"Out of This Club" is a song by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls from their second studio album, Doll Domination (2008). It features its songwriters Polow da Don and its producer R. Kelly. In the United States the song was serviced to urban contemporary radio stations on October 10, 2008, months after Kelly's acquittal of possessing child pornography in 2002. In the R&B song, lead singer Nicole Scherzinger teases Kelly to get her to settle down over "rudimentary piano melodies" and a "plush beat". It received mixed reviews from contemporary critics who either complimented or criticized Kelly's artistry. The song debuted and peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. In 2019, "Out of This Club" was removed from digital and streaming platforms following new allegations of sexual misconduct and assault towards Kelly.

Production and release

"Out of This Club" was written by its featured artists R. Kelly and Jamal "Polow Da Don" Jones, with the former also producing and arranging it.[1] The song marks the third time the Pussycat Dolls collaborated with the latter who, previously produced "Buttons" from PCD (2005) and "Whatcha Think About That" of Doll Domination (2008).[2][1] The vocals were recorded by Ian Mereness, Abel Garibaldi, Jeff Meeks and Eric Schlotzer at The Chocolate Factory in Chicago, Illinois. It was mixed by Dave Pensado and Jaycen Joshua with Kelly providing additional assistance. It was programmed by Mereness, Meeks, and Schlotzer. Guitars are played by Donnie Lyle and Patrick Hayes. Kelly appears courtesy of Jive Records.[1] In August 2008, Rap-Up first reported that "Out of This Club" would be included in the group's second studio album, Doll Domination (2008).[3] The song impacted US urban contemporary airplay stations on October 12, 2008,[4] following the release of the album's second single, "Whatcha Think About That".[5] The release of "Out Of This Club" follows Kelly's acquittal of possessing child pornography in 2002 a couple of months earlier.[6]

Composition and reception

"Out of this Club"

A 24-second sample of the "romantic chorus", where Scherzinger "coos and flirts" with Kelly.[7][8]

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"Out of This Club" is a R&B song that runs for a total of four minutes and eight seconds.[1][8] Described as a "midtempo jam",[3] production is set to 34 beats per minute,[9] and contains "rudimentary piano melodies" and a "plush beat" which results in the song sounding saccharine, lively, and sassy.[7][10][11] The vocals are "layered on top of one another in a cascading fashion" with the artists using slang terms such as "conversate".[10][12] Lyrically, Scherzinger pleads Kelly "to settle down after a wild life" and prefers to make love outside the club.[3][11] According Joey Guerra from the Houston Chronicle, Scherzinger is tired of the "seedy stripper life" while Kelly is a sugar daddy who is fed-up of the party lifestyle,[13] which is exemplified by the lyrics, "I drank enough / I danced enough / I partied enough / I sweated enough".[14] Critics have noted that "Out of This Club" is a possbile sequel to Usher's "Love In This Club" (2008).[11][13][14] Polow Da Don's rap line, "If you ain't got no money, take your broke ass home" is sampled from Fergie's "Glamorous" (2007),[7] which was produced by himself.[2]

Guerra called "Out of This Club" "oddly appealing".[13] Nic Oliver of musicOMH complimented Kelly as a writer and producer commenting he is doing a "fine job on the slow jam".[15] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone was also complimentary of the production, describing it as "catchy" and noted down the collaborators as "worth the money".[7] IGN's Spence D. didn't expect anything else from Kelly characterizing it as a "standard sex you up fare". However, he did compliment the vocal stylings for "[sounding] cool".[12] On the contrary, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized Kelly's songwriting describing it as "bottom-notch".[10] Rashod Ollison of The Baltimore Sun labelled Kelly's appearance as "phoned-in" adding he "[does] nothing to elevate the calculated [track]".[16] Jaime Gill of Yahoo! Music lambasted "Out Of This Club" highlighting it as the nadir of Doll Domination. He continued: "This could have been a spiky female riposte to the 'let's have sex in this nitespot toilet' genre pioneered by Nelly, Usher and [Kelly], but Scherzinger is no Madonna nor Pink, and rather than making Kelly spill his Cristal with nerves, she simpers and drools like Jessica Simpson on Rohypnol."[17]

Chart

"Out Of This Club" entered and peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, a component chart which represents the 25 songs which failed to make an impact on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[18]

Removal from album and sale

In January 2019, the television documentary Surviving R. Kelly exposed new allegations of sexual misconduct and assault. In response, the Pussycat Dolls asked their former label, Interscope Records to remove the song from all digital and streaming platforms, meaning neither artist could profit from the song.[19] Beginning April of that year, the song was also excluded from subsequent CD pressings of Doll Domination.[20] During an interview with Heat magazine member Kimberly Wyatt explained that the collaboration was out of the group's hands. "When it came to the music, and when it came to R. Kelly, that was completely out of my hands. I had nothing to do with the song or the choice. I never met the man, I was never in the studio with him. If I had had more power I probably would have made it a bit different."[21]

References