The last song to be included on the album,[2] "Rich Girl" was released as the album's second single in late 2004 to mixed reviews from
music critics. It was a commercial success, reaching the top 10 on most of the charts it entered. In the United States, "Rich Girl" was certified gold, and it received a nomination for
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the
48th Annual Grammy Awards.
Writing and development
Stefani and Eve had previously collaborated on the 2001 single "
Let Me Blow Ya Mind". When Stefani first began recording solo material, Eve expressed interest in working with Stefani again, saying, "She's fly, she's tight and she is talented. It's going to be hot regardless."[3] The two decided to work together again after talking in Stefani's laundry room during a party.[2] After Stefani had co-written more than 20 songs for her solo debut, she approached
Dr. Dre, who had produced for her twice before.[4] Dre had produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" as well as "Wicked Day", a track that was excluded from
No Doubt's 2001 album Rock Steady.[5]
After playing some of the songs on which she had been working, Dr. Dre told her, "You don't want to go back there." Instead of using one of the tracks, Dr. Dre instead suggested using English
reggae duo
Louchie Lou & Michie One's 1993 song "Rich Girl", which itself interpolated "
If I Were a Rich Man" from the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof.[4] Stefani and Eve helped each other with their parts, but when they presented Dr. Dre with the
demo, he told them to rewrite the song,[4] suggesting that Stefani play a character in the song.[2]
Since she had not seen the musical since she was a child, Stefani went to
Broadway to better understand the theme that "even if you're poor and you have love, you're rich."[2] The idea which became the final version came to Stefani while
brainstorming on her
treadmill.[4] She commented that the troubles in writing the song came because "Dre was really pushing me to write in a new way", but when she presented him with the song, "he just totally tricked the track out."[6]
The
introduction consists of the repeated use of the word na. Stefani reaches her highest note of the song, E5, as part of a trichord and her lowest, G3, during this
section.[7] After the first
chorus, Stefani discusses dreams of wealth and luxury,[11] and she namechecks fashion designers
Vivienne Westwood and
John Galliano. Stefani commented that the references were not
product placement but that she included them "because I think they're rad and want to talk about them. [...] I'd give all my money to [Westwood] and buy all her clothes!"[12] A
bridge, in which Stefani's voice is
overdubbed, precedes the second chorus. During the second verse Stefani discusses her
Harajuku Girls, and she then repeats the bridge. Following Eve's rap, Stefani sings the chorus and closes the song by repeating the introduction as a
coda.[7]
Critical reception
"Rich Girl" received mixed reviews from music critics. Richard Smirke of
Playlouder said that it brought "a much-needed element of diversity" to L.A.M.B. and called it a "potential hit single".[13] Krissi Murison of the NME, however, described it as "
playground chant featuring a tough-girl ragga
cameo from Eve."[14] John Murphy from musicOMH gave it an overall positive review, calling it "a great fun song, and far superior to some of the dross that comes out these days", but also commented that it did not live up to "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and found the references to the Harajuku Girls "slightly creepy."[15] Lisa Haines of
BBC Music referred to the song as "
disco gold, impossibly girly and very easy to dance to."[16] The song drew comparisons to the No Doubt album Rock Steady,[17] and Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine described it as "a lite version of '
Hey Baby'."[18]
"I could tell I had ruffled Gwen's feathers when we spoke before the disc came out. It was the first time I took her to task for disingenuousness—for being ungodly rich yet still singing, 'If I were a rich girl....'
'What do you mean by that?' she snapped. I said the song could be seen as absurd, even untrue. She explained its lyrics were about when she was just an Orange County girl—ah, that troubling phrase!—dreaming of such wealth."
Several reviewers found it ironic that Stefani, who had already sold 26 million records with No Doubt,[19] discussed having money in the
counterfactual conditional. John Murphy from musicOMH found it "rather strange" for Stefani to sing the song while living off of royalties from No Doubt and her husband,
post-grunge musician
Gavin Rossdale.[20] Anthony Carew from Neumu called the lyrics "insipid" and noted that "the incredibly wealthy pop-starlet wonders what it'd be like to be, uh, incredibly wealthy".[21]The Orange County Register writer Ben Wener told Stefani that the song was disingenuous and "absurd", to which Stefani responded that the point of view was from before she was famous.[1] Stefani later refused to issue
credentials to the newspaper[1] after Wener wrote that "while posting a reported
US$90 million via her clothing lines [...] she's no more 'just an Orange County girl' than
Best Buy is just a shack that sells
Commodore 64s" in response to a track titled "Orange County Girl" from Stefani's second album The Sweet Escape.[22]
The interpolation of "If I Were a Rich Man" drew mixed reviews. Jason Damas, writing for PopMatters, argued that the track "turns it into an anthem of urban
bling-lust" and that its "simple pounding piano
chord makes for great
percussive backing."[8] Nick Sylvester from Pitchfork Media found the song corny, classifying it as "Eve- and Dre- and
Tevye-powered
camp-hop."[23]The Villager's Winnie MCCroy found the interpolation "innovative" and noted the song's take on "the current style of shout-out rap songs."[24]David Browne of Entertainment Weekly disagreed, stating that the interpolation was used awkwardly,[11] and
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the interpolation a goof.[25] Jason Shawhan from
About.com called the track "a
dancehall/classic
house teardown of 'If I Were a Rich Man'" and added, "If this is what
Jay-Z's fudging with Annie has wrought, I say, be glad of it."[26]
"Rich Girl" was largely successful across Europe, reaching number two on the
European Hot 100 Singles.[35] It reached the top five in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden and the top 10 in Austria, Finland, Italy, and Switzerland.[36] The song also charted highly in the United Kingdom, debuting at number four on March 20, 2005, for the week ending date March 26, 2005.[37] The track was unable to reach a higher position and remained on the chart for 12 weeks.[37]
Elsewhere, "Rich Girl" peaked within the top 20 on the majority of the charts it entered. In Australia, it debuted on February 27, 2005, at number two behind
Nelly's "
Over and Over" featuring
Tim McGraw.[38] It was unable to reach number one and dropped off the chart after 13 weeks.[38] The single was certified platinum by the
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales in excess of 70,000 copies.[39]
Music video
The pirate-themed music video for "Rich Girl" was directed by
David LaChapelle and uses the Get Rich mix of the song, which repeats the middle-8 chant section during the intro. The video, inspired by a late-1990s
Vivienne Westwood advertising campaign, opens with four Japanese schoolgirls playing with a toy pirate ship and two
Bratz dolls of Stefani and Eve, while the girls discuss what they would do if they were a "rich girl". The video features several sequences. Stefani is first shown below the
deck of a pirate ship, dancing on a table and singing to the song. She is surrounded by pirates and
wenches and is soon joined by Eve, wearing an
eyepatch. In the surreal style of LaChapelle, the pirate crew has distorted features, and a leaked
casting call commented, "I need the freaks on this one."[40] Above deck Stefani, the Harajuku Girls, Eve, and more pirates dance on the deck and
rigging. Stefani is also seen dancing with the Harajuku Girls in a
treasure trove, often carrying a sword, and swinging from an
anchor. When the girls dunk the toy ship in a
fish tank, the
galleon engages in
cannon fire, causing Stefani and the pirates to fall all over the ship, and Stefani and the Harajuku Girls are soon
shipwrecked.
The music video was a success on video channels. The video debuted at number nine on
MTV's Total Request Live on December 13, 2004.[41] It worked its way to number five,[42] staying on the chart for a total of 13 days.[41] The video also reached number four on
MuchMusic's Countdown, remaining on the chart for 16 weeks.[43]VH1 listed "Rich Girl" at number 24 on its Top 40 Videos of 2005.[44]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^
ab"Singles : Top 50".
Jam!. March 31, 2005. Archived from the original on April 17, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2016.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)