Rare is the third studio album by American singer Selena Gomez,[1][2] released on January 10, 2020, by Interscope Records. As the executive producer, Gomez worked with many producers, including Ian Kirkpatrick, Jason Evigan, Mattman & Robin, Sir Nolan, Simon Says, The Monsters & Strangerz and David Pramik. Described by Gomez as her "diary from the past few years",[3] Rare is a midtempo pop and dance-pop record, taking cues from electronic, latin pop and R&B styles. Lyrically, the album explores themes of self-love, self-empowerment, self-acceptance, and self-worth. Guest features on Rare are from rappers 6lack and Kid Cudi.
Selena Gomez Album Rar
The album was promoted by two singles prior to its release: The lead single "Lose You to Love Me" was released on October 23, 2019. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became Gomez's first number-one single in the United States. "Look at Her Now" was released a day after the lead single, peaking at number 27 on the chart. Coinciding with the album release, the title track was made the third single, peaking at number 30 on the Hot 100. Rare was marketed as "#SG2", signifying Gomez's second album with Interscope. The album received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production and cohesiveness, with many calling it Gomez's best album to date. Rare topped the charts in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, and Scotland.
Speaking in a November 2019 interview for Apple Music on the subject of her upcoming studio album Rare, Gomez admitted that the unreleased tracks were where she currently was. She also said that the songs on the tracklist went well with each other, after putting them in order.[5]
Gomez appeared on the radio program On Air with Ryan Seacrest and stated that she had "a million ideas and it's just going to be cooler and it's going to be stronger and it's going to be better."[6] She stated on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that the album would have a "sense of strong pop", and that she experimented with electric guitar. She also said that it took her "four years now to even feel at a good place with this album".[7]
According to Semrush, Rare was one of 2020's three most-searched albums on Google, collecting 1.2 million monthly searches; the other two are Taylor Swift's Folklore and J Balvin's Colores.[8]
Rare is primarily a pop[9] and dance-pop record[10] with a dark tone,[11] deriving elements from various musical styles, such as R&B,[12][13] electro,[13] funk-pop,[14] reggaeton,[12] alternative pop[15] and electronic music.[14] The main themes are of "love, loss and dating".[13] Gomez herself stated that the album is "honest, empowering and uplifting",[16] while its main messages are "self-love, acceptance and empowerment".[17] She also added that the songs on Rare are "the most honest music I've ever made".[18]
The standard edition of the studio album was promoted and preceded by the release of "Lose You to Love Me" released October 23, 2019, and "Look at Her Now" on October 24, 2019.[42][43] On November 24, 2019, Gomez performed "Lose You to Love Me" and "Look at Her Now" at the 2019 American Music Awards to promote the album. The title track was released as the second single the same day the album came out. Gomez also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote the album.[7]
Rare received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 76 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[48]
Jem Aswad of Variety labeled Rare "one of the best pop albums to be released in recent memory" and described it as "sophisticated, precisely written and expertly produced music".[9] While calling it "shockingly, and beautifully, upbeat", Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone opined that the album is "an act of divine ruthlessness, full of dance-y, mid-tempo clarity".[30] Writing for NME, Rhian Daly called the album "a beautifully confident return from one of pop's most underrated stars, and a quietly defiant wrestling back of the narrative surrounding her",[55] while Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly praised the album's "lightness" despite its "heavy messaging".[52]
Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times named Rare as Gomez's "most meaningful solo disc" and opined that it embraces "an infectious spirit of adventure".[32] Similarly, Vulture's Craig Jenkins wrote that the album is "almost inarguably Selena Gomez's best album".[58] In a mixed review, Pitchfork's Quinn Moreland stated that the album was her "most cohesive record to date" but that "[Gomez's] introspection can only go so deep when it's paired with sleek, easy songwriting that lets her slip by".[26] In concurrence, Alexandra Pollard of The Independent gave the album three stars out of five, deeming it "an accomplished, coherent record, with moments of ecstasy and others of pathos" but concluding that it "never quite gets out from beneath the shadow of half a decade of behemothic bangers".[53]
Idolator listed Rare among the 20 best pop albums of 2020, for being an "extraordinarily accomplished pop album that tackles serious issues like self worth and mental health" while complimenting "Lose You to Love Me" as a "Grammy-worthy ballad"; the tracks "Vulnerable", "Ring", "People You Know" and "A Sweeter Place" were highlighted as the "delights" from the album.[59]
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart earning 17,661 album-equivalent units in its first week.[77] It became her highest-charting album in the country.[77] In Australia, the album debuted at number one on the ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart, becoming Gomez's first number-one debut in the country. It also became her first number-one album in Argentina, Belgium (Flanders), Lithuania, Portugal and Scotland.
"Rare" is a song by American singer Selena Gomez from her third studio album of the same name (2020). It was released alongside the album as the third and final single off of its standard edition on January 10, 2020, by Interscope Records.[1] The track was written by Gomez, Madison Love, Brett McLaughlin and its producers Sir Nolan and Simon Says. "Rare" is a pop and electropop song with lyrics exuding self-love and individuality. It peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100. "Rare" was ranked as the 12th best song of the first half of 2020 by Billboard.[2]
The song was revealed in an Instagram Live by Gomez on August 15, 2018. Later that day, co-writer McLaughlin confirmed his involvement in the song.[4] Gomez teased the song's lyrics in an interview with Elle in September 2018.[5] The song was then teased in the Rare album trailer.[6][7]
"Rare" debuted and peaked at number thirty on the US Billboard Hot 100 following the release of the parent album and its accompanying music video. It later peaked at number 17 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart following its release as a radio single.
The BRTHR-directed music video, released on January 10, 2020, accompanied the song's and album's release.[12] It features Gomez wandering in an ethereal world, laying on a spinning bed in a discotheque inspired room, and swimming in a pool. It was stated by Gomez that the music video was inspired by her philanthropic trip to Kenya months prior to the album release.
The Club RemixesExtended play by Selena Gomez & The SceneGeneral informationRelease DateJanuary 4, 2011GenreEDMLength36:21LabelHollywood RecordsExtended Plays ChronologyPreviousCurrentNextNaturally Remixes (EP)The Club Remixes (EP)Come & Get It Remixes (EP)The Club Remixes is a remix album by the American band Selena Gomez & The Scene released on January 4, 2011 in Hollywood Records. 2ff7e9595c
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