"Born Again" is a song by Thai rapper and singer Lisa featuring American rapper and singer Doja Cat and British singer-songwriter Raye. It was released through Lloud and RCA Records on February 6,2025,as the fourth single from Lisa's debut studio album,Alter Ego (2025). A pop song incorporating disco and electropop,it was written by its producers Raye and Andrew Wells as well as Doja Cat and Anthony Rossomando. It is a post-breakup empowerment anthem in which the artists sing about what their exes lost by giving up on their relationship.
Music critics praised "Born Again" as a standout album opener due to its dynamic production and the artists' vocals. The song debuted at number one on the Official Thailand Chart,becoming Lisa's first chart-topper in her native country. It peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Global 200 and became Lisa's fifth and highest-charting entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 68. It also reached the top twenty in some Asian countries and the top seventy in some European and Oceanian countries,including Germany,Australia,Canada,Ireland and France.
An accompanying music video was directed by Bardia Zeinali and released on Lloud's YouTube channel simultaneously with the single's release. The video pays tribute to powerful women throughout history and depicts the three artists singing in black mourning gowns before being reborn wearing white outfits with silver armor. To promote the song,Lisa performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The song received a nomination for Best K-Pop at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Background and release
After departing from her label YG Entertainment for solo activities,Lisa established her own artist management company called Lloud in February 2024 and signed with RCA Records to release solo music in partnership with Lloud in April.[1][2] She released "Rockstar","New Woman",and "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)" as the first three singles from her upcoming debut album Alter Ego through Lloud and RCA Records between June and October 2024.[3] In an October interview with Audacy,Lisa expressed that working with Doja Cat was her "next goal".[4][5] In January 2025,she teased in an episode of NRJ that her upcoming single would be a collaboration with an artist she had previously mentioned wanting to work with.[6]
On January 24,Lisa,Doja Cat,and Raye shared a photograph of themselves posing together in glamorous black cocktail dresses on Instagram and announced their collaboration on a single titled "Born Again",due for release on February 6 at 7 p.m. ET.[7] Lisa posted several TikTok videos with a short snippet of the song’s hook,including a video where she poses with a billboard promoting Alter Ego.[8] On February 3,she released the official cover art for the single,which shows the three artists in black gowns within a frame at the center of the page,with Doja looking down and Lisa and Raye staring into the camera.[9] The song featured before its release in a trailer for the third season of the HBO television series The White Lotus starring Lisa.[10]
Composition and lyrics
Almost four minutes in length,"Born Again" features production by Andrew Wells and Raye herself.[11] A demo version of the song by Raye previously leaked when she left her former label Polydor Records in 2021.[12] It has been described a "disco-tinged","dynamic and energetic pop song" that "folds in bits of electro-pop."[13][14] The production was described as a "springy,amped-up bassline"[15] that "taps into 80s disco sleaze"[16] and uses "synths,claps,drum pads and bongo samples" continually blending into the mix with no gaps in the instrumentation.[17] Lisa and Raye alternate singing during the first verse and chorus,after which Doja drops a verse.[13]
The title "Born Again" is a meta reference that declares Lisa's rebirth as a solo artist.[18] It is a breakup empowerment song in which the three artists each detail what their ex-lover lost by giving up on their relationship.[19] They taunt their former partners by boasting about their glow-ups since their relationships' dissolutions.[20] In the first verse,Lisa sings about breaking up "with my man like mm-hmm (A very,very silly,silly man) / One ex in the passenger seat 'cause I'm done."[19] The track leans into religious themes to describe a feeling of post-breakup clarity and empowerment. In the chorus,they mock their exes for fumbling a divine experience:"If you tried just a little more times / I would've made you a believer / Would've showed you what it's like / Every single night / To be born again,baby,to be born again."[21] Doja Cat continues to taunt her ex in her half-sung/half-rapped verse,stating "I hope you learned somethin' from a lil' fiasco / You played the game smart,lettin' lil' me pass go."[20] While Lisa's verse uses the metaphor of speeding away from a failed relationship,Doja Cat and Raye's verses heavily incorporate religious iconography. Doja Cat references the apple in the Garden of Eden in the lines "Non-believer / You’ve bitten from the fruit but can't give back / Nice to leave ya / But I would be a fool not to ask / Do your words seem gospel to ya now?" For her bridge,Raye brings up prayer and says "I'm only gonna make you need religion at the minimum",coming to the conclusion that she had to end a relationship to "save my soul."[21]
Writing for Billboard Philippines,Gabriel Saulog commended "Born Again" as "an impactful and soaring introduction" to the album due to the artists' "undeniable chemistry and flow" and added that it delivers a completely new sound unheard of from Lisa or her group Blackpink.[23] Eunbo Shim of Billboard ranked it the third-best song on the album,calling it a "bold and defiant statement" with its disco production and meta title,and found the lyrics' religious connotations to channel '80s Madonna.[18]NME's Crystal Bell described that the "sultry" track "finds Lisa flexing her nimble vocals."[24] While Elise Ryan of the Associated Press dubbed it "lush"[25] and The Irish Times's Ed Power called it "beautifully punchy",[26] Benjamin Lassy of The Daily Campus lauded the song as "superb","almost spiritual" and a "beautiful and vulnerable cut",pointing to how "Lisa's vocals soar over an orchestration while a stellar slap base kicks off the album with an indelible groove."[17] Likewise,Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone commended "Born Again" for blending the "sort of light blasphemy that would make Madonna proud" with a "modern take on Latin freestyle" and praised the artists for "fully leaning into the lyrics’sauciness."[15] Writing for The Skinny,Rhys Morgan highlighted the song as a standout that "pulses with warmth and groove that would seamlessly sit alongside anything on Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia,with a bassline fit for Justice's Woman."[27] Joshua Minsoo Kim of Pitchfork made a similar comparison in his negative review,deriding the song as a "banal disco track in the vein of Dua Lipa" that failed to "understand how a voice can be a vessel for exultant uplift."[28]
A scene in the music video depicting Lisa,Doja Cat,and Raye following their rebirth in new white dresses.
An accompanying music video for "Born Again" was uploaded to Lloud's YouTube channel simultaneously with the single's release. It was directed by Bardia Zeinali and divided into four parts.[11] A behind-the-scenes clip of its filming was later released on February 19,[30] showing the three artists having fun throughout the ten-hour shoot.[31] The video contains references to various religions,mythologies and historical figures. On Instagram,Lisa shared:"This video is a tribute to powerful women throughout history and to all of you."[32] It begins with a shot of a grandfather clock ticking backwards,followed by a display of text defining the song’s title as "the transformation into a New Woman who embraces her freedom to become the person she desires to be."[33] Lisa,Doja,and Raye are then introduced perched on an ornate gold sofa set in a black-and-white room,wearing glamorous all-black outfits.[34] They sing lyrics as they lounge together in the living room space of a sleek mansion.[35] Initially dressed in black mourning gowns,the trio shed their past selves and emerge in ethereal white dresses accented with pieces of silver armor.[33]
↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 59. týden 2025 in the date selector. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
↑ "מדיה פורסט – המצעד הבינלאומי השבועי – Week 8 – 16/02 – 22/02/2025"[Media Forest – International Weekly Chart – Week 8 – 16/02 – 22/02/2025] (Select the year 2025 and the option "08 16-02-25 22-02-25" from the stretched lists, then click "שירים מובילים - רדיו - בינלאומי" to see the chart.) (in Hebrew). Media Forest. February 23, 2025. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 22. týden 2025 in the date selector. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
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