the day of release. Reviewers praised "Unlock It", especially its lyrics. A mashup of the song withTinashe's "Superlove" went viral onTikTok in 2021, shortly after which XCX renamed the track "Unlock It (Lock It)" to fan discontent. In 2022,Piri & Tommy released a cover thatVice rated as the 14th best song of 2022.
XCX scrapped her planned third studio album, christenedXCX World by fans,[1] after it was leaked.[2] She first mentioned the idea of makingPop 2 toA. G. Cook in late September 2017 while he was inNew York. The pair started work once Cook was back inLondon and recorded the body of it atOven Studios, with the whole mixtape taking two months.[3] After implying that she had recorded a mixtape with Kim Petras, Jay Park,Carly Rae Jepsen, Tove Lo,Dorian Electra, Alma,Mykki Blanco, Cupcakke,Tommy Cash, Brooke Candy,Caroline Polachek, Pabllo Vittar,MØ, and A. G. Cook,[4] she announced the mixtape on 8 December 2017 and released its lead single, "Out of My Head" featuring Tove Lo and Alma.[5]
On 11 December, XCX followed this with "Unlock It",[6] which premiered on Zane Lowe'sBeats 1 show that day.[7] The song featured Petras, who XCX had met at aSophie concert, and Park, who had previously featured in the music video for her earlier track "Boys".[8] XCX used herBeats 1 interview to state that she had hired Park on the basis of how well he had gone down when the "Boys" video was published.[9] XCX wrote her contribution about her experiences of driving inNew Jersey around the time she was supportingHalsey on herHopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour[10] and its lyrics invite the listener to fall in love.[11] Produced by Cook and Life Sim,[12] the song features a spoken word chorus[13] that contains the phrase "Unlock It" 18 times[1] and samples Cook's earlier track "Beautiful" as he felt the song was missing something.[3]
Megan Burger ofPitchfork described the track as "art-pop at its finest, just shy of parody but hyper-aware of contemporary trends", and its lyrics as "over-the-top and blissfully artificial".[14] Ross McNeilage ofMTV News wrote that "If you want my love / Twerk to unlock it!" was one of the best lyrics of 2017.[8] The song was released two days before "I Got It" featuring Cupcakke, Brooke Candy, and Pabllo Vittar[15] and four days before the release of its parent mixtapePop 2.[16] A mashup of the song withTinashe's "Superlove" by Jeff Prior, a resident DJ at queer dance party Ctrl, went viral onTikTok in 2021 after being used in an accompanying dance on TikTok, eventually soundtracking 2,400,000 videos.[1] By 6 April, the track had been streamed 20,000,000 times and had been added toSpotify's Viral Hits playlist.[1]
On 2 May 2021, she updated the song's title to streaming platforms to "Unlock It (Lock It)"; after being criticised for this, she took toTwitter to opine that her audience should be intelligent enough to be challenged.[17] The following year,Clash described the song as one of XCX's best 17 songs, wrote that the song had a "power chorus, pure electronic happiness, bold, computerized melodies, and lyrics that offer cosmic escapism", and offered particular praise for the line "cosmic kiss, tastes like cherry maraschino", calling it "sweetly satisfying".[18] In 2024, Adam Graham ofThe Detroit News described the song as "an annoyingly catchy earworm that latches onto your brain and refuses to let go".[19]
Musicians
Production
| Region | Date | Version | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 11 December 2017 | Asylum | [21] |
| "Unlock It" | |
|---|---|
| Single byPiri & Tommy | |
| Released | 11 November 2022 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:13 |
| Label | Polydor |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Audio video | |
| "Unlock It" onYouTube | |
Piri & Tommy, who had previously opened forCharli XCX at aBrighton concert,[22] released a cover version of the song on 11 November 2022.[23] The track had been recorded and previously released for an Apple Home Music Session, in which artists make music at home.[24] Aisha Sembhi of Indiependent.co.uk described the track as a "blend [of]bubblegum pop anddrum & bass".[13]Clash described the song as "reminiscent of the original [but] deliver[ing] a more laidback edge" and described Piri's vocals as "silky smooth, laced in AutoTune, [and] bathed in reverb and delay" and the track's production as "clean and polished" withlo-fi drums.[25] In addition, their version of the song was rated as the fourteenth best song of 2022 byVice.[26]
Apple Home Music Session[24]
Single version[27]
| Region | Version | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | Apple Home Music Session | 13 September 2022 | Digital download | [24] | |
| Original version | 11 November 2022 |
| [27] |
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| Mixtapes | |
| Singles |
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| Promotional singles | |
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| Related topics | |
