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Kream (song)

"Kream"
Single by Iggy Azalea featuring Tyga
from the EP Survive the Summer
Released6 July 2018 (2018-07-06)
GenreHip hop[1]
Length2:46
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Iggy Azalea singles chronology
"Savior"
(2018) 		"Kream"
(2018) 		"Sally Walker"
(2019)
Tyga singles chronology
"Taste"
(2018) 		"Kream"
(2018) 		"Swish"
(2018)
Music video
"Kream" on YouTube

"Kream" is a song recorded by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea featuring American rapper Tyga. The song was released on 6 July 2018 by Island Records and serves as the lead single for her extended play Survive the Summer. It was written by Azalea, Tyga, and Ronny J. Production was handled by Ronny J, GT, and Wallis Lane. The song samples Wu Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." and Raw Beat Mafia's "Dead End". The song passed 100 million streams on Spotify in February 2020, becoming Azalea's most recent song to do that since 2014's "No Mediocre" with T.I.

Background and release

[edit]
American rapper Tyga is featured on the song.

In early July 2018, Azalea tweeted "Since I cant seem to speak about anything without being asked - when is the EP dropping" and "S.T.S is dropping 6 July. #TheMoreYouKnow". The song was originally for an album titled Digital Distortion, but the album was eventually scrapped.[2][3] Furthermore, the song was delayed after Island Records appointed Darcus Beese as president of the label in May 2018.[4] Teasers of the music video featured Iggy Azalea and Tyga during the filming process before release.[5]

The song was released alongside a promotional single titled "Tokyo Snow Trip" on 6 July, the same day as the scheduled release of Azalea's EP Survive the Summer.[6]

On 12 July 2018, Azalea took to her Twitter account to say after the success of "Kream", her label, Island Records decided to send the song to impact radio. The song was originally meant to just act as a promotional single before it went viral across the Internet, helping jump start Azalea's new era.

Almost exactly a year later, the song saw a mild resurgence as a snippet of the song became part of an internet challenge called Open Up The Safe Challenge (a play on the opening lyrics of the song)[citation needed]

In July 2019, a TikTok user, Johnny McKay, had uploaded a clip where the song was accidentally played instead of the US national anthem at a baseball game.[7] The video quickly became an internet meme and subsequently went viral, causing the song to regain popularity. Later that month, the TikTok user claimed that the incident was all just fake.[8]

Composition

[edit]

"Kream" is a spare, slow-bounce track[3] with mentions of Sex Pistols band member Sid Vicious, Ice Cube[9] and model Bella Hadid, referencing her viral "homeboy" interview,[10] with "Keep that energy, gon' up that Hennessy (ass)/I need my bag quickly/Separate six-degrees, bitches said they know me/ Sex pistols, Sid Vicious, wet you when it's horny/Hit me on my Cash App, check it in the morning"[11][12] [..] "And it's perfect timing, dream with the tanny/ Bella Hadid, homie could get it".[3]

Kream contains an interpolation from the Wu Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M.", written by GZA, Ghostface Killah, U God, Ol' Dirty Bastard, RZA, Inspectah Deck, Method Man and Raekwon and also from Raw Beat Mafia's "Dead End", written by Nima Jahanbin, Paimon Jahanbin, Isaac Hayes and David Porter. The song's title is an acronym that comes from the line "cash rules everything around me".[citation needed]

Music video

[edit]

The music video, directed by Colin Tilley and filmed in Los Angeles, California,[13] shows many women, including Azalea, twerking[14] in a dark house with neon lighting. After a brief potential legal issue regarding the music video, which Azalea dubbed "Ovengate" on Twitter, the music video was released at 7 pm EST on 6 July 2018.[9] As of October 2024, the music video for "Kream" had surpassed 353 million views making it Azalea's seventh video to achieve this milestone. Azalea twerks in the video and wears a revealing leotard and fishnet. Azalea twerks near an oven with money inside of it and writhes in bed with Tyga.[15] The music video has a stripper theme to it.

Chart performance

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The song debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 41 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales charts each dated 21 July 2018, respectively. It became Azalea's first entry on the Hot 100 since her 2016 top 50 hit "Team". It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in February 2019. Outside the US the song peaked at number 26 in Hungary, number 54 in Canada and number 96 in Ireland.[citation needed]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from Tidal.[16]

Charts

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Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australia Digital Tracks (ARIA)[17] 27
Australian Artist Singles (ARIA)[18] 14
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[19] 54
France Downloads (SNEP)[20] 148
Hungary (Single Top 40)[21] 26
Ireland (IRMA)[22] 96
Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard)[23] 34
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[24] 11
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 96
US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (Billboard)[26] 1
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[27] 27

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[28] 2× Platinum 80,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[29] Gold 10,000‡
United States (RIAA)[30] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various 6 July 2018 Digital download Island [16]
United States 7 August 2018 Rhythmic contemporary radio
[31]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Williams, Aaron (9 July 2018). "Iggy Azalea Packs Classic Rap References Into Her Cheeky 'Kream' Video". UPROXX. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  2. ^ Brandle, Lars (25 June 2018). "Iggy Azalea Posts Cryptic Artwork". Billboard. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Kaufman, Gil (7 July 2018). "Iggy Azalea Drops 2 New Songs: 'Tokyo Snow Trip' & 'Kream' Feat. Tyga". Billboard. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  4. ^ Wass, Mike (25 June 2018). "Iggy Azalea Reveals The Eye-Popping Cover Of New Single "KREAM"". Idolator. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  5. ^ Zidel, Alex (5 July 2018). "Iggy Azalea Survives The Summer With Tyga In "Kream"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  6. ^ Coleman II, C. Vernon (6 July 2018). "Iggy Azalea Shares New Songs "Kream" and "Tokyo Snow Trip"". XXL. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Johnny McKay on TikTok". TikTok. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Johnny McKay on TikTok". TikTok. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  9. ^ a b Ting, Jasmine (7 July 2018). "Iggy Azalea Drops 'Kream' Music Video Featuring Tyga". Paper. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Bella Hadid's 'homeboy' interview has the whole Internet cringing". Cosmopolitan. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Iggy Azalea Drops 'Tokyo Snow Trip' & 'Kream' with Tyga". Rap-Up. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  12. ^ Eustice, Kyle (7 July 2018). "Watch Iggy Azalea's "Kream" Video Featuring Tyga". HipHopDX. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Iggy Azalea wanted Kream to reject 'domestication'". magicvalley.com. 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Australian rapper Iggy Azalea releases new single, "Kream"" (in Portuguese). 10 July 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Iggy Azalea's 'Kream' Video Features Lots of Twerking from the Australian Rapper". 7 July 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Kream / Iggy Azalea". Tidal. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  17. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 40 Digital Tracks Chart" (PDF). ARIA. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  18. ^ "ARIA Australian Artist Top 40 Tracks Chart". ARIA. 16 July 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018.
  19. ^ "Iggy Azalea Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 28, 2018)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 17 July 2018.[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  22. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  23. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Overseas" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  24. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  25. ^ "Iggy Azalea Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  26. ^ "Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop : July 21, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved 17 July 2018. (subscription required)
  27. ^ "Iggy Azalea Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  28. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Iggy Azalea – Kream" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  29. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2020 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  30. ^ "American single certifications – Iggy Azalea – Kream". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  31. ^ "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases". Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.