Born to Die (Jesse Del Rey album)

Born to Die 	Born to Die 			
 	 			
Studio album by Jesse Del Rey	Studio album by Jesse Del Rey			
Released 	January 22, 2016 			
Recorded 	2014-15 			
Genre 	Pop 			
Length 	50:00 (Deluxe 70:00) 			
Label 	Paradise 			
Jesse Del Rey chronology 	Jesse Del Rey chronology 			
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{| style="font-size:12.32px;width:254px;line-height:1.4em;vertical-align:top;"	Bangerz Tour
(2015)	Born to Die
(2016)	
Beauty Behind the Madness World Tour: Live from Mexico City
(2018)
Born to Die is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Jesse Del Rey. It was released on January 22, 2016, by Paradise Records. The album features a guest appearance from Brianna Danielle.
The record debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and in other countries such as, Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It became Del Rey's fourth number one album in the United States. The album was supported by five singles, "Fancy", "Can't Feel My Face", "3", (which all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100), followed by "Cool" and "Born to Die".
The album won five Grammy Awards; Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Recording Package; credited to Del Rey as art director and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Can't Feel My Face". And in 2017 Best Music Video for the 10-minute "Born to Die" music video. The album received a total of nine nominations from 2016-2017 from the Grammys.
Born to Die was the best-selling album of 2016.
==Background and Recording==
In an interview with V Magazine in September 2014, Del Rey said that he had already begun working on the album. 
==Singles==
The lead single "Fancy" featuring American singer Brianna Danielle was released August 11, 2015 and was a commercial success in the United States peaking at #1 on three charts; Hot 100, Hot Dance Songs, and Hip-Hop/R&B Songs. The music video premiered on Vevo in September 2015 with featured a blonde Del Rey & Danielle. Del Rey closed the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony with a performance of "Fancy" with Brianna Danielle and his dog Brooklyn. "Change Your Life" was released as a promo single on October 16, 2015 with a high-budget video filmed in Las Vegas, NV. The song peaked at #6 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hip-Hop/R&B Songs.
On Christmas Day "Can't Feel My Face" was released as the second single, along with the album cover and pre-order became available on iTunes December 25, 2015. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"3" was released as the third single on February 12, 2016. The accompanying video was released on Valentine's Day two days later and was met with rave reviews and controversy, due to it's explicit images. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 & Hot Dance Songs Charts. "3" was also the eighth song in history of Billboard to debut at number one. Del Rey performed the single at the 2016 Grammy Awards.  
"Cool" was released as the fourth single on June 3, 2016. The accompanying video was released June 23, 2016 and was shot at The Venetian in Las Vegas, NV . The single peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.  
"Born to Die" was released as the fifth single on February 3, 2017. A deluxe single ep was released on iTunes featuring a b-side "Paradise (Not For Me)" which was used for a video interlude on his Beauty Behind the Madness World Tour, three remixes and the instrumental to the title track. The single peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The deluxe ep peaked at #90 on the Billboard 200.  
==Release and promotion ==
On Christmas Eve, Jesse teased his fans by tweeting "little monsters dream bigger! tonight at midnight...". On December 25, 2015 Del Rey surprised his fans with release of the album cover along with the iTunes pre-order. On January 15th, 2016 "Sexxx Dreams" was released as instant-gratification track through the iTunes pre-order.  
Jesse Del Rey performed "Fancy" with Brianna Danielle at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, and then "3" at the 2016 Grammy Awards. The following year at the 2017 Grammy Awards, Jesse performed "Born to Die".  
The album's supporting tour, the Beauty Behind the Madness World Tour, began on May 26, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. The first stage of the tour visited Asia and North America, before ending in Australia in December 2016.   
==Review==
Months and months of teasing through exciting tweets, the album Del Rey as "work the hardest on" has arrived at number one on the Billboard 200 making it his fourth #1 album. At 21 years old -and four albums later, we see Jesse mature in music and style to deliever one of the greatest pop albums of all-time. Born to Die blasts the best aspects of mainstream pop music -where almost EVERY song sounds made-for-radio all built around massive pop hooks and punctuated with gurgling synths, orchestra hits and thumping beats. But the brillance of 'to Die is not only because of the futuristic/synth-driven late 80's musical style but the intense honesty that lies in the lyrical content. Dubbed as his first 'confessional' album: "I didn't really fully begin writing my own songs until Bangerz" said the singer, "And everything on (the new album) is me, it's me now." Jesse Del Rey called it "A tribute to true love and living on the wild side" and we call it a masterpiece. 
An acapella big dramatic refrain opens the singer's fifth studio album before launching into a tudding club beat that's undercut by a tough, sturdy guitar riff that props up the choruses. "What You Waiting For" sets the tone for the album, not just in the jarring tempo change 20 seconds in, but also for the ridiculously refrain "Take a chance you stupid ho" that repeats over the outro. This is so frivolous and stupid that it winds up being brilliant. "This song was written to me from me and an observation of the music industry today" Del Rey explained. Its artistic criteria beautifully. Next Del Rey paints us a different side of him, the title track "Born to Die" is perhaps one of his most shining musical moments on record. The track uses the spy guitar/full orchestra/sampled howl formula to its most cinematic effect. Del Rey said the track was written in 2014 for Bangerz but was scraped when the project took a new direction. The song creates an instant cinematic effect. On the third track Jesse Del Rey debuts an emotional ballad titled "Used to Love You" the first song writen about his breakup with his boyfriend of 5 years. "I didn't want to share that on the album (the breakup), but by doing so it took a whole lotta weight off my shoulders. It's the most real song on the record." Del Rey sings, "There were no boundaries / But you just pushed my too far / I guess nobody taught you / Nobody taught you how to love." Those lyrics are reminiscent of No Doubt's Push and Shove "Dreaming the Same Dream," a 2015 track where Del Rey asks "How many times can a promise be broken? Who taught you how to love?" 
Cue “Cool”, a slippery slice of keyboard driven new wave pop that easily could’ve slotted into any No Doubt album. Not only do the lyrics immediately insure it will be sung along to by lonely 16-year-olds (“It’s good to see you now with someone else/ And it’s such a miracle that you and me are still good friends/ After all that we’ve been through/ I know we’re cool”), but this is one of the moments where Del Rey drops in some huge ‘80s references. It follows "Used to Love You" does that mean, they made up? The next already radio smash is a thiny veiled sex-as-cocaine metaphor called "Can't Feel My Face", co-produced to perfection by Swedish teen-pop Svengali Max Martin. The dude specializes in sensual numbness. The next track "Glam" is so lush and sounds like a track straight off the Burlesquesoundtrack. It releases Del Rey's inner diva and encourages us to "get glam" with Del Rey speaking in the background: Fashion is a lifestyle. Something he's been proving in his recent music videos released with this album. The seventh track continues his ode to the glamorous life "Change Your Life", a midtempo dubstep, hip hop and synthpop song. The track was released as the second single where he raps about his personal dating experiences, and comprises bass-driven and synth-heavy production. The next (8th) track is the lead single "Fancy" that peaked at number one on the Hot 100 last summer. Not since Drea Von D's "Glamorous" has there been such a spectacularly sass-filled ode to the glam life." Brianna Danielle sings the chorus on the electro-hop song. It is the duet we've all been waiting for and is a swag-drenched hip hop/pop delight.  
As we said earlier this is a 'confessional' album, and the record shifts here with a sort-of-R-rated sexual confessional starting with instant pop classic "3". Del Rey is well-known for his increasing provocative image but has never really sung about it until now. The slick song opens Del Reys playbook of sex and more sex. "Living in sin is the new thing" Del Rey coos in the lyrics. It's the emotionless striptease as a pop song, complete with studio-perfected sexual moans, that may or may not stand in for an R-rated word, and a clever digital down-tune into an eager, count-along chorus. The biggest oddity is the lyrics that reference folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, as if they were some sort of acoustic menage a trois. And here's where the sexuality and synth-pop pleasures of "Born to Die" fully bloom: "Sexxx Dreams," in which Del Rey balances a disintefrating relationship and a lustful fantasy, similarlu juggles a pastel-colored 80's aesthetic and R-rated breakdown of unspoken desire. At the "I can't believe I'm telling you this..." conclusion, Del Rey sounds loose and light-hearted, letting his audience twirl around on the dance floor. The next track is "Gimme More"
Born to Die genuisly contains a juicy collective set of ballads, which is clear on the twelvth-track "Early Winter" a soft rock and synthpop ballad with new wave influences. The lyrics of the song describe the nearing of the end of a relationship, speculated to be references to Del Rey's own relationship with ex-boyfriend. The song even caught public attention from fellow gay-icon and musical legend GRome on Twitter. Jesse is a master at turning ballads into mainstream commercial hits, as we've seen with "Wrecking Ball". It's refreshing and one of the best songs on the albums. The closing song on the standard edition is for you (my fans) says Del Rey. "Lift Me Up" is an empowering piano ballad where Del Rey sings about being thankful to his fans for helping him through hard times. He begins with the dedication with "So the pain begins / as the music fades". "My fans really made this album happen for me when I was self-doubting myself" admits Del Rey. Another highlight of the album. 
The masterpiece doesn't end there... Del Rey continues on the deluxe version of the album with "Best Night", another new sex-penned song. This noirish booty call, opens with doomily seductive, 80s electro as he permits, "I'll make this the best night of your life" refrain creeps over a spoken word passage, squalling Indian flute and a pattering of drums. The next track "I'm A Sinner" makes a statement on 'Born to Die' among the song's psychedelic stomp, with the chorus -like "Best Night" simple "I'm a sinner, I'm a sinner, I'm a sinner I like it that way." The middle eight is great, with the music dropping out while Del Rey lists various religious people. There’s no way this is single material, but it’s a vital part of the BORNTODIEDNA; an anthem to a new generation. The third deluxe track "I Hate Boys" is a glam rock pop song that carries the anthem vibe for girls and gay boys, a hate-driven song about ridiculing bad boys. The next track is "You Lost Me" a gem, one of the album's standout ballads, where Del Rey refers to the big breakup again. The track is another down-tempo ballad that talks about an unfaithful man, who has left Del Rey's world "infected". 
The full Born to Die masterpiece closes with "Letter to God", a confessional power ballad that brings Del Rey's new mentality full-circle. The composition of the track sounds very close to No Doubt, but is sincerely Del Rey. The song is written in the form of a letter, addressed to God and narrates Del Rey comtemplating the meaning of life. Several themes are also featured in the lyrics, such as body image, suicide and the pressures of fame. Like the album Del Rey is nakedly vulnerable and digs for something deeper than radio hits. An album that will be listened to over and over again, Born to Die offers Del Rey's great moments of genuine humility. - Billboard
==Formats and Track listing==
Standard Edition
No.	Title 	Writers 	Producer(s) 	Length
1. 	"What You Waiting For? 	Gwen Stefani, Jesse Del Rey, Linda Perry, 	Nelle Hoper 	3:41
2. 	"Born to Die" 	Elizabeth Grant, Jesse Del Rey, Justin Parker	Justin Parker 	4:46
3. 	"Baby Don't Lie" 	Jesse Del Rey, Gwen Stefani 	J.R. Rotem 	3:47
4. 	"Cool" 	Gwen Stefani, Jesse Del Rey 	Nelle Hoper 	3:09
5. 	"Can't Feel My Face" 	Ali Paymi, Savon Kotecha, Max Martin 	Max Martin 	3:35
6. 	"Change Your Life" 	Iggy Azalea, Natalie Sims, Jesse Del Rey 	Messengers 	3:40
7. 	"Fancy" (feat. Brianna Danielle) 	Iggy Azalea, Jesse Del Rey, Brianna Danielle,	Invisible Men 	3:19
8. 	"3" 	Max Martin, Jesse Del Rey, Shellback 	Max Martin 	3:29
9. 	"Sexxx Dreams" 	Lady Gaga, Jesse Del Rey, Paul Blair 	Paul Blair 	3:33
10.	"Gimme More" 	Jesse Del Rey, Nat Hills, Keri Hilson 	Danja 	4:00
11.	"Best Night" 	Madonna, Pentz, McDonald, Gad 	Madonna, Diplo	3:33
12.	"I'm A Sinner" 	Madonna, Jesse Del Rey, William Orbit 	Madonna 	4:52
13.	"Early Winter" 	Gwen Stefani, Jesse Del Rey, Tim Rice 	Nelle Hoper 	4:44
14.	"Letter to God" 	Linda Perry, Jesse Del Rey 	Linda Perry 	4:04
Japanese Edition Bonus track
No.	Title 	Writers 	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Harajuku Girls"	Gwen Stefani, James Harris,	Jimmy Jam 	4:51