"Boyfriend" is a song by English singer Mabel, released on 26 February 2020. The song appears as a digital reissue bonus track on Mabel's debut studio album High Expectations (2019). "Boyfriend" samples "Remember Me" (1997) by Blue Boy which in turn sampled "Woman of the Ghetto" (1969) by Marlena Shaw.
Background Mabel announced the song's release on 21 February 2020. She described the song as "wanting someone in your life doesn't mean you can't still be dat bitchh".
Composition Musically, "Boyfriend" is an empowering upbeat pop anthem with a bumping production. Lyrically, the song has themes of female empowerment where Mabel is wanting a boyfriend, but saying how she doesn't necessarily need one: "I want a boyfriend... Even though a man ain't something I need".
This song is written in the key of B minor and has a tempo of 100 beats per minute.
Music video The song's accompanying music video was directed by Isaac Rentz and was released on 26 February 2020. According to Mabel the video for "Boyfriend" was inspired by late American singer Aaliyah. It sees Mabel make her ideal boyfriend in an underground computer laboratory. It is a gender-reverse flip of the 1985 film Weird Science.
Track listing
Credits and personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.
Mabel – songwriting, vocals Steve Mac – production, songwriting, keyboards Camille Purcell – songwriting, backing vocals Marlena Shaw – songwriting Richard Evans – songwriting Robert Miller – songwriting Chris Laws – drum programming, recording, studio personnel Bill Zimmerman – engineering, studio personnel Phil Tan – mixing, studio personnel Dann Pursey – percussion, recording, studio personnel
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2020) Peakposition Croatia (HRT) 55 Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard) 27 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 38 Romania (Airplay 100) 53 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan) 5
Year-end charts Chart (2020) Position Hungary (Rádiós Top 40) 100 UK Singles (OCC) 73
Certifications
Release history Region Date Format Version Label Various 26 February 2020 Original Polydor United Kingdom 28 February 2020 Contemporary hit radio Australia 2 March 2020 Universal Italy 6 March 2020 Various27 March 2020 Tiësto Remix Polydor 3 April 2020 Endor Remix 10 April 2020 Digital Farm Animals & Franklin Remix 1 May 2020 Remixes EP 12 June 2020 Acoustic
References