New York Gurls (Album)

**New York Gurls** - Debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Belka. Album was realesed on October 1st, 2021 and was promoted by 4 singles - "Starbucks Lovers", "New York Gurls", "Don't Stop Now" and "YOU!".

## Background And Realese

On September 25th, Belka realesed her debut single, "Fucker Face". The single was commercially successful and went #1 on Billboard Hot 100. Belka then annouced that she will be dropping EP with "Fucker Face" on it. On September 26th, Belka annouced that she scrapped the EP and now she's realesing whole album, without FF on it. The tracklist and album's name was annouced later this day. On September 27th, Belka realesed lead single of the album, "Starbucks Lovers". The song was commercially successful, it sold over 29 million copies worldwide, has over 5 billion streams all across the globe and is most-streamed song in Spotify's history. On September 28th, 2nd single from the album, "New York Gurls" featuring Umang dropped. It also peaked at #1 and sold over 22 million copies worldwide. The album dropped on October 1st and debuted at #1 with 1.3 million copies sold, 77.1 million streams and 123.1 million airplay - it's Belka's biggest opening week on chart. The album spent 20 weeks in TOP10 of the chart. Day later, on October 2nd, album's 3rd single came out. "Don't Stop Now" debuted at #1 on Billboard Hot 100, becoming album's 3rd consecutive #1 single. Single sold over 11 million copies worldwide and has over 3 billion streams worldwide. On October 3rd Belka embarked her 1st tour, Gurls On Tour, to promote the album. On October 4th Belka realesed 4th and last single of the album, YOU! featuring Taylor Swift. Song peaked at #3 on Billboard Hot 100, becoming the only single of the album to not reach #1. Gurls On Tour ended on October 10th and it grossed over 210 million dollars box office.

Belka said on Zach Sang show that her biggest inspirations while making this album were Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, especially their albums *Teenage Dream* (2010) and *1989* (2014)

## Songs

"***Starbucks Lovers***" tells the story of two lovers, and their love, from beginning to end. The song refers to coffee from starbucks. In the beginning, when you get the coffee, after looking at pictures of it in the store and on the internet, you are happy to drink it - it alludes to the fact that at the beginning of the relationship you enjoy it, you are excited because you had a taste for it for a long time, looking at pictures of happy couples on the internet and in real life. In the middle of the song, something starts to break. You perceive that the coffee was only that great in the pictures, and you regret the money spent in coffee. This is supposed to allude to the fact that at some point you start to see your partner's flaws and you start to regret how much work you put into the relationship. The arguments start. At the end, you drink the coffee and throw it in the trash, saying it wasn't worth anything. This is meant to allude to how you end a relationship, forget about it, and move on to the next one, telling everyone in the meantime that this relationship was a mistake. In "***Teenage Pregnancy**"* Belka and Katy Perry sing about what a blessing teenage love is. Belka and Katy, meanwhile, allude to the fact that this love is like pregnancy, because you also carry this love under your heart, you also watch out for yourself and your love. "***Cobra***" is a song about how when you have the wrong people around you, they can "strangle" you, just like a cobra. "***New York Gurls***" is a song about having an amazing life in New York City waiting for you - fun, luxury, big city life, celebrities and an aura of "the party". "***I Kissed A Boy (I Hate It)***" is a song about how we shouldn't care about societal standards, about how you have to have your first kiss at such and such an age, and to enjoy being single. "***Don't Stop Now***" is a song about being selfish about most things in life and not looking out for others. Because who will live this life for you? Nobody. People can walk away, and then you're left alone in the lurch, with their dreams, and only regret for not making a decision sooner.

"***Bad Gay***" is a song about how the manipulation of certain media outlets discourages a large portion of the public from disliking the LGBT community. It talks about how "rainbow people" just want to have as much fun and live in the same peace as straight people. ***"YOU!***" is a song about being crushed on someone. About how it's always worth taking the first step, because no one will do it for you, and you only have one life. "***JUSTICE FOR ARTPOP***" is a song about how society failed Lady Gaga in 2013 when they let her iconic album "Artpop" flop. The song also discusses how society does not accept diversity and prefers to stick to old, outdated rules. "***Same Old Flop***" is a song from the perspective of an artist trying to get out of the underground and trying to become an international star. But every time (s)he succeeds in something, biting comments await him. That (s)he is a "flop" and that he doesn't succeed at anything. The song in general is about the difficulties of artists with being singers. "***Bad 4 U***" is a response to Starbucks Lovers. It tells of a scenario in which the lyrical subjects would remain in a relationship. In the relationship, they would suffocate, secretly hate each other, and criticize each other's every move. "***Die This Way***" is a song about how life is 100% fun and to only die near loved ones who will always support you, in happy and sad moments. With whom you can cry and with whom you can go out and get drunk in a club. "***Moon Power"*** is a song about a forbidden love that you know will end soon, but yet you continue to enjoy it. "***Tank Now***" was written in 2018 by Katy Perry, who was a laughingstock during her "flop era" of Witness. People made fun of the way she looked and the fact that her singles were flops. The song is about how society and the music industry picks on artists to suddenly become underdogs in the market.

## Singles And Promotion

"Starbucks Lovers" was the lead single from the album. It was realesed on September 27th, to streaming services, digital download, Contemporary Hit Radio and Rhytmic Radio. The song had very positive reviews from critics and fans, with most of the praise focusing on Belka's production and vocal condition. Single debuted at #1 on Billboard Hot 100 and spent 7 weeks atop the chart. Single sold over 29 million copies worldwide and was Belka's best selling single untill Bad Poem took the crown years later. Single was streamed over 5 billion times worldwide, and with 2.1 billion streams on Spotify, it's the most streamed song of all-time on the platform.

"New York Gurls" is album's title track and it features Robyn. It was realesed on September 28th to streaming platforms and Contemporary Hit Radio. It debuted at #1 on Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for 3 consecutive weeks. It sold over 22 million copies worldwide and has over 4.1 billion streams worldwide.

"Don't Stop Now" was realesed on October 2nd, as album's third single. It was realesed to Rhytmic Radio, and music video for the song was realesed the same day. It debuted at #1 on Billboard Hot 100, becoming album's 3rd consecutive #1 single. Album sold over 11 million copies worldwide and has 3 billion streams across all streaming platforms.

"YOU!" was album's 4th and final single, realesed on October 4th. It features American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was realesed to Rhytmic Radio. MV for the song was realesed the same day. Single sold over 9.2 million copies worldwide and has 3.7 billion streams across all streaming platforms.

"Bad Gay" wasn't realesed as a single, but it has a MV. The MV has a footage from Gurls On Tour, the tour that promoted New York Gurls.

### Promotion

Belka promoted the album with multiple occasions by performing on award shows and TV shows, getting interviews and embarking tour for the album. Belka's first performance with the album was on September 27th, when she performed "Starbucks Lovers" at Good Morning America. Belka's last performance to promote the album was on October 10th, when Belka performed "YOU!" and "Moon Power" on Saturday Night Live, nearly 9 months after the album's premiere. During the whole era, singer performed on shows like Ellen DeGeneres, Good Morning America, Saturday Night Live, The Voice, Jimmy Fallion, Jimmy Kimmel, The Graham Norton Show, Sukkiri Morning Show, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Video Music Awards and Annual Grammy Awards.

## Critical Reception

New York Gurls received very positive reviews from music critics. Most of the reviewers agrees that New York Gurls is a good career start to Belka, while some complained about the album's incosistency. **On Metacritic, album received weighted avarage score 84 out of 100**, with the conclusion which reads "New York Gurls is certainly a great pop album that keeps us entertained at many points, but with one rather large flaw - inconsistency. Despite the great production, most of the songs don't come together in an orderly whole."

## Impact

After years of realese, album is often reffered to as one of the best pop projects of all time and "Pop Bible". With 30 million copies sold worldwide, album is 5th best-selling album of all-time and 2nd best-selling album of all time by woman, only behind Marie's *Future Nostalgia* (32.4M) Hema's *Happiness* (40.3M). Album has over 18.7 billion streams worldwide, and 10.7 billion streams on Spotify alone - it makes NYG most streamed album of all-time.

## Tracklist

### **Deluxe**

 14