Give It Up (Victorious song)

Last updated

"Give It Up"
Song by Victorious cast featuring Elizabeth Gillies and Ariana Grande
from the album Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show
ReleasedAugust 2, 2011
Genre
Length2:45
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

"Give It Up" is a song by the Victorious cast featuring American actresses and singers Elizabeth Gillies and Ariana Grande. The song first appeared on a one-hour Victorious special titled "Freak the Freak Out" on November 26, 2010, and was sung by Gillies and Grande. The track was then officially released on  Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show , the show's debut soundtrack album on August 2, 2011.

Contents

The track is a pop, teen pop, and R&B track with lyrics about a girl telling a boy to approach her. "Give It Up" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with some praising Gillies's and Grande's vocals. The song peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and number three on the US Kid Digital Song Sales chart. Grande performed the song live with Gillies during her Sweetener World Tour in November 2019. Matt Bennett performed it live in 2022 and 2023.

Background and release

"Give It Up" first appeared on the Nickelodeon television sitcom Victorious in a one-hour special titled "Freak the Freak Out" on November 26, 2010. [1] [2] The episode features Tori Vega (Victoria Justice) and her friends attending a weekly singing competition at Karaoke Dokie, a fictional karaoke bar. Two of Tori's friends, Jade West (Elizabeth Gillies) and Cat Valentine (Ariana Grande), enter a singing competition and perform "Give It Up" together. [3] [4] [5] The song was officially released as the seventh track on the show's debut soundtrack album Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show on August 2, 2011, [6] [7] [8] marking the musical debut for both Gillies and Grande. [9]

Writing and lyrics

Grande and Gillies provide the lead vocals on the track, with Dena Chutnik contributing background vocals. The song was written by the show's producer Dan Schneider, Michael Corcoran, and CJ Abraham. Corcoran served as a producer, engineer, and associated performer, while Abraham also contributed as a producer and added keyboards. The track was mastered by Brian Gardner and mixed by Greg Wells. [10]

"Give It Up" has been described as a pop, [4] [11] teen pop, [12] and R&B track. [4] [13] Lyrically, the song is about a girl inviting a boy to approach them: "At the end of the night/It's the same old story/But you never get it right/Give it up ... Take a backseat, boy/'Cause now I'm driving." [14] Zahraa Schroeder, writing for Smile 90.4FM, stated that the song has "low notes at the start", and that Grande's section "gets all the crazy high notes". [15]

Reception

"Give It Up" peaked at number three on the US Kid Digital Song Sales chart, giving Grande her first hit on any Billboard chart. [16] [17] In August 2011, "Give It Up" also debuted and peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, lasting one week on the chart. [18]

Jack Irvin of People magazine called the track "memorable", while Marcus Jones of Entertainment Weekly labeled it as an "iconic karaoke number". [19] Jacquez Printup for Yardbarker stated that the "Give It Up" would "always be [number one] in my eyes" when talking about tracks featured on Victorious. [20] Kristen S. Hé and Andrew Unterberger, writing for Billboard magazine, put the track at number 123 on their "Every Ariana Grande Song, Ranked: Critic's Picks" list, opining that the track "aged surprisingly well" while describing it as a "banger". They noted that Grande's vocals on "Give It Up" have a "deeper, brassier tone" compared to her other tracks while describing Gillies as "the star" of the song. [12]

Writing for Her Campus , Megan Gaertner and Allison Kane placed the song at number seven on their "The Best Songs from Victorious" list, describing the track as a "great song" and "girl-power anthem" that has "powerful vocals". [21] Justin Curto of Vulture compared the track to the works of Christina Aguilera, [4] while Bob Hoose and Steven Isaac of Plugged In compared the song to "Lady Marmalade" which was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. [14] William Ruhlmann of AllMusic expressed his dislike of the song, calling it a "Britney Spears reject". [8]

Live performances

On November 19, 2019, Grande resumed her Sweetener World Tour and posted on her Twitter account about working on a special project, saying, "Guys I can't tell u why yet, but I'm so excited for tonight. I've never felt this way. Goodbye." [22] [23] [24] Later that night, at a concert in Atlanta, Georgia, Grande surprised her fans by having Gillies walk on stage to perform "Give It Up" with her. [25] Jack Irvin of People described it as a "nostalgic rendition". [26] During 2022 and 2023, fellow Victorious cast mate Matt Bennett performed the song live during some of his DJ concert sets. [27] [28]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. [10]

Charts

Chart performance for "Give It Up"
Chart (2011–2012)Peak
position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ( Billboard ) [18] 23
US Kid Digital Song Sales ( Billboard ) [16] 3

References

  1. ↑ Armstrong, Jennifer (November 19, 2010). "'Victorious' exclusive first look: Karaoke hijinks! Wisdom-tooth hijinks!". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  2. ↑ Aniftos, Rania (November 20, 2019). "Ariana Grande & Liz Gillies Recreated a 'Victorious' Scene Onstage & We Were Suddenly Transported to 2010". Billboard . Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Check It Out: First Ever Victorious Music Video". Seventeen . November 22, 2010. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Curto, Justin (March 8, 2024). "All 57 of Ariana Grande's Collaborations, Ranked". Vulture . Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  5. ↑ Margolis, Sam; McQuiston, Rachel (December 8, 2019). "5 Most Iconic 'Victorious' Songs". Her Campus . Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  6. ↑ Bowenbank, Starr (September 20, 2021). "Ariana Grande Recalls Living at an L.A. Hotel During 'Victorious' Auditions: 'I Was So Nervous'". Billboard . Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  7. ↑ Velasquez, Trixie (September 24, 2021). "Not lip-syncing? Grande and Gillies sing live in clip of 'Victorious' shoot". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William (August 2, 2011). "Victoria Justice/Victorious Cast Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  9. ↑ Fink, Richard (January 13, 2025). "'Wicked's Ariana Grande Reacts to Disney Live-Action Remake Fan-Casting With Her Own Casting Suggestion". MovieWeb . Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Credits / Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show / Various artists". Tidal. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  11. ↑ Irvin, Jack (November 1, 2024). "Liz Gillies Says Her Music Career Faced 'Endless False Starts.' How She's 'Opened the Floodgates' (Exclusive)". People . Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  12. 1 2 S. Hé, Kristen; Unterberger, Andrew (March 15, 2024). "Every Ariana Grande Song, Ranked: Critic's Picks". Billboard . Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  13. ↑ Olorunnisola, Israel (March 19, 2023). "Victorious: 10 Songs You Forgot Were Awesome". MovieWeb . Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  14. 1 2 Hoose, Bob; Issac, Steven. "Victorious: Music From the Hit TV Show". Plugged In . Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  15. ↑ Schroeder, Zahraa (July 13, 2023). "Hardest Songs For Women and Men To Sing". Smile 90.4FM . Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  16. 1 2 "Elizabeth Gillies Chart History (US Kid Digital Song Sales)". Billboard . January 3, 2025. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2025.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ↑ "Ariana Grande's Acting & Musical Success Set Her Up for 'Wicked'". Billboard . December 9, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  18. 1 2 "Ariana Grande Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  19. ↑ Jones, Marcus (November 20, 2019). "Ariana Grande stages a Victorious reunion with Liz Gillies and Matt Bennett at her Atlanta show". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  20. ↑ Printup, Jacquez (December 25, 2024). "20 original songs from fictional shows and movies that are actually fire". Yardbarker. Archived from the original on December 24, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  21. ↑ Gaertner, Megan; Kane, Allison (November 8, 2019). "The Best Songs from Victorious". Her Campus . Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  22. ↑ Twersky, Carolyn (November 20, 2019). "Ariana Grande Had a Mini 'Victorious' Reunion at Her Concert Last Night". Seventeen . Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  23. ↑ Gemmill, Allie (November 21, 2019). "Ariana Grande Held an Onstage 'Victorious' Reunion With Matt Bennett and Liz Gillies". Teen Vogue . Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  24. ↑ Vacco-Bolaños, Jessica (November 20, 2019). "Ariana Had The Most Epic 'Victorious' Reunion At Her Atlanta Concert". Elite Daily . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  25. ↑ Bailey, Alyssa (November 20, 2019). "Ariana Grande Sang 'Victorious' Songs With Matt Bennett and Elizabeth Gillies at Her Atlanta Concert". Elle . Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  26. ↑ Irvin, Jack (November 6, 2024). "Liz Gillies Explains How She and BFF Ariana Grande Remain So Close: 'We Make a Real Effort' (Exclusive)". People . Archived from the original on January 1, 2025. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  27. ↑ Zachian, Skylar (July 9, 2022). "Event of the Summer: iParty with Matt Bennett!". Young Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  28. ↑ "Victorious star Matt Bennett brings nostalgic 'Party 101' tour to San Antonio's Aztec Theatre". WOAI-TV. July 30, 2023. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
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