"Boys"
Single by Charli XCX
Released26 July 2017 (2017-07-26)
Genre
Length2:42
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Jerker Olov Hansson
  • Cass Lowe (add.)
Charli XCX singles chronology
"Love Gang"
(2017)		 "Boys"
(2017)		 "Dirty Sexy Money"
(2017)
Music video
"Boys" on YouTube

"Boys" is a single by English singer Charli XCX, released on 26 July 2017 by Asylum Records and Atlantic Records UK. The song was originally intended to be the second single from her then-upcoming third studio album. However, the song became a stand-alone single when the projected third album was leaked on the internet and cancelled.[4] The song makes use of a sample from the Nintendo video game Super Mario Bros.[5]

A cover of the song by one of its writers, Ingrid Andress, is included on the deluxe edition reissue of Andress' debut studio album, Lady Like (2020), with a mandolin being used to replicate the video game sample.[6]

Critical reception

"Boys" received positive reviews. Pitchfork named the song the 'Best New Track', and in a review contributor Eve Barlow wrote that "Boys" is "deceptively simple-sounding and unfussy," and "a reminder that [Charli XCX is] one of the best at knowing how to have fun; her convivial bop sounds as effortless as something dreamed up between lunch and dinner."[7] The track was placed on several magazines' best songs of the year lists.

Rankings

Publication Year Accolade Rank Ref.
Billboard 2017 Best Songs of 2017
35
Clash 2022 Charli XCX: Her 17 Best Songs —
Complex 2017 The Best Songs of 2017
42
Consequence of Sound 2022 Charli XCX's 10 Best Songs
2
Entertainment Weekly 2017 Best Songs of 2017
19
Esquire 50 Best Songs of 2017 —
The Fader The 101 Best Songs of 2017
54
The Guardian The Top 100 Tracks of 2017
2
The Line of Best Fit The Best Fifty Songs of 2017
2
NME Best Songs of the Year 2017
2
Noisey The 100 Best Songs of 2017
23
Pitchfork The 100 Best Songs of 2017
10
Pretty Much Amazing The Best Songs of 2017
18
Rolling Stone 50 Best Songs of 2017
23

Music video

The music video for "Boys" was released on 26 July 2017. It was directed by Charli XCX, with additional direction from Sarah McColgan, and began production in April 2017. It features a multitude of different celebrity cameos from figures within the music, fashion and social media industries.[1] It was filmed in London and Los Angeles. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Charli XCX said that the intention of the music video was to "flip the male gaze on its head".[21]

List of boys in order of appearance

# Boy/Boys Occupation
1 Joe Jonas Musician (Jonas Brothers, DNCE)
2 Josh Ostrovsky Instagram celebrity
3 Max Hershenow Musician (MS MR)
4 Charlie Puth Musician
5 Joey Badass Rapper
6 Oli Sykes Musician (Bring Me the Horizon)
7 Cameron Dallas Internet personality
8 Sage the Gemini Rapper
9–10 Dave-1 and P-Thugg Musicians (Chromeo)
11 Brendon Urie Musician (Panic! at the Disco)
12 Caspar Lee YouTuber
13 G-Eazy Rapper
14 Stormzy Rapper
15 Denzel Curry Rapper
16 Aminé Rapper
17–18 Ezra Koenig and Mark Ronson Musician (Vampire Weekend) and record producer
19 MNEK Singer-songwriter
20 Rostam Batmanglij Musician (formerly of Vampire Weekend)
21 Bastian Schweinsteiger Professional footballer
22 Dan Smith Musician (Bastille)
23–24 Flume and A. G. Cook Musicians
25–26 Wiz Khalifa and Ty Dolla $ign Hip-hop musicians
27 Tinie Tempah Rapper
28–30 Swet Shop Boys (Riz MC, Redinho and Heems) Hip hop group
31–33 WSTRN (Akelle Charles, Haile and Louis Rei) Hip hop group
34 Takahiro Moriuchi Musician (One Ok Rock)
35 Carl Barât Musician (the Libertines)
36 Barns Courtney Singer-songwriter
37 Connor Franta YouTuber
38 Shaun Ross Model
39 Fai Khadra Singer
40 Mac DeMarco Singer-songwriter
41 will.i.am Musician (Black Eyed Peas)
42 Tommy Cash Rapper
43 Jack Guinness Model
44 Diplo DJ & record producer
45 Laurie Vincent Musician (Slaves)
46 Jack Antonoff Musician (Bleachers) and Record Producer
47–48 Tristan Evans and James McVey Musicians (the Vamps)
49 Tom Daley Diver
50 Frank Carter Musician (Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes)
51 The Cobrasnake (Mark Hunter) Photographer
52 Fred Macpherson Musician (Spector)
53–57 MiC LOWRY
(Delleile Ankrah, Akia Jones, Kaine Ofoeme, Ben Sharples and Michael Welch)		 Vocal harmony boy band
58–59 THEY. (Dante Jones and Drew Love) R&B duo
60 Theo Hutchcraft Musician (Hurts)
61 Buddy Rapper
62 John Gourley Musician (Portugal. The Man)
63 Shokichi Singer (Exile and the Second)
64 Liam Fray Musician (Courteeners)
65 Jay Park Singer and rapper (2PM), breakdancer (Art of Movement)
66–67 Prince Chenoa and Jacob Dekat Founders, creative directors and photographers for Galore
68 DRAM Rapper
69 Shamari Maurice Instagram celebrity
70 Tom Grennan Singer-songwriter
71 Jay Prince Singer
72 Khalid Singer
73 Poet Presenter, podcaster and rapper
74 Vance Joy Singer-songwriter
75 Kaytranada DJ and record producer

Track listing

  • Digital download[22]
  1. "Boys" – 2:42
  • Digital download[23]
  1. "Boys" (Acoustic) – 2:55
  • Digital download[24]
  1. "Boys" (Coldabank Remix) – 3:56
  • Digital download[25]
  1. "Boys" (Droeloe Remix) – 3:36
  • Digital download[26]
  1. "Boys" (Nevada Remix) – 3:08
  • Digital Download — Remix EP[27]
  1. "Boys" (Droeloe Remix) – 3:36
  2. "Boys" (Nevada Remix) – 3:08
  3. "Boys" (Acoustic) – 2:55
  4. "Boys" (Coldabank Remix) – 3:56

Credits and personnel

Taken from Tidal.[28]

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[29] 60
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[30] 16
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[31] 4
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[32] 60
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[33] 41
France (SNEP)[34] 159
Ireland (IRMA)[35] 55
Netherlands (Single Tip)[36] 24
New Zealand Heatseekers (RMNZ)[37] 1
Philippines (Philippine Hot 100)[38] 41
Scotland (OCC)[39] 26
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[40] 60
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[42] 31
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[43] 10

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[44] Gold 40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[45] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[46] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 Reed, Ryan (26 July 2017). "Charli XCX Recruits Joe Jonas, Wiz Khalifa, Caspar Richard Lee in Celeb-Packed 'Boys' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Charli XCX Talks 'Boys' And Life After 'Number 1 Angel'". The Interns. 27 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 Geffen, Sasha. "The 100 Best Songs of 2017". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Charli XCX's Delayed Album: Who Is Really to Blame?". Highsnobiety. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  5. ↑ James, Jack (28 June 2019). "5 iconic sound effects and the songs that sampled them". Happy. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "INGRID ANDRESS SET TO RELEASE A DIVINE DELUXE VERSION OF CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED DEBUT ALBUM LADY LIKE ON 10/2". Warner Music Nashville. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  7. ↑ Barlow, Eve (26 July 2017). ""Boys" Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Billboard Staff (13 December 2017). "Billboard's 100 Best Songs of 2017: Critics' Picks". Billboard.
  9. ↑ Miller, Isabella (15 April 2022). "Charli XCX: Her 17 Best Songs". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  10. ↑ Klinkenberg, Brendan. "The Best Songs of 2017 - Charli XCX, "Boys"". Complex. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Ragusa, Paolo (16 March 2022). "Charli XCX's 10 Best Songs". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Nolan Feeney (13 December 2017). "Best Songs of 2017: EW picks the 30 greatest". Entertainment Weekly.
  13. ↑ Matt Miller (4 December 2017). "The 50 Best Songs of 2017". Esquire.
  14. ↑ "The 101 best songs of 2017". The Fader. 3 December 2017.
  15. ↑ Ben Beaumont-Thomas (4 December 2017). "The top 100 tracks of 2017". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ "The Best Fifty Songs of 2017 Ranked". The Line of Best Fit. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "Best Songs of the Year 2017". NME. 27 November 2017.
  18. ↑ "The 100 Best Songs of 2017". 7 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "The Best Songs of 2017". Pretty Much Amazing. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  20. ↑ Weingarten, Christopher R.; Spanos, Brittany; Aaron, Charles; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Johnston, Maura; Hermes, Will; Sheffield, Rob (29 November 2017). "50 Best Songs of 2017". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  21. ↑ Kile, Meredith B. (27 July 2017). "Meet All 75 Swoonworthy Guys in Charli XCX's 'Boys' Video -- From Joe Jonas to KAYTRANADA". Entertainment Tonight.
  22. ↑ "Boys – Single by Charli XCX". iTunes Store (GB). Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  23. ↑ "Boys (Acoustic) – Single by Charli XCX". iTunes Store (GB).
  24. ↑ "Boys (Coldabank Remix) – Single by Charli XCX". iTunes Store (GB).
  25. ↑ "Boys (Droeloe Remix) – Single by Charli XCX". iTunes Store (GB).
  26. ↑ "Boys (Nevada Remix) – Single by Charli XCX". iTunes Store (GB).
  27. ↑ "Boys (Remixes) by Charli XCX on Tidal". Tidal. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  28. ↑ "Boys / Charli XCX – Tidal". listen.tidal.com. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  29. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (14 August 2017). "Australian Charts: Luis Fonsi and Friends Continues To Dominate Singles Chart". Noise11. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  30. ↑ "Charli XCX – Boys" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  31. ↑ "Charli XCX – Boys" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  32. ↑ "Charli XCX Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  33. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201748 into search. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  34. ↑ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 31, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  35. ↑ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  36. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dutch Single Tip – 12/08/2017" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  37. ↑ "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  38. ↑ "BillboardPH Hot 100". Billboard Philippines. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  39. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  40. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201738 into search. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  41. ↑ "Veckolista Heatseeker – Vecka 31, 4 augusti 2017". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  42. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  43. ↑ "Charli XCX Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  44. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Charlie XCX – Boys". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  45. ↑ "British single certifications – Charli Xcx – Boys". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  46. ↑ "American single certifications – Charli XCX – Break The Rules". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
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