Ugly

## **Ugly**Single by Sugababes

"**Ugly**" is the second single and the sixth album track from the Sugababes' fourth studio album *Taller in More Ways*. Written and produced by Dallas Austin, inspiration for the song was conceptualised in the midst of reading negative comments about members of the band. The song was released as a single in 19 November 2005 in UK and it was the last released single that featured Mutya Buena's vocals.

## Background

During an interview with Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian, the Sugababes revealed that Austin wrote the song after reading "the cuttings file he was sent about the band". Keisha Buchanan, one of the group's members, elaborated upon this: "All the rubbish and nasty stuff that's been written about us, calling us the Sugalumps, that sort of thing." The title of the song's parent album, Taller in More Ways, was inspired by a line in "Ugly", which reads: "I grew taller than them in more ways / But there'll always be one who will say / Something bad to make them feel great".

K. Ross Hoffman of Allmusic described "Ugly" as a "towering ballad" with romantic and body-image issues. The song received numerous comparisons to "Unpretty" by American girl group TLC, another track composed by Austin. Group member Heidi Range compared the song's lyrics to "Beautiful", a song performed by American recording artist Christina Aguilera. Harry Rubenstein of The Jerusalem Post also noted that the song is reminiscent of both "Unpretty" and "Beautiful". The lyrical content makes reference to feeling ugly from having different eyes and hair, in addition to being shorter than other people.

### Reception

"Ugly" garnered generally positive reviews from music critics. Phil Udell of Hot Press regarded it as a "classy, catchy pop tune with a human heart". Peter Robinson of The Observer felt that the track was one of the album's standouts, stating that it "immediately hits on the Sugababes' core values", which according to him are "cool, but so unswervingly radio-friendly that it would hardly be out of place as this year's Children in Need single". Talia Kraines of BBC described "Ugly" as a "ballad full of true Sugababes attitude". K. Ross Hoffman of AllMusic considered the track as an "aptly pitched inspirational mini-epic", and a writer for The Liverpool Daily Post & Echo characterised it as an "empowering anthem". Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine called it "vastly superior self-help pop" and "lovingly produced". However, Ben Hogwood of musicOMH thought the song was unconvincing, while Alex Roginski of Sydney Morning Herald criticized the songwriting as "flat".

### Performance

"Ugly" entered the UK Singles Chart at number three on 11 December 2005 ― for the week ending dated 17 December 2005 ― with sales of 21,107, becoming the Sugababes' second consecutive top-three single. The song spent four weeks in the chart's top-ten and 15 weeks on the chart overall. "Ugly" has sold 170,000 copies in the UK and ranks as the group's seventh best-selling single in the country. "Ugly" debuted and peaked at number seven on the Irish Singles Chart, becoming the Sugababes' second consecutive top-ten single in Ireland. The song peaked at number four in Denmark, becoming the Sugababes' fourth top-five single in the country. "Ugly" also reached number seven in Hungary and the Netherlands, earning the Sugababes their second consecutive top-ten single in both countries.

"Ugly" also became a commercial success in many other European countries. The single number eight in the Czech Republic and Finland, and number nine in Norway. In Belgium, the song reached numbers eight and 13 on the Wallonia Ultratip and Flanders Ultratop charts, respectively. "Ugly" attained top-twenty positions in Austria, Sweden and Switzerland; it charted at number 26 in Germany and number 68 in Slovakia. "Ugly" also achieved success outside of Europe. In New Zealand, it entered the chart at number seven and peaked at number five two weeks later, becoming the Sugababes' second consecutive top-five single in the country. It remained in the chart for 16 weeks. In Australia, "Ugly" debuted at number 16 and peaked at number 13 on its fourth week on the chart, becoming their second-best performing single in the country.

## Track listing

CD 1
1. Ugly (Radio Edit) - 3:02
2. Come Together - 3:56

Enhanced CD 2
1. Ugly - 3:50
2. Future Shokk! - 4:03
3. Ugly (The Desert Eagle Discs Remix - Vocal) - 4:11
4. Ugly (Suga Shaker Vocal Mix) - 5:44
5. Ugly (Video)

Denmark CD Promo Remixes
1. Ugly (Radio Edit)
2. Ugly (Album Version)
3. Ugly (C&J Remix)
4. Ugly (Suga Shaker Vocal Mix)
5. Ugly (Suga Shaker Dub Mix)
6. Ugly (Le Doux Remix)
7. Ugly (Club Suga Mix)
8. Ugly (Desert Eagle Discs Remix - Vocal)
9. Ugly (Desert Eagle Discs Remix - Instrumental)

## Personnel

* Drums, Keyboards – Dallas Austin
* Engineer – Rick Sheppard
* Engineer [Assistant Recording] – Doug Harms, Graham Marsh, Ian Rossiter, Paul Sheehy
* Guitar, Bass – Tony Reyes
* Mixed By – Jeremy Wheatley
* Mixed By [Assistant] – Richard Edgeler
* Written-By, Producer – Dallas Austin

## Music video

The accompanying music video for "Ugly" was directed by Toby Tremlett and filmed in 1 November 2005. It is set in a warehouse in New York City that is used for people who are taking part in an audition.

### Video plot

It begins with a yellow taxi driving on a New York City road with apartment complexes. As the song begins, Buena sings her verse while looking into a mirror, and other people in the warehouse begin to hold up signs of the song's lyrics. During the chorus, they begin to showcase their talents such as dancing and juggling. Buchanan's chorus features her sitting on a staircase; during this part, a child holds up a sign reading "short" while a woman carries a sign saying "loneliness". As Range sings the bridge, she is leaning on a wall in the warehouse while more people begin dancing. When Sugababes sing the chorus again, they dance with the people who also begin to show other talents, including instrumentation and magic tricks. As the video ends, a row of people hold up signs containing one word from the song's lyrics, "people are all the same", and then another message "don't be afraid to be you", with Buchanan, Buena and Range holding each letter of the last word.

## Trivia

* "Ugly" has been used in schools within Wales to promote diversity and eliminate prejudice.

## References

1. ↑ CD 1. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/582764-Sugababes-Ugly
2. ↑ Enhanced CD 2. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/582700-Sugababes-Ugly
3. ↑ Denmark CD Promo Remixes. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/2496649-Sugababes-Ugly-Remixes
4. ↑ Taller in More Ways. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/551650-Sugababes-Taller-In-More-Ways

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