"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play (EP), Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's second single on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with production done by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Benny Blanco and Kool Kojak. According to Kesha the song's lyrics are representative of herself and her fans. "Blow" is dominantly an electropop and dance-pop song and is described as a party anthem as it portrays a simple message of having a desire to have a good time at a club. Critical reception of "Blow" has been generally mixed to positive. The song's hook and opening have been praised but its chorus was met with mixed reaction, some critics praised the song for its party anthem vibe, while others called it uninspiring and ordinary.
Kesha's vocal work throughout the song was also met with mixed reaction, some critics felt that she was both sassy and brash, while other critics felt that her personality was missing from the song. Commercially, "Blow" reached the top ten in the United States and Australia, becoming her sixth consecutive top-ten hit in both countries as a solo artist. The song also reached the top ten in New Zealand, and the top twenty in Canada. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and was released February 25, 2011. The video co-stars actor James Van Der Beek, who plays Kesha's nemesis. Piliero and Kesha came up with the videos concept and is intended to be simplistic, a video that is cool and random. Reception of the video by critics was positive, with the mid-video dialogue scene's humor being highlighted.Kesha "Blow" Song
"Blow" was written by Kesha alongside Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Alan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin. Production of the song was completed by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Benny Blanco and Kool Kojak. According to Kesha the line "We’re taking over" is representative of herself and her fans, which she explained during an interview with Beatweek Magazine, "I love that I say ‘we’re taking over’ in it because my fans and me have started a cult. We’re misfits of society but we’ve banded together and we’re starting a revolution. We are taking over. So get used to it." "Blow" is a dance-pop and electropop song that uses a synth infused beat as a backing. The song opens with laughing followed by a command to dance. As the chorus of the song starts in, Kesha's vocals change into an auto-tuned "stuttering" as she repeats "This place about to blow" four times over an electro beat.
During the song's bridge, Kesha's vocals change pace into a rap-sing style as she tells her listeners to "Go insane, go insane / Throw some glitter / Make it rain on 'em / Let me see them hands." Kesha uses layered vocals that are enhanced in some parts with the use of Auto-Tune. Lyrically, "Blow" portrays a simple message, described as a party-anthem, the song speaks of having a desire to have a good time at the club. Bill Lamb from About.com felt that the song's lyrics portrayed a "thumbnail description of herself and her fans, "Dirt and glitter cover the floor / We're pretty and sick, we're young and we're bored." According to Robert Cospey from Digital Spy, the track is of similar character to Benny Benassi's track, "Satisfaction" (2002). "Blow" was originally released exclusively to the iTunes Store as part of a "Countdown to Cannibal" promotion, and thus originally entered the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue date titled December 4, 2010, reaching position ninety-seven and dropping off the chart the following week.
After being released as a single, the song re-entered the chart on the issue date titled February 12, 2011, reaching a new peak of ninety-six. The following week the song jumped thirty positions reaching position sixty-six. The song continued to steadily ascend the charts eventually reaching a peak of seven on the week of March 19, 2011. On the song's peak week it sold 164,000 digital copies and was listed at position six on Billboards Hot Digital Songs. Charting within the top ten, the song became Kesha's sixth straight top ten single as a solo artist. On Billboard's Pop chart, the song reached a peak of number three. As of June 2011, "Blow" has sold over 2,000,000 copies in the United States. With the song passing two million in sales it became her sixth consecutive single to sell more than two million copies. In Canada, "Blow" entered the Canadian Hot 100 on the issue date February 5, 2011, at one hundred.
The following week the song jumped thirty-one positions to attain position sixty-nine. On its third week "Blow" once again rose this time to position fifty-four. The song continued to steadily ascended the chart eventually reaching a peak of twelve. In New Zealand, "Blow" entered the charts at position twenty where it became that week's highest debut. The following week it rose nine positions attaining position eleven. On the song's third week on the chart "Blow" reached its peak at number eight. The song became her second straight top ten hit and her fourth overall. It has since been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of 7,500 units. On February 27, 2011, "Blow" entered the Australian chart at position twenty-four. On the issue date of March 13, 2011, the song reached position thirteen, where it held the spot for two weeks. The following week the song reached its peak at position ten, becoming her sixth straight top ten single, but her first to miss the top five. It has since been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 70,000 units. In the United Kingdom, "Blow" entered the charts on the week of April 2, 2011, at position eighty, later peaking at number thirty-two.
The music video for "Blow" was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. The video was released on February 25, 2011. Kesha wanted the video to be "different, a video that was cool and random". The director, Piliero, came up with the idea for the video's mythological aspect saying, "I had this idea running in my head with just the idea of unicorns, If I massacred unicorns, they could bleed rainbows. I'm a fan of violence and I'm always trying to find a way to make it OK." While being interviewed Piliero spoke of the collaboration with Kesha, explaining her point of view on the video, "Before we started filming, we had quite a few talks. She was adamant you can't back away from the crazy; everything about the idea she loved and she enforced the fact that she wanted to embrace every aspect of it and really go for it, On set, she was having fun. She was like, 'I want to lick a unicorn.' It was rad working with her because there definitely wasn't a sense of her feeling awkward about stuff or detached; no ego. It felt like we had worked together before."