Work from Home

Background

"Work from Home" was initially written by Ammo with Jude Demorest, Alexander Izquierdo, Dallas Koehlke and Brian Lee. Ammo and Dallas K. also produced, performed all instruments and programming for the song. The group's vocals were produced by Victoria Monét, the song was recorded by Andrew Boloki at Windmark Recording Studios and The Northership both located in the state of California. The song was mixed by Phil Tan at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center with assistance from Daniela Rivera.

The song came for the group after their A&R Joey Arbagey played it during a meeting to discuss their second album's direction, the members immediately approved the song. During an interview with SPIN, the member Camila Cabello explained: “We heard it and we just fell in love with it. We were just obsessed with it because it’s laid-back and chill and has a kind of urban pocket to it. I think that’s why we loved it so much, because it branched out in different ways than everything else we’d recorded." While talking about how the collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign came together, the group member Dinah Jane said: I'm so happy he agreed to be on this with us. He's definitely one of my favorite artists. Especially after his song "Paranoid" I was like, "Guys, we gotta get this dude on our song," and he was a perfect fit for this song. The way he rides it and brings a different feel to the song. He brought it." According to Cabello, "He added such an amazing flair to it… the way that he plays with the melody and his dissonant notes. He made his own hooky part out of the bridge.” The singer Ty Dolla Sign discussed his contribution in the song during an commentary to Billboard, "I did the song because my 11-year-old daughter always plays them, but the other night on tour out here, we had all these girls in the hotel room. Usually we put on Future or something more turnt, but they all just wanted to hear Fifth Harmony. That's the first time that ever happened."

Release

Fifth Harmony announced the song's title on February 24, 2016. The song was originally titled "Work" and was set to be released on January 26, 2016. But, it had to be re-titled "Work from Home" to avoid confusion with Rihanna's song of the same name, which was released a month prior. The track premiered on February 26, 2016 on the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, and it was released along with the pre-order of the album. It was serviced to contemporary hit radio in the United States on March 1, 2016. On the single's choice, member Normani Kordei explains in an interview to Entertainment Weekly: “[‘Work From Home’] just made sense after ‘Worth It’ because they have similar styles, but they’re still different,” she says." And just creatively, we think it’s a really cool song. It’s chill, it’s not too much. The beat just rides. There’s something electrifying about it. It’s sexy, but it’s cool."

Composition

"Work from Home" is an midtempo song with elements of trap music. Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork noted elements of Rnbass in its production, while Meaghan Garvey from MTV found tropical house influences on its beats. Discussing the song musically, Chris Martins from Billboard classified it as a "a pop-R&B confection that siphons off the a tropically tinted EDM pool." According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Work from Home" is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 104-108 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of Ab major as quitent's voice spans the tonal nodes of G₃ to F₅. "Work from Home" follows a chord progression of F_m–D♭—A♭.

According with J.C Pan from The Fader, "Work From Home" uses work as a euphemism for sexual seduction, "rolling out one job-related double entendre after another". In review of the album 7/27, Peter Meister from Sputnikmusic describing the song, wrote, "In the sparkling, sexy "Work From Home", R&B crooner Ty Dolla $ign harmonizes perfectly with the girls amongst brimming, elegant synths that explode and rattle with booming, gritty bass over the demanding of their lover to not go to work but instead, put the "work" at home with her. Its instrumentation is complete with electro claps, strong bassline and backed-synth. The song has a typical verse-pre-chorus-chorus structure with a rap bridge done by Ty Dolla Sign before the third chorus and the outro. The song begins with bubbling beat and finger snaps. The first verse is sung by Cabello, the first pre-chorus is sung by Kordei. "I know you're on the night shift/but I can't stand these nights alone", she sings. Following of the chorus sung by Jauregui, its extremely repetitive, with the word "work" repeated seven times after each line. The second verse is sung by Hernandez who sings: "Let's put it into motion / Imma give you a promotion / I'll make it feel like a vacay / Turn the bed into an ocean". Followed by Hansen singing the second pre-chorus. Ty Dolla Sign sing after the second chorus, on the third and final chorus Cabello closes the song with an ad-libbed outro.

Critical reception

Carolyn Menyes of Music Times gave it a positive review, noting the "chilled out vibe" and the "chorus that cools down the song's momentum rather than pumping it up". Nicolas-Tyrell Scott of Wizard Radio also gave a positive review, commenting on the production of the song which is "enough to make it sweet enough to want another listen". Victor Carfi of Busterz shared similar sentiments, pointing out the "addictive chorus" and "urban beat that leaves us looking forward to what's to come". Several critics noted the song's style is comparable with the musical style of the hip hop producer DJ Mustard. Mike Wass from Idolator wrote, "the track is a sleek and sexy bop with on-trend production and an insidiously catchy chorus." "Isabella Biedenhan" of Entertainment Weekly "infectious" and said, "with slinking beats and playfully sexy lyrics about convincing your partner to skip the boardroom for the bedroom." Several publications thought it was a strong contender for song of the summer.

However, other critics were not so positive. Christopher Bohlsen of Renowned for Sound gave a negative review, saying that while vocal melodies in the verses were "satisfying", the chorus just "doesn’t sound interesting enough", calling it an "utterly standard pop song".

Year-end lists

Several critic sites such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Time ranked "Work from Home" in the top ten of their respected best pop songs of the year lists. Slant and NPR ranked the song at number eleven on its list of best singles of the year while Stereogum ranked the song at number fifteen on its year end list with the editor praising Ty Dolla Sign's influence on the song. Teen Vogue ranked the song at number 12, stating it was "undoubtedly one of the hottest songs of the summer." Aggregate news site, Inquisitr ranked the song at number 2 in its top 10 singles list.

In the annual Village Voice's Pazz & Jop mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2016, "Work from Home" was tied at number 36, with six other songs. The Arizona Republic and The Fader ranked the song at 28 and 23 in their year-end lists, respectively. Pretty Much Amazing ranked the song at number 53, while Fact ranked it at 34. Elle placed the song in its unranked year-end list.

Chart performance

On the week of March 7, 2016, "Work from Home" debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 88,000 downloads sold and 10 million US streams in its first week, marking the group's highest debut and equaling its best rank for "Worth It", which rose to number 12 in August 2015. The song is also Ty Dolla Sign's second top 40 entry on the Hot 100. "Work from Home" became the group's best selling debut week, surpassing "Boss", which debuted with 75,000 downloads in July 2014. In its thirteenth week on the chart, the song peaked at number four. It became Fifth Harmony's first top 10 entry and the first top ten single by a girl group in the United States since "When I Grow Up" by The Pussycat Dolls peaked at number nine in 2008. Additionally, on the chart dated May 21, 2016, "Work from Home" topped the Rhythmic Songs chart, becoming the first girl group to achieve that in 15 years, since Destiny's Child crowned the list in 2001 with "Survivor". On the chart dated June 4, 2016, "Work from Home" topped the Billboard Mainstream Top 40, becoming the first Pop Songs number one by a girl group in nearly 10 years since The Pussycat Dolls led for two weeks in September 2006 with "Buttons" featuring Snoop Dogg. In September 2016, the song was certified triple platinum by RIAA for combined sales and streaming of 3 million equivalent units. As of December 2016, the single has sold 1.4 million copies in the United States.

In Canada, "Work from Home" debuted at number 18 on the Canadian Hot 100 after its first week of release. It climbed to number four in its eleventh week, becoming their first top 10 single in the country. It also became the group's highest peaking single in Canada, surpassing the peak of its predecessor "Worth It", which peaked at number 12 in August 2015.

In the United Kingdom, "Work from Home" debuted at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart after its first week of release. It climbed to its peak position of number two on the chart behind Mike Posner's "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" during its fifth week, becoming Fifth Harmony's second top ten hit and highest peaking song in Britain, surpassing its predecessor, "Worth It", which peaked at number three in the country in July 2015.

In Australia, "Work from Home" debuted at number 39 on the ARIA Charts after its first week of release. It climbed to number three in the fourth week, becoming their second top 10 and first top five single in the country.

In New Zealand, "Work from Home" debuted at number 21 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart after its first week of release. It climbed to number two in the fifth week, becoming the group's first top five single in the country. "Work from Home" also became the group's highest peaking single in New Zealand, surpassing "Miss Movin' On", which peaked at number 27 in July 2013. On April 15, 2016, it became their first number one single in the country.

In the Netherlands, "Work from Home" debuted at number 29 on the Dutch Top 40 after its first week of release. It climbed to number four in the fourth week, becoming their first top 10 single in the country. It also became the group's highest peaking single in the Netherlands, surpassing the peak of its predecessor "Worth It", which peaked at number 25 in August 2015. "Work from Home" peaked at number one on the Single Top 100 and the Dutch Top 40, becoming the group's first song to top both charts in the country.

Music video

The music video, directed by Director X, was released on February 26, 2016. The video features the group in a construction site surrounded by shirtless men and wearing outfits inspired by construction equipment. The members are seen participating in choreographed dance routines during the choruses and different construction activities during their individual solos. In interview for PopCrush the member Dinah told about work with Director X and the concept of the video:

The video earned the group their third Vevo certification, reaching over 100 million views on March 31, 2016. As of April 2017, the video has surpassed 1.47 billion views, become the most viewed music video of 2016 and is the site's 21st most-watched video. It won Best Collaboration on the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, and also won "Song of the year" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 11th, 2017.

Synopsis

The video begins with a muscular man carrying a half-filled pack of cement. As the man walks, Camila sings while resting her arm in a shovel. Multiple workers are shown working around the area as well. As Camila makes her way towards a tractor, the verse switches to Normani, who is standing on a tractor shovel loader. Normani dances near the tractor, approaching a male worker who is near the driver's seat of the vehicle.

All the women are now in front of the construction house, all performing in-sync dance choreography. Some of the dance routines include mimicking the visual to a jackhammer and using a driller. Ally is seen inside the house with a hammer, as she approaches a male construction worker, turning him around by gently grabbing his shirt and flirting with him. In the next scene, Dinah is standing next a wall, and makes her way towards another male worker, opening a blueprint map, and using a tape measure. The scene then shifts to Lauren, who is handling a blow torch.

All the women are then seen performing dance routines inside the hall of the house, with Lauren in the middle and two girls at each side of the staircase. Ty Dolla Sign appears while singing with a sledgehammer over his shoulders. He is seen for the first time together with the women, leaning against a wall, while the women dance. The women are now outside of the house, where night has approached, as each girl performs synchronized dance moves.

Reception

In an article published by Idolator, Robbie Daw praised the video for reversing the patronizing role men have and notes the Madonna inspired video direction, saying the group "appears to now be in full control of their collective sexuality and wielding it as they choose, rather than relying on it solely to sell records." Carl Whilliott praised the group for establishing the video as "their own", commenting on how this style of video typically suits Ty Dolla Sign. He, however, criticizes the song for not receiving as much criticism as Rihanna's song, Work.

Rebecca H. Dolan from the site The Crimson noted that the video "brings women to the forefront of the workplace." And said that the song call something described as "neo-feminism", she wrote: "we see Fifth Harmony highlighting these concepts of ninth wave feminism, gender spheres, sexual stereotyping, etc. The whole scene takes place on a construction site—blazingly hot from the looks of it!—full of men in hard hats with bulging muscles. The women of Fifth Harmony appear on set as well. Beneath their stunningly tousled tresses, they wear construction chic leotards that are about as appropriate for manual labor, as, well, women."

Live performances

The group performed the song for the first time on television on February 29, 2016, on a special after-Oscars episode on Live! with Kelly and Michael. Recreating the set of the music video, they performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 24, 2016. They also performed on Alan Carr: Chatty Man on April 7, 2016. The group performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 10, and at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards on May 22 alongside Ty Dolla Sign. Fifth Harmony performed the song once again at the 2016 Much Music Video Awards on June 19. Fifth Harmony also performed the song live at the 2016 CMT Music Awards with country singer Cam, as a mashup with Cam's single, Mayday.

On January 18, 2017, the group performed an edited version of the single for their first performance as a quartet following Camila Cabello's departure at the 2017 People's Choice Awards. The version was changed so bandmate Lauren Jauregui would sing what was formerly Camila's verse, followed by the other three girls singing their verses as normal in black bondage-style outfits. They then ended their performance with a new dance break.

Credits and personnel

Certifications

Since May 2013 RIAA certifications for digital singles include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads.