Who's Laughing Now (Ava Max song)

"Who's Laughing Now" is a song by American singer Ava Max. It was released on July 30, 2020, through Atlantic Records as the sixth single from her debut studio album Heaven & Hell (2020). The song was written by Max, Madison Love, Måns Wredenberg, Noonie Bao, and producers Cirkut and Lotus IV. It is a dance-pop song with lyrics about a girl being gaslighted, serving as a continuation from Max's 2018 song "Sweet but Psycho". The Isaac Rentz-directed music video was released on July 30, 2020, and features Max seeking revenge on her boss and cheating boyfriend.

"Who's Laughing Now"
Single by Ava Max
from the album Heaven & Hell
ReleasedJuly 30, 2020 (2020-07-30)
GenreDance-pop
Length3:00
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Ava Max singles chronology
"Kings & Queens"
(2020)		 "Who's Laughing Now"
(2020)		 "OMG What's Happening"
(2020)
Music video
"Who's Laughing Now" on YouTube

Background and development

Max first teased "Who's Laughing Now" on her social media accounts on May 28, 2020,[1] before officially announcing the single's initial June 2, 2020 release date, and cover art the next day.[2][3] The release date was subsequently postponed because it coincided with Blackout Tuesday.[4] She then announced that the song would be released on June 25, 2020,[5] but was also indefinitely delayed on June 17, 2020.[6] She eventually announced that it would be released on July 30, 2020.[7] The cover art depicts a topless Max positioned in front of a flaming background.[2] "Who's Laughing Now" was written by Max, Madison Love, Måns Wredenberg, Noonie Bao, Cirkut and Lotus IV, with the latter two handling production.[8]

Composition and lyrics

"Who's Laughing Now" is a dance-pop song.[4][9] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic compared the song's island groove to artists such as Clean Bandit and Ace of Base.[10] It was written as a continuation from her 2018 song "Sweet but Psycho", as the lyrics both describe a misunderstood girl being gaslighted, and serve as an analogy to Max's own experiences being rejected in the music industry. She summarized the song as "basically telling everyone to just fuck off".[11] Max stated that "Who's Laughing Now" is targeted towards females who had bullied her throughout middle school, causing her to start home-school.[12] The song's title was envisioned after a self-discovery revelation by Max.[13]

Critical reception

Writing for Us Weekly, Nicholas Hautman praised the chorus of "Who's Laughing Now", indicating that it had the catchiest "don't cha" since the Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha" (2005).[14] However, Issy Sampson of The Guardian criticized the song for sounding similar to "Sweet but Psycho", which she described as an "irritating earworm". She added that the former used a "smug" horrible personality trait in place of "psychotic."[15]

Music video

The music video was directed by Isaac Rentz and released on July 30, 2020.[16] Max is depicted as a person seeking revenge after being fired by her boss and cheated on by her boyfriend. She is seen dancing in a destroyed office and breaking a car with a crowbar, before breaking free of a psychiatric hospital while strapped in a straitjacket.[17] Max wrote the video's plot, which she decided to incorporate several female characters into a corporate workforce dominated by men. One character portrayed by Max is gaslighted by a doctor into becoming "psycho", while another had musical instruments appearing from her head, which was parallel to her own negative experiences with music executives.[11] An interactive quiz was launched as a collaboration with Spotify prior to the release of Max's debut studio album Heaven & Hell (2020). It contains 10 questions asking about personality, resulting in the choice of one of four characters portrayed in the music video; Amanda, Torrence, Carmen, and Ava.[18]

Track listings

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[8]

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Norway (IFPI Norway)[61] Gold 30,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Release dates and formats for "Who's Laughing Now"
Region Date Format(s) Version Label Ref.
Various July 30, 2020
Original Atlantic [62]
August 12, 2020 The Remixes [20]
Italy September 18, 2020 Contemporary hit radio Original Warner [63]

References
  1. "You think you know what's next ?". May 28, 2020. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020 – via Instagram.
  2. Francisco, Vitor (May 29, 2020). "Ava Max anuncia novo single, "Who's Laughing Now?", para próxima terça-feira (02)". PapelPop (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  3. "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? 🔥 June 2nd". May 29, 2020. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020 – via Facebook.
  4. Wass, Mike (June 2, 2020). "Ava Max Announces New Single "Who's Laughing Now"". Idolator. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  5. @AvaMax (June 14, 2020). "June 25th. Who's laughing now 🖤" (Tweet). Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Twitter.
  6. @AvaMax (June 17, 2020). "WLN will be further postponed as of today's news" (Tweet). Retrieved June 17, 2020 – via Twitter.
  7. "THURSDAY. WHOS LAUGHING NOW. 🔥". July 27, 2020. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020 – via Instagram.
  8. "Who's Laughing Now – Credits". Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020 – via Tidal.
  9. Martoccio, Angie (November 16, 2020). "'In My Room' With Ava Max". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  10. Yeung, Neil Z. "Heaven & Hell - Ava Max". AllMusic. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  11. Wang, Steffanee (July 30, 2020). "Ava Max On "Who's Laughing Now" & Getting Revenge On Those Who Doubted Her". Nylon. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  12. Bang Showbiz (September 15, 2020). "'People shouldn't compare women': Ava Max on Lady Gaga comparisons". The List. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  13. Zipper, Marni (September 14, 2020). "Ava Max's Definition of Success Is All About Being Authentically You". Radio.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  14. Hautman, Nicholas (September 17, 2020). "Ava Max Shows Promise on Anthem-Filled Debut Album 'Heaven & Hell': Review". Us Weekly. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  15. Sampson, Issy (August 14, 2020). "Tracks of the week reviewed: Billie Eilish, Ava Max, Action Bronson". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
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  20. Releases for The Remixes:
  21. Releases for The Remixes:
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