"Juice" is a song recorded by American singer and rapper Lizzo. It was released on January 4, 2019, by Atlantic Records as the lead single from her third and debut major-label studio album, Cuz I Love You. The single was written by Lizzo, Theron Thomas, Sam Sumser, Sean Small and Ricky Reed; the latter also handled the song's production. Musically, it is a retro-inspired funk and funk-pop song that is based on a throwback groove. Lyrically, the song discusses self-love, and has been described as a self-esteem anthem. The song received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom referred to the song as Lizzo's best. Commercially, the single entered component R&B charts in the United States, while also reaching the top twenty in Scotland. A music video was released alongside the single, which contains several 1980s pop culture references. To promote the single, Lizzo performed the song on several shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The song is one of the tracks on the American version of Now That's What I Call Music! 71, which was released on August 2, 2019.
Composition
"Juice" is a "bouncy", retro-inspired funk,, funk-pop, and hip hop song with a heavy rap. Lizzo's delivery of the song has been described as "witty" and "full of fire". The single contains "midnight production" and a burnished throwback groove. It also has reverb-heavy guitar and "smug" spoken word. It contains "delightfully outrageous" lines such as "I be drippin' so much sauce / Got a bih lookin' like Ragu." The song lyrically talks about self-love, and has been described as a "self-esteem boosting anthem". It is composed in the key of D minor. It has a chord progression of Dm - Eb/F - F/C - Bb - Bb - C
Critical reception
“Juice” has received acclaim since its release. Lollie King ofBustle wrote that the song "is sure to give you that much-needed confidence boost when you're feeling low." Christian Hoard, writing for Rolling Stone, praised the song as the singer's "finest" single to date, and called it "a near-perfect retro-funk nugget that would have felt just right on a mirror-balled dance floor in 1982." Joshua Bote, writing for NPR, stated that the song "continues winning streak of sing-songy, funk-heavy rap". Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound wrote that the song "doubles as a jam and one of those dusty workout tapes you've got lying around your house." Pitchfork listed the song as the 53rd best of 2019. Billboard magazine ranked "Juice" 46th on their Best Songs of 2019 list, calling it "irresistibly immediate and durably relistenable".
On October 18, 2019, singer CeCe Peniston accused Lizzo of plagiarizing the song's "Yeah-yeah" ad-lib from her 1990s single "Finally". Lizzo's lawyer rejected the claim, describing it as "opportunistic" and "specious".
