R U OK (song)
2020 single by Tate McRae
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"R U OK" (often stylised in lowercase) is a song by Canadian singer Tate McRae. It was released on December 13, 2020, through RCA Records as the second single from McRae's second extended play, Too Young to Be Sad.[1][2] The song was written by McRae, Bryan Fryzel and Lowell.
| "R U OK" | ||||
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| Single by Tate McRae | ||||
| from the EP Too Young to Be Sad | ||||
| Released | December 13, 2020 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:00 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producers |
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| Tate McRae singles chronology | ||||
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Background
Tate McRae uploaded a snippet of the song on TikTok a few days prior to its release, describing it as a sequel to her breakthrough 2020 single "You Broke Me First".[3] In the press release for the song she remarked, "'r u ok' is a song that I never thought I'd write. It has a very sassy and feisty tone, which made it a challenge to dive into that perspective – as I think I'm quite the opposite. I love that in this song there is a lot of emotional meaning behind the lyrics, with very trappy, bright and contrasting production at the same time".[4]
McRae explained that she wrote the song with Lowell "on Zoom with [Lowell's] ukulele, just chilling on [her] bed" at home.[5] She also compared the song to her track "You Broke Me First", describing "R U OK" as "the continued story of it, going into depth about the relationship from a person who's completely moved on".[5]
Critical reception
The song topped Billboard's list of "10 cool new pop songs to get you through the week".[6] It was also featured on Mark Beaumont of The Guardian's list of tracks of the week and was said to give an update to the story told in "You Broke Me First".[7] Dork described the song as stunning, calling it an "unstoppable slice of heartbreak pop" and a "hypnotic and smooth new anthem".[8] Alexandra Pollard of The Independent remarked that the song offers "tongue-in-cheek broodiness" and noted that McRae has honed an artistic identity of mood-pop songs.[9]
Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.[10]
- Frequency – producer
- Lowell – producer
- Bryan Fryzel – lyricist
- Elizabeth Lowell Boland – lyricist
- Tate McRae – lyricist, associated performer
- Dave Kutch – mastering engineer
- Jeff Juliano – mixing engineer
- David Cook – editor, engineer
Charts
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[12] | Gold | 40,000‡ |
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‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||