Stay (The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber song)

"Stay"
Single by the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber
from the album F*ck Love 3: Over You
Released	9 July 2021 (2021-07-09)
Genre	Synth-pop hip pop pop rock
Length	2:21
Label	Grade A Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Charlton Howard Justin Bieber Magnus Høiberg Charlie Puth Omer Fedi Blake Slatkin Michael Mule Isaac De Boni Subhaan Rahmaan
Producer(s)	Cashmere Cat Puth Fedi Slatkin
The Kid Laroi singles chronology
"All My Life" (2021) "Stay" (2021)
Justin Bieber singles chronology
"Let It Go" (2021) "Stay" (2021) "Essence" (2021)
Music video
"Stay" on YouTube

"Stay" (stylized in all caps) is a song by Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi and Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released through Grade A Productions and Columbia Records on 9 July 2021, as the lead single from Laroi's reloaded mixtape, F*ck Love 3: Over You. The song was produced by Cashmere Cat, Charlie Puth, Omer Fedi, and Blake Slatkin. It was written by the two artists and the producers, alongside FnZ members Finatik and Zac, and Haan. The song marks the second collaboration between Laroi and Bieber, following Bieber's song, "Unstable", a track off of his sixth studio album, Justice, which was released in March 2021.

"Stay" peaked at number one the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Laroi's first chart-topper and Bieber's eighth. The song additionally topped the Billboard Global 200 and charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, and Sweden. It has also peaked within the top 10 in 12 other countries.

Background[]

On 20 September 2020, Laroi shared a snippet of the song on an Instagram live stream, followed by a longer snippet in better quality that was previewed on a live stream from Rolling Loud on 29 October 2020. Bieber's contribution to the song was revealed on 31 May 2021. The song leaked in full on a Discord server on 2 June 2021.^[1]

"Stay" marks Laroi's first major single release as a lead artist in 2021 and Bieber's first major single as a lead artist since the release of his extended play, Freedom, which was released in April 2021. On 3 June 2021, Scooter Braun, who has been Bieber's manager from the start of his career, also became Laroi's manager.^[2]

Laroi had the song "for about a year now". He created the song while hanging out with producers Blake Slatkin, Omer Fedi, and Charlie Puth at Slatkin's house. Puth played the melody of the song on the keyboard just for fun, but Laroi ended up liking it and wanted to get it in production software Avid Pro Tools to use it to create a song. He felt "it was probably the most organic way of making a song I've ever done – ever". Laroi thought Bieber "would sound perfect", so he then went to the studio that Bieber records at; they finished recording the song, but Bieber was hesitant about whether his vocals sounded good or not.^[3]

Composition and lyrics[]

"Stay" is a fast-paced synth-pop, hip pop, and pop rock song that incorporates piano keys, heavy drums, and "splattering" synths.^[4][5][6][7] The track's upward-darting keyboard riff serves as its spine and eventually becomes the chorus melody.^[8] Over a repeated melodic cell, Laroi and Bieber switch between head voice and chest voice on a minor sixth.^[9] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described the track as a "hyper-slick" hybridization of new wave and pop-punk.^[10] Some critics found similarities between it and the music from Bieber's sixth studio album, Justice (2021). Justin Curto from Vulture compared the song's sound to Justice single "Hold On" and album tracks "Die for You" and "Somebody".^[11][12] Stereogum's Chris DeVille characterized it as "[p]ost-SoundCloud pop-rap as effervescent Justice-style '80s pop".^[13]

The "heartbreak-fueled" lyrics to "Stay" enforce Laroi's toxic behaviour as he sets up a story about a troubled relationship where he is at fault.^[6][14] In the chorus, he sings about his broken promises before begging for his partner to stay with him: "I do the same thing I told you that I never would / I told you I'd change, even when I knew I never could."^[9][14][15] Bieber's verse echoes similar sentiments as he belts out lyrics about being unable to live without his loved one: "When I'm away from you, I miss your touch / You're the reason I believe in love."^[7][15][16] The song reaches its climax as Laroi and Bieber's voices join together in the last chorus.^[17]

Release and promotion[]

On 16 June 2021, Laroi and Bieber hinted at another collaboration. Leading up to its release, Laroi and Bieber both teased the song multiple times on their respective social media accounts by posting snippets and teasing the lyrics.^[18][19] Laroi also had previously stated on social media that Ron Perry, the label boss of Columbia Records would not release the song, to which Laroi asked his fans to repeatedly spam Ron Perry on Instagram, which would hopefully change his mind into releasing it.^[20][21] Laroi posted a picture of him at a basketball game on Instagram on 27 June 2021, holding a piece of paper that wrote the song title and the then-questionable release date, to which American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, who is one of the producers of the song teased his involvement of the song by commenting "Yessssssssss".^[22] Three days later, Laroi shared a pre-order link in order to reveal the cover art, which would be posted the following day.^[23]

Critical reception[]

Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica found "Stay" to be "[b]racingly effective", considering it a more effective pairing of Laroi and Bieber than on "Unstable" from Justice.^[10] Tyler Jenke from Rolling Stone Australia wrote that "the slick new tune" is "undoubtedly one that lives up [to] the hype".^[24] Jordan Rose of Complex believed that the track has Laroi and Bieber "leaning into their strengths".^[25] Alex Zidel from HotNewHipHop felt that the song is "every bit as infectious as [one] would expect" and thought of it to be "a solid pop offering for the summer".^[6] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard opined that the song "sounds like it should push [Laroi] to a new level" of stardom.^[26] Uproxx contributing writer Carolyn Droke stated that the "buoyant track['s]" combination of "a euphoric chorus and a driving beat" will make it "the next song of the summer".^[27] Robert Rowat of CBC Music commended Laroi and Bieber's partnership as "one of the year's best surprises" and said that the song "capitalizes on both singers' skills as falsettists".^[9] Chris DeVille from Stereogum described the song as "maniacally catchy" and thought it musically feels like Laroi "blasting off into a new frontier of crossover success".^[8] Vulture's Justin Curto called the track "a high-energy, synth-filled pop banger".^[12] However, he later criticized the song for being "some of Laroi's most anonymous work yet" and concluded that "it could just as easily be a hit for the Weeknd or Post Malone".^[11]

Commercial performance[]

"Stay" debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart for the week of 19 July 2021.^[28] It became Laroi's second number-one single after "Without You" topped the chart for a week in May and Bieber's fifth as a lead artist.^[29] It held on to its position for six consecutive weeks.^[30]

In New Zealand, "Stay" entered at the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart, securing Laroi's first number-one single in New Zealand and Bieber's 11th overall.^[31]

In the United Kingdom, "Stay" entered at number five on the UK Singles Chart on 16 July 2021 – for the week ending dated 22 July 2021 – making it Laroi's second top ten hit in Britain and Bieber's 27th.^[32] It rose three places to number two a week later, behind Ed Sheeran's "Bad Habits" during its fourth week at the summit, and became Laroi's joint-highest charting song in the UK along with "Without You".^[33]

In Ireland, "Stay" entered at number three on the Irish Singles Chart as the week's highest new entry. The track became Bieber's 60th top 50 single in the Irish Republic.^[34] The song moved up a spot the following week to a new peak of number two behind "Bad Habits", becoming Laroi's highest-charting song in Ireland.^[35]

In the United States, "Stay" debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, starting with 34.7 million streams, 12.9 million in radio audience, and 12,000 in sales.^[36] It entered atop the Streaming Songs chart, becoming Laroi's first and Bieber's sixth leader there, and at number five on the Digital Song Sales chart.^[36] Laroi earned his third top 10 hit on the Hot 100 and a new career best, surpassing the number eight peak of "Without You" with Miley Cyrus.^[36] In addition to Bieber getting his 24th top 10 hit on the chart, he became the youngest artist to have 100 entries appear on the Hot 100 at 27 years and four months old.^[36][37] On the Rolling Stone Top 100, the song earned Laroi his first number one on opening week with 30.8 million streams.^[38] On the week of 14 August 2021, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Laroi's first and Bieber's eighth number-one hit on the chart.^[39]

"Stay" additionally topped the charts in Bieber's native Canada,^[40] the Czech Republic,^[41] Denmark,^[42] Finland,^[43] India,^[44] Malaysia,^[45] the Netherlands,^[46] Norway,^[47] Singapore,^[48] Slovakia,^[49] and Sweden,^[50] and peaked within the top 10 in Austria,^[51] Belgium,^[52][53] France,^[54] Germany,^[55] Italy,^[56] Portugal,^[57] and Switzerland.^[58] The song debuted at number two on the Billboard Global 200 behind "Permission to Dance" by BTS. It opened with 76.3 million streams and 18,600 sold worldwide.^[59] The song ascended to number one on its third week with 75.1 million streams and 13,900 sales, making it Laroi's first leader on the chart and Bieber's second after "Peaches".^[60] It later topped the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. on the chart dated August 21, 2021, dethroning "Bad Habits".^[61]

Music video[]

The official music video for "Stay", directed by Colin Tilley, premiered alongside the song's release at midnight on 9 July 2021.^[15][17] Elisa Talbot served as the video's cinematographer while Jack Winter produced it, with Jamee Ranta and Tilley as executive producers.^[62] A live performance video of the song from Bieber's Las Vegas Show is also uploaded on Laroi's YouTube channel.^[63]

Credits and personnel[]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[64]

• The Kid Laroi – vocals, songwriting
• Justin Bieber – vocals, songwriting
• Cashmere Cat – production, songwriting, keyboards, programming
• Charlie Puth – production, songwriting, keyboards, programming
• Omer Fedi – production, songwriting, bass, guitar, keyboards, programming
• Blake Slatkin – production, songwriting, bass, guitar, keyboards, programming
• FnZ
  • Finatik – songwriting
  • Zac – songwriting
• Haan – songwriting
• Heidi Wang – engineering
• John Hanes – engineering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Chris Athens – mastering
• Elijah Marrett-Hitch – recording
• Josh Gudwin – recording, vocal production

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[97]	Platinum	70,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[98]	Gold	45,000
Italy (FIMI)[99]	Gold	35,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[100]	Gold	15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[101]	Silver	200,000
United States (RIAA)[102]	Platinum	1,000,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[]

References[]