Swish Swish
"Swish Swish" is a song by American singer Katy Perry featuring Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj from the former's fifth studio album Witness. The song was initially released as a promotional single on May 19, 2017, and later as the album's third single. The house-inspired EDM and hip hop song was written alongside Sarah Hudson, Starrah, producer Duke Dumont, and additional producer PJ "Promnite" Sledge, with Roland Clark receiving writing credits for the sampling of his song "I Get Deep", and Noah "Mailbox" Passovoy receiving additional and vocal production credits.
"Swish Swish"
May 19, 2017
- Unsub (Los Angeles, California)
- Blasé Boys Club (Hertfordshire, England)
- Jungle City (New York City, New York)
- Glenwood Place (Burbank, California)
4:02
Duke Dumont
The song uses basketball metaphors to address Perry's bullies and detractors. Multiple media outlets suspected that the song is about American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her 2015 single "Bad Blood", which was believed to be about Perry. Critics wrote mixed reviews of "Swish Swish"; some praised the track's empowering environment and Minaj's verse, while others criticized the song's lyrics.
Promotion for the track began with a live debut of the track on Saturday Night Live, with a performance that went viral. Subsequently, Perry continued to promote the track during BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, the Glastonbury Festival 2017 and The Voice Australia. Later, to further promote the track, a lyric video for the track, featuring Brazilian singer Gretchen, was released on July 3, 2017. The official music video, directed by Dave Meyers, premiered on August 24, 2017. Three days later, Perry and Minaj performed the track together for the first time during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. "Swish Swish" reached the top 10 in the Philippines and Scotland in addition to the top 20 in Canada and the United Kingdom as well as the top 30 in Australia and Ireland. It has also been certified platinum in Australia, Canada and the US, and was featured in the video game Just Dance 2018.
Production and release[edit]
After Duke Dumont produced a track Perry recorded for H&M's 2015 holiday campaign called "Every Day Is a Holiday",[1] he expressed interest in working with the singer again, adding: "I think we could switch things up a little more for the next record. Who knows what we could do?"[2] Eventually, they paired together to work on the record, with Dumont claiming that Perry was a fan of his music and that they kept in touch, noting that "her vision for the album wasn't a million miles away from the stuff I'm making."[3] He added: "[...] working on this project it was great seeing what her vision was for the album and being able to help with that. I am genuinely excited for the music."[3] Dumont also said that "it was a very easy process and we made the song quickly. And then about two weeks ago I heard that [Nicki Minaj] is going to feature on it, it was very quick."[3]
Minaj's appearance on the track was only discovered when the song was released. Minaj and Perry previously worked together on Minaj's song "Get on Your Knees", with Perry writing it with the rapper. However, she did not have time to record her vocals, and Ariana Grande ended up singing the song. As Perry recalled, "We've always wanted to collaborate, we've done so many things together... we did a VH1 show. [...] I actually sent her a couple of songs before these songs were out and she loved 'Swish Swish' the most and she just did it so much justice. Honestly, I just want her to do the whole song."[4] Perry also talked about Minaj's rap skills, commenting: "With Nicki, she's such a [boss-ass bitch] that you can send her anything and her pen game is crazy."[4] On May 18, 2017, Perry announced on Instagram the track would be released at midnight Eastern time.[5] "Swish Swish" was released the next day as the third single from her fifth album Witness, and was included along with the pre-order of the album upon its debut.[6][7] Its single cover features Perry's "blinged-out hand holding receipts from a place called 'Karma Coffee & Tea'."[8] On May 26, 2017, Capitol Records confirmed it would focus on promoting "Swish Swish" to pop radio.[9]