URL Badman

"URL Badman"
Single by Lily Allen
from the album Sheezus
B-side"Bass Like Home"
Released13 July 2014 (2014-07-13)
RecordedNovember 2013
Studio
  • Echo, Los Angeles
  • Rocket, London
Genre
Length3:39
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Greg Kurstin
Lily Allen singles chronology
"Our Time"
(2014) 		"URL Badman"
(2014) 		"As Long as I Got You"
(2014)
Music video
"URL Badman" on YouTube

"URL Badman" is a song by English singer-songwriter Lily Allen, released on 13 July 2014 as the fourth single from her third studio album, Sheezus (2014). The B-side to the single, "Bass Like Home", is an unofficial World Cup song for England.

Composition

"URL Badman" is a dubstep and synth-pop song,[1][2] with Allen rapping over "a surprisingly hip-hop beat".[3] In the song, there is an introductory dialogue between a boy named Alexander and his mother; Alex is in his room typing at a computer when his mother calls him for dinner. The main theme of the song is the Internet, and blog critics who "spend their life on the computer". Allen said she wrote the song after a blogger criticised the music video for "Hard out Here" because it used mostly black dancers. Joe Bishop, the writer who inspired the song, said in an opinion piece for The Guardian that his "first reaction was to feel flattered".[4]

Release

"URL Badman" was released on 13 July 2014 by Parlophone. The B-side "Bass Like Home" contains her singing about the UK. "Bass Like Home" is not available in the US.

Live performances

Allen performed the song on 24 May 2014 at the BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, after "Littlest Things" and before "Our Time".[5]

Track listing

  • Digital download[6]
  1. "URL Badman" – 3:39
  2. "Sheezus" (Redlight Deconstructed Mix) – 4:37
  3. "Bass Like Home" (Lily Allen & Kid Harpoon) – 3:59

Chart performance

"URL Badman" peaked at number 93 on the UK Singles Chart

Charts

Chart performance for "URL Badman"
Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[7] 93

References

  1. ^ Lee, Christina (6 May 2014). "Lily Allen's 'Sheezus': Album Review". Idolator. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  2. ^ Reed, Ryan (2 July 2014). "Lily Allen Confronts Internet Trolls in 'URL Badman' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  3. ^ "[Year-End] Top 50 Albums of 2014 (#2) X Lily Allen Sheezus". The Urban Alternative. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Lily Allen wrote a song about me because I accused her of racism". The Guardian. 4 July 2014.
  5. ^ "BBC – Radio 1's Big Weekend – Glasgow – Acts – Lily Allen". BBC.
  6. ^ "iTunes - Music - URL Badman - Single by Lily Allen". iTunes Store UK. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 January 2020.