"Roxanne" (stylized in all uppercase[2]) is a song by American rapper Arizona Zervas. It was released on October 10, 2019.[3] The song was written by the artist himself with Lauren Larue, and produced by 94Skrt and Jae Green.[4]
"Roxanne" reached number one in New Zealand and peaked within the top ten in Australia, Norway, the UK, and the US. It reached the Top 40 in many other European and North American markets, including number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the song sparked a bidding war among labels, and on November 15, 2019, it was reported that Zervas had signed with Columbia Records.[5] A remix with American rapper Swae Lee was released on February 21, 2020. The song depicts a wealthy Californian woman from Beverly Hills. She drives a drop top car, enjoys partying, and returns to broken relationships as long as the man pays her.
Background and releaseedit
Zervas teased the release of the song by posting a clip of him dancing to the song on his Instagram a day prior to the release.[6] The song was released on October 10, 2019.[7] The track quickly became a viral hit on the app TikTok.[8] Within the first three weeks, the song reached the Top 50 of the US Spotify and several iTunes charts.[9]
Chart performanceedit
"Roxanne" became the first track by an unsigned, fully independent artist to top the Spotify chart since the beginning of 2017.[10] The song subsequently debuted at number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as debuting at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and reaching number 1 in New Zealand, becoming his first number one on any national chart. It has so far peaked at number four in the US,[11] where it also topped the BillboardStreaming Songs chart for the week dated November 30, 2019, making Zervas just the fourth artist to top the chart with their first charting song.[12] The song also reached number two on the Mainstream Top 40 chart for two weeks, behind Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now".
Critical receptionedit
Billboard described the song as "an instantly memorable pop-rap concoction with an attention-grabbing intro, a sing-along chorus and about an album's worth of addicting mini-hooks."[1] Chris Lambert of Forbes compared Zervas' "smooth, dreamy flow" on the song to the likes of Migos and Post Malone.[13] Elias Leight at Rolling Stone noted that the singer "likes to syllables and add a light quaver to his vocals" and how the song "sounds like a Post Malone demo".[14]
The video finds Zervas stuck in an "infinite loop" where he dies every day, only to wake up again the next morning, while "Roxanne" channels Uma Thurman's Mia Wallace character from Pulp Fiction.[16] Zervas came up with the video's concept, with Columbia Records vice president of video production Saul Levitz noting how Zervas was "very specific" of how the character of Roxanne needed to be portrayed: "a conceptual hook with her constantly being this source of bad luck and him being stuck in this perpetual ride with her".[16] The video features "colorful fashion and antiquated housing" while capturing a "vintage California aesthetic".[15] Considering the song's popularity on TikTok, Levitz said they wanted the video to engage the audience in a new way and with that, wanted to uncover some mystery about Zervas, noting how Zervas had no previous videos and "people didn't even have many still photos of him".[16]
^"Roxanne - Single by Arizona Zervas on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
^ abc"Roxanne / Arizona Zervas". Tidal. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
^Stutz, Colin (November 15, 2019). "'Roxanne' Singer Arizona Zervas Signs With Columbia Records". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
^"some new new 👀 run up the comments and i'll drop it this weeek. 🐩ROXANNE🐩". Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved November 1, 2019 – via Instagram.
^"🐩ROXANNE🐩 out now. link in bio. 🐩". Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved November 1, 2019 – via Instagram.
^"Chasing Arizona". Hits Daily Double. October 31, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
^Wass, Mike (October 30, 2019). "Future Hit: Arizona Zervas' "Roxanne" Is Going To Be Big". Idolator. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
^Cirisano, Tatiana (November 14, 2019). "The First Artist in Years to Top Spotify Without Label Support". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
^Trust, Gary (December 23, 2019). "Mariah Carey No. 1, Brenda Lee No. 2 in Billboard Hot 100's First-Ever 'Christmas' Double Up". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
^Rutherford, Kevin (November 25, 2019). "Arizona Zervas' 'Roxanne' Tops Streaming Songs Chart". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
^Lambert, Chris (November 12, 2019). "Arizona Zervas's 'Roxanne' Turns On The Red Light, 21 Savage Succeeds With 'Mortal Kombat': A Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Chart Update". Forbes. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
^Leight, Elias (November 11, 2019). "A Tale of Two Singles: How 'Roxanne' and 'Yellow Hearts' Went Viral". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
^ abSaponara, Michael (February 12, 2020). "Arizona Zervas Can't Keep Up With 'Roxanne' in Colorful New Video: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
^ abcdBell, BreAnna (February 14, 2020). "'Roxanne' Video Is Arizona Zervas' Homage to '90s Movies 'Pulp Fiction', 'Trainspotting'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
^"Top 100 Brasil – 13/04/2020 - 17/04/2020" (in Portuguese). Crowley Broadcast Analysis. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
^"Arizona Zervas Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
^"Top 100 Colombia" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201948 into search. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne". Tracklisten. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
^"Arizona Zervas: Roxanne" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
^"Mūzikas Patēriņa Tops/ 48. nedēļa" (in Latvian). LAIPA. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
^"2019 48-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
^"Top 20 Most Streamed International & Domestic Singles In Malaysia" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 50, 2019" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne". VG-lista. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
^"Airplay 100 – 16 februarie 2020" (in Romanian). Kiss FM. February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
^"Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
^"RIAS International Top Charts Week 48". Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original on December 5, 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202007 into search. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201946 into search. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
^"Digital Chart – Week 7 of 2020". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved February 20, 2020.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
^"Arizona Zervas – Roxanne". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 30, 2019.