Released 3 July 2010 Genre Pop, dance, hip-hop Label Rocket Science Records | Recorded 2008-2010 Length 2:42 Writer(s) Liz Phair | |
"Bollywood" is a song by American recording artist Liz Phair. The song was her first release after breaking from Capitol Records and Dave Matthews' record label, ATO Records, and discusses the discrimination and bureaucracy present in the music industry. It was released as the lead single from her sixth album, Funstyle, and was panned by critics due to Phair's vocal performance and the song's production.
Contents
Background
Following the commercial disappointment of "Somebody's Miracle," which was her first album since "Exile in Guyville" to fail to reach the Top 40 of the Billboard 200, Liz Phair left Capitol records and signed to ATO Records, Dave Matthews' record label, in 2008. She composed some of the songs for her next album, "Funstyle," while she was signed to ATO, but after the label refused to release the music, she asked to leave.
Composition
"Bollywood" was released about two years after her split from ATO; like many of the songs on "Funstyle," "Bollywood" mocks the record industry, discussing sexism and ageism, and the confusing nature of record deals. The song incorporates sound effects & vocal processing. The song itself lasts two minutes and twenty-two seconds, though twenty seconds of silence are appended to the end of the track on "Funstyle."
Critical reception
"Bollywood" was widely panned by music critics. Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt proclaimed that the single demonstrated that "the Exile in Guyville Liz Phair we once knew and loved has officially left the building," while Jody Rosen at Rolling Stone awarded the single one out of five stars and stated: "As tabla-laden electro tinkles behind her, Phair tells a tale of music-biz misadventure, 'rapping' in a voice that sounds like a soccer mom impersonating Ke$ha," concluding that the song was "an insult to rappers everywhere, even the terrible ones." The Village Voice ranked "Bollywood" at #14 on their list of the 20 worst songs of 2010, calling her rapping "sub-Madonna at best".