The song is featured on the video game series Just Dance 2015. Azalea has performed the song live as part of the set list for her first headlining tour, The New Classic Tour (2014). Accordingly, before becoming a single it achieved peaks of number 91 in the United Kingdom and number 86 in Australia, and appeared on several component charts. "Black Widow" charted due to strong digital sales during the debut week of The New Classic. Other journalists, praised its beat and Azalea and Ora's vocals. Ts composition has been the subject of music critics' comparisons to Perry's "Dark Horse". It has also reached number four in the UK and number fifteen in Australia. The song also became Ora's first top-three hit in the US. The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Azalea's third top-ten hit, following " Fancy" and " Problem". "Black Widow" has been described as "channeling the trap" genre, containing an ominous steel drum rhythm, heavy bass and a sparse beat. On July 8, 2014, the song impacted on mainstream radio stations in the US as the fifth single from The New Classic and the accompanying music video for the song was released on August 13, 2014.
Initially a track recorded by Perry for her fourth studio album, Prism (2013), the song was excluded from its track listing, however Perry handed the demo to Azalea for her to complete. "Black Widow" was written by Azalea, Katy Perry, Sarah Hudson, Benny Blanco, and duo Stargate the latter also produced the song.
The song's hook is sung by British recording artist Rita Ora, and its lyrics chronicle subjects of revenge and feminism in a failed romantic relationship. " Black Widow" is a song by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, from her debut studio album, The New Classic. It shows off why Azalea's debut album received such moderate and non-committed critical reception, because the track lacks the sound of any effort and therefore bears no reason for discussion.Stargate, Tim Blacksmith, Danny D. 'Black Widow' is a drab and dreary hip-hop track, occasionally lifted by the audibly satisfying hook. She throws aside her Australian accent in favour of a poor Nicki Minaj impression.
Half of the time she fails to rhyme, but more often than not, she simply ends multiple sentences with the same word as a substitute for creativity. While it isn't as painful as her collaborative effort with Charli XCX, 'Fancy', Azalea still crams words awkwardly together in complete disregard for pace or timing. 'Black Widow' tries to boost the 'bad girl' image of Iggy Azalea to breaking point. Written by Stargate (Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen), Benjamin Levin, Katy Perry, Sarah Hudson and Azalea, the lyrics are repetitious and the beat sounds bleak and empty. However, despite her voice, the hook is totally forgettable. Her voice introduces real heart into the otherwise desolate wasteland of this single - supposedly where creativity went to die. The hook is sung by Rita Ora and, thankfully, plays out as the most bearable part of the whole track. Incidentally, the accompanying music video is an upsettingly awkward rip-off of 'Kill Bill', even down to Michael Madson's unfortunate inclusion. But is this pairing a match made in heaven, or will it go on to stain these artists' careers?Īustralian rapper Iggy Azalea and British singer Rita Ora both adopt different accents (and vocal pitch, in Azalea's case) in their career, so it makes sense that these two 'acts' are combining for what amounts to little more than an imitation performance of soulless hip-hop and pop music. Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora come together in the new single ' Black Widow', to bring us a song about a failed relationship that causes the titular black widow personality to come out and avenge said relationship.