222

"**222**" is the sophomore album and second major-label record by Melanie Martinez. It was released on September 15th, 2018, by Atlantic Records through digital download, CD, cassette and vinyl. The album debuted at #3 on the *Billboard* 200 albums chart with 57,000 total copies sold in its first week.

Melanie embarked on the 222 *Tour* beginning on October 13th, 2018, and ending on December 17th, 2018, in support of the album. The second leg of the tour began on January 21st, 2019, and ended on February 17th, 2019. The third leg, titled the 222 *Summer Tour*, was set to begin on June 3rd, 2019, and end on July 26th, 2019.

## Background

Melanie began recording the album in 2016 and finished in 2017 and it was officially released on September 6th, 2018. The standard version of the album has a total of 13 songs. Each track represents a different grade level from 5th grade to 10th grade.

On April 13th, 2017, and May 15th, 2017, Melanie posted two photos on Instagram with lyrics in both captions, revealing two songs that would be on the second album. Those songs were later revealed to be Arts and Crafts and Queen of The Classroom.

In an interview with Beats 1, (June 30th, 2016), Melanie revealed that her sophomore album would be set in a particular place in Cry Baby's town with Cry Baby acting as the narrator. New characters would be introduced and the album would be based off of Cry Baby's experiences in this place. Melanie also revealed that she would be working with Michael Keenan for the whole record.

On August 15th, 2017, Melanie explained in a Billboard interview that she was working on the bonus tracks, having finished all of the standard tracks.

On May 15th, 2018, a teaser trailer for the film was released, revealing that the official title of the film was "222". Melanie revealed the new website layout on the same day and a low-quality version of the album cover leaked through the site's source code. The next day, on May 16th, 2018, Melanie officially unveiled the album cover on all social media platforms, revealing that the album is also titled "222".

On May 22th, 2018, a second teaser trailer for the film was released. A third teaser was released on May 29th, 2018, along with the album and film's release date. On June 17th, 2018, a preview featuring clips of the movie and a snippet of a new song, later revealed to be Papercut was premiered at the *MTV Movie Awards.* Melanie began promoting the album with assignments on June 24th, 2018.

### Story and theme

The album is set in Cry Baby's school and is told from her perspective. According to Melanie, it is Cry Baby stepping outside of her family and love life and acting as a narrator for the album.

The album also introduces new characters, specifically friends of Cry Baby, at her school, although Cry Baby is still a main focus. According to Melanie, "You're not learning about her, you're learning about the place that she's in and her perspective."

## Characters

* Cry Baby
* Alice
* Katarina
* Maya
* Anna Beth
* Ben
* Andrew
* Jason
* Ghost Girl
* Blue Boy
* Ms. Olivia
* Counselor
* Dean
* Emma
* Liam
* Thomas
* Ms. Penelope
* Anna Beth
* The Principal
* Ms. Dina
* Mr. Campbell
* Detention Teacher
* Biology Teacher
* Janitor

### Tracklist

* 🅴 indicates the song is explicit, but also has a clean version and "(Clean)" means it's a non explicit song.

1. Bike Ride 🅴
2. "Queen Of The Classroom" 🅴
3. "Eraser" 🅴
4. "Target Girl" 🅴
5. "Papercut" 🅴
6. "Arts & Crafts" 🅴
7. "Teacher’s Pet" 🅴
8. "Drama Club" 🅴
9. "High School Sweethearts" (Clean)
10. "Friendship Bracelets" (Clean)
11. "Go Home" 🅴
12. "Prom Queen" 🅴
13. "Final assignment" 🅴

### Deluxe edition

1. "Under The Desk" 🅴
2. "History" (Clean)
3. "AK-47" 🅴