Friday

## Music Video

*This page uses content from Wikipedia*
"**Friday**", originally titled "**It's Friday**", is a song performed by American singer Rebecca Black, written and produced by Los Angeles record producers Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson. It is Black's debut single. The song was originally released as a music video single on February 10, 2011; it was officially premiered as a single on iTunes on March 14, 2011. The song features a rap verse from Wilson, which was uncredited on the single. Its music video caught a sudden surge of hits after Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax comedian Michael J. Nelsoncalled it "the worst video ever made" on Twitter and the song was featured on the Tosh.0blog. The song's original reception was highly negative, and it was covered by numerous artists and comedians. It later gained a cult following.

The original music video was removed from YouTube on June 16, 2011, due to legal disputes between ARK Music and Black. By then, it had already amassed more than 167 million views. The song was re-released on September 16, 2011, when the music video was re-uploaded to YouTube. Since the growth in popularity of the song and video, there have been numerous parody videos and remixes. Forbes stated that the notoriety of the song is another sign of the power of social media specifically Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, in this instance in the ability to create "overnight sensations".

On February 10, 2021—to commemorate the song's tenth anniversary—Black released an official hyperpop remix produced by Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs featuring 3OH!3, Big Freediaand Dorian Electra to more positive reviews.

## Background and production

Friday co-writer Patrice Wilson, a co-founder of ARK Music Factory, explained that he "wrote the lyrics on a Thursday night going into a Friday. I was writing different songs all night and was like, 'Wow, I've been up a long time and it's Friday.' And I was like, wow, it is Friday!".

An ARK Music Factory client told Black's mother about the company's production services in late 2010; Black was 13 at the time, and living in the Anaheim Hills planned community in Anaheim, California. Black's mother, Georgina Kelly, paid ARK Music $4,000 for a song and accompanying video that included a choice of two pre-written songs "Super Woman" and "Friday". According to Kelly, the payment covered one half or less of the production costs of the music video, and Black's family could have paid nothing in exchange for giving up all rights to the song. Black chose "Friday", as "Super Woman" "was about adult love–I haven't experienced that yet". "I felt like it was my personality in that song". ARK Music extensively used the pitch-correcting software Auto-Tune. Although Kelly had some doubts over the quality of the lyrics, Black assured her that "she sang it as they wrote it."

## Critical reception

The song has received almost universally negative reviews from music critics, for its songwriting, instrumentation, Black's vocals, and the video choreography. Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo! Music asked if it could be "the worst song ever". On March 29, 2011, it surpassed Justin Bieber's "Baby" as the most disliked YouTube video, with 1.17 million dislikes, and once had over 3 million "dislikes", accounting for 88% of the total ratings of the video. The video was later removed, although it has since been officially re-uploaded. The co-writer and producer of "Friday", Clarence Jey, said about the song that "the concept we feel seems to have crossed a lot of boundaries, for the better or worse". Observers have called it "bizarre", "inept", and "hilariously dreadful". The song and Black herself were "savaged" on social networks across the Internet, while being seen as a "YouTube laughing stock". On YouTube, the video was met with negative comments and video responses, including comments interpreted as "violent". Kevin Rutherford, a columnist for Billboard magazine, wrote, "Black's video for 'Friday' is one of those rare occurrences where even the most seasoned critics of Internet culture don't know where to begin. From the singing straight out of Auto-Tuned hell to lyrics such as 'Tomorrow is Saturday/And Sunday comes afterwards/I don't want this weekend to end' and a hilariously bad rap about passing school buses, 'Friday' is something that simply must be seen and heard to be fully appreciated." Many other reviewers also singled out the lyrics in particular for criticism, which were described as "overly simple and repetitive" by TNT Magazine. Jim Edwards of BNET and Doug Gross of CNN both noted that the rap break from the considerably older rapper was "creepy". Time magazine ranked it number two on a list of "Top 10 Songs with Silly Lyrics".

Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews, a few reviewers had positive things to say about the song and video. Entertainment Weekly writer Joseph Lynch noted that there was "something sickeningly catchy about this tune that keeps you coming back for more." Rolling Stone's Perpetua stated, "When you see this video, you immediately notice everything that it does wrong, but it actually gets a lot of things about pop music right, if just by accident." OK! Magazine also noted that "some are calling the 13-year-old signed singer the next Justin Bieber." After watching the video, singer Chris Brown said "Honest opinion? It was great. I'll be jammin to it on Friday, Friday." Fellow teenage singer Miley Cyrus denied that she had criticized Black, saying "I am a fan" and that she sang Friday while driving. Simon Cowell praised Black, saying "'I love her [and] the fact that she's got so much publicity...People are so upset about the song, but I think it's hysterical...Anyone who can create this much controversy within a week, I want to meet. I love people like that.'" He observed that "Any song to do with the weekend annoys you. It reminds me of 'Saturday Night'... It's what we call a 'hair-dryer song,' a song girls sing into their hair dryers as they're getting ready to go out. But the fact that it's making people so angry is brilliant." Cowell advised Black not to "listen to anyone over the age of 18. I'm being deadly serious. Whatever she's done has worked. Whether you like her or not, she's the most talked-about artist in America right now. Nobody over the age of 18 should understand her or like her. So she should just do it her way."

Patrice Wilson released his sequel to the song Friday on May 6, 2012, titled "Happy", focusing on Saturdays. Rebecca Black released her own sequel, entitled "Saturday", in December 2013.

## Chart performance

By March 21, 2011, the "Friday" music video had been viewed more than 30 million times on YouTube. Forbes estimated that as of that date, Black and ARK Music had earned $20,000 from YouTube's revenue-sharing program, and Billboard estimated iTunes sales of approximately 43,000 copies, roughly equivalent to $26,700 in royalties. Within a week after being released on iTunes, it had jumped to 19 on their sales chart, on March 19, 2011. Friday debuted on the US Hot Digital Songs chart at number 57 and went on to peak at number 38. As of 2021, the song has sold more than 500,000 copies in the United States; consequently it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

"Friday" debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 33 on March 21, 2011. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 72 and rose to 58 the next week. It sold 87,000 copies in the United States over its first two weeks and has gone on to sell 442,000 copies, as of December 2013. The song also received airplay in Sweden. In the United States, it was played 12 times from March 16 to 22, considered low for a Hot 100 song. Despite the song's strong performance elsewhere, Georgina Kelly claimed in late March 2011 that her daughter had not received any money from the song's sales to that point in time, saying "We haven't received a dime from anywhere".

## Lyrics

**[Intro]**

Ooh-ooh, ooh-yeah yeah, yeah yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah

**[Verse 1]**

7 AM, waking up in the morning

Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs

Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal (Cereal)

Seein' everything, the time is goin'

Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin' (Tickin' on and on)

Gotta get down to the bus stop

Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (I see my friends)

**[Pre-Chorus]**

Kickin' in the front seat

Sittin' in the back seat

Gotta make my mind up (Gotta make my mind up)

Which seat can I take?

**[Chorus]**

It's Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend

Friday, Friday

Gettin' down on Friday

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

**[Post-Chorus]**

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Fun, fun, fun, fun

Lookin' forward to the weekend

**[Verse 2]**

7:45, we're drivin' on the highway

Cruisin' so fast, I want time to fly

Fun, fun, think about fun

You know what it is

I got this, you got this (I got this)

My friend is by my right, ey

I got this, you got this

Now you know it

**[Pre-Chorus]**

Kickin' in the front seat

Sittin' in the back seat (Sittin' in the back seat)

Gotta make my mind up (Mind up)

Which seat can I take?

**[Chorus]**

It's Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday

Everybody’s lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend

Friday, Friday

Gettin' down on Friday

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend (To the weekend)

**[Post-Chorus]**

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Fun, fun, fun, fun

Lookin' forward to the weekend

**[Bridge]**

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday

Today is Friday, Friday (Partyin')

We, we, we so excited, we so excited (Partyin')

We gonna have a ball today

Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards

I don't want this weekend to end!

**[Chorus]**

It's Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday

Everybody’s lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend

(We gonna get down)

Friday, Friday

Gettin' down on Friday

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend (On Friday)

**[Post-Chorus]**

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Fun, fun, fun, fun

Lookin' forward to the weekend (Yeah)

**[Chorus]**

It's Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday (It's Friday)

Everybody’s lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend (Ooh)

Friday, Friday

Gettin' down on Friday (Friday)

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

(We gonna have a ball)

**[Post-Chorus]**

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)

Fun, fun, fun, fun

Lookin' forward to the weekend

## Music video

### Development and summary

The concept for the music video is based on the lyrics and presented as a typical Friday for Black. She wakes up and goes to school, meeting her friends on the way. In the evening, after debating whether to sit in the front or back of a convertible, Black and her friends ride the car to a party at 7:45 pm. Patrice Wilson appears near the end of the song to deliver a short rap. The video was shot on January 6, 2011 at Black's father's house with friends and family as extras, and requiring multiple takes over 12 hours. ARK Music, according to Black's parents, cautioned them and her that they should not expect her to become famous. Black hoped that her friends and family would enjoy watching the video on YouTube and that it would perhaps help her to later begin a singing career.

### Reception

The music video was first posted on February 10, 2011. Following its original release, it received 4,000 views, enough to please Black, before comedian Michael J. Nelson's Twitter account and a *Tosh.0* blog post, Songwriting Isn't for Everyone, drew attention to it on March 11, 2011, turning the video into a viral hit. Criticism of the song's lyrics, the use of Auto-Tune on Black's vocals, as well as the content of the video also caused it to become viral. On May 9, 2011, comments became subject to prior approval for posting. Two days later, commenting was disabled altogether and archives removed. By June 15, 2011, the video had more than 166 million views, and 3.2 million dislikes from YouTube users against just 454,000 likes. It also peaked in the top 20 most watched YouTube videos of all time.

After reading the harsh reviews of Friday, Black said that "those hurtful comments really shocked me." ARK Music offered to take the video down from YouTube, but Black refused the offer, saying that she did not wish to "give the haters the satisfaction that they got me so bad I gave up." Black's father has accompanied her in public to guard against potential accosters. In response to criticism over the song's significant use of Auto-Tune, Black performed an acoustic version during an interview with ABC News, which earned over 180,000 dislikes on YouTube (84% of total ratings) by November 2011. Later in the interview Black's mother, Kelly, stated that she was angry and upset after Black was brought to tears by comments, such as "I hope you go cut yourself and die" and "I hope you cut yourself and get an eating disorder so you'll look pretty." Black said, however, that soon she was able to ignore such comments, and asked Justin Bieber, her idol, to perform a duet with her. Although Bieber did not release an official announcement regarding the offer, he posted on Twitter, "sunday comes after saturday? weird."  Bieber later sang part of the chorus at one of his concerts. *Rolling Stone*'s Perpetua again praised Black after the interview and said, She is actually a pretty decent singer. She is a total sweetheart. Black comes off as a well-adjusted, happy and grateful kid. He also pointed out Black's intention to donate part of the profits from the song to school arts programs and relief efforts in Japan following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Benni Cinkle, who became known as that girl in pink and appears during the second verse of the video, released her own song entitled Can You See Me Now and created an anti-bullying organization That Girl in Pink Foundation due to the negative response she got from Friday.

The video for Friday was later placed at number one in the *NME* list of "50 Worst Music Videos".

### Controversy

Not long after the "Friday" video went viral on YouTube, Black and her mother, Georgina Kelly, got into legal issues with ARK Music over rights to the song. In a March 29, 2011 letter from Kelly's lawyer to ARK Music, it was alleged that ARK Music failed to fulfill the terms of their November 2010 agreement by not giving her the song and video's master recordings, by claiming Black as exclusively signed to the label, and by exploiting the song without permission for example, selling a "Friday" ringtone. While Wilson stated that Kelly "will get the masters and the song they can have it all", and agreed that Black was not exclusive to ARK, his attorney claimed that ARK owns the copyright for the song and the November agreement is invalid. In June 2011, ARK Music Factory started charging $2.99 to watch the music video on YouTube. Black's initial response was through a message through her Twitter account saying: "Thanks for all the messages regarding the $2.99 fee added to Friday video, I have *nothing* to do with this!!"

On June 16, 2011, YouTube took down the official music video for "Friday". Instead a message in place of the video read: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Rebecca Black. Sorry about that." A spokesman for Rebecca Black said her legal team had asked YouTube to take the video down because of an ongoing legal dispute with the song's producers ARK Music Factory. ARK Music Factory responded by saying it was disappointed that Black decided to have the video pulled from YouTube despite the two parties being in "good faith negotiations". It added: "There's been an ongoing, open dialogue with our company. So we were blindsided to get a 'Take Down Notice' alleging copyright infringement instead of a call or e-mail from Rebecca's representatives. Our use of the video has fully been authorized (as evidenced by four uninterrupted months and 160 million-plus viewings without objection) by both Ms. Black and the copyright holder. Regardless, we are going to continue to take the high road and work out the complaint as soon as possible, so that the million-plus people who watch Friday for free each day can continue to enjoy the video."On September 16, 2011, the music video was restored to YouTube, on Black's official channel.