"Black Widow" was released on July 8, 2014. It’s sung by Iggy Azalea and lasts for 3:29 minutes.
The song was written by Katy Perry, Iggy Azalea, Sarah Hudson, Benny Blanco and duo StarGate and also produced by the latter.
It was initially for Katy Perry’s 2013 album, "Prism" but was going to be offered to another artist because it wasn’t finished by the time of the album’s release.
Azalea heard about the song and described it as "mysterious record" and "legend".
At the iTunes Festival, in 2013, Perry offered her the chance to record it and in November the same year Azalea started recording the song alongside Rita Ora.
Black Widow's instrumentation and programming were covered by StarGate and the singers’ vocals were recorded at the Record Planet and Westlake Recording Studios, in Los Angeles, and Jungle City Studios, in New York. The mixing was completed by Phil Tan, in Atlanta.
The single is composed of an ominous steel drum rhythm, heavy bass and a dance breakdown. The two singers’ vocals are structured as a call and response throughout the song. Its lyrics refer to failed love, revenge and dark feelings. Due to its message it was often compared with Katy Perry’s "Dark Horse".
"Black Widow" received mixed reviews from the critics that went from:
"future hit written all over it"
and
"strong chorus and slithering beats"
to opinions like
"Ora’s hook overshadowed Azalea’s verses on the song".
The single reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on the UK Singles Chart, number seven on Streaming Songs and number twenty on Radio Songs Chart. This made it the third female act to reach three top ten spots in the Billboard Hot 100, after Adele, Ashanti and Ariana Grande. The song sold over one million copies in the United States alone.
"Black Widow"’s video was released on Vevo in August 2014 and was inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s movies and the 70’s kung fu films. It was first performed live at the Wireless Festival in London, on July 4th, 2014.
You can download and enjoy Black Widow's free piano sheet in the next section.
