Sugar (Brockhampton song)

Brockhampton originally intended the release the song as the lead single from Ginger. However, it leaked on June 20, 2019, when thirty seconds of it was found on the app TikTok. Some fans also found that the song could be played in digital jukeboxes in some local bars. The full song was leaked online the next day. Brockhampton decided to wait to promote the song until after the album dropped.[3][4] The official remix of the song was released on March 6, 2020. It features vocals from singers Dua Lipa and Jon B.[5]

In the chorus of the song, Ryan Beatty sings about spending his nights alone waiting for someone to call him, and that specific person is someone he wants by his side when he falls asleep. Dom McLennon emotionally sings about a troubled relationship in autotune,[6] and Matt Champion's verse references drug use. Bearface's verse is a pre-chorus, and Kevin Abstract sings the bridge.

"Sugar" spent one week at number nine on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart before entering the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 70 on the chart dated January 18, 2020.[7][8] The following week, the song reached a peak of number 66.[9] It re-entered the chart at number 95 following the release of the remix, and spent a total of nine weeks on the chart.[9][10] The song also reached respective peaks of number 31 and 28 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Mainstream Top 40 charts.[11][12] In November 2021, the song was awarded a double platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which denotes 2,000,000 track-equivalent unit sales in the US.[13] In January 2020, "Sugar" debuted at number 98 on the Canadian Hot 100 before peaking at number 21 in March of that year, following the release of the remix.[14][15] In Australia, "Sugar" debuted at number 37 on the ARIA Singles Chart dated January 19, 2020, before peaking at number 19 two weeks later. The song returned to that peak following the remix's release and spent 13 weeks on the chart.[16] For selling 70,000 track-equivalent units in Australia, the song was awarded a platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[17] In New Zealand, it debuted at number 40 in January 2020. It initially peaked at number 13 the following month before reaching number 12 following the release of the remix. The song spent 17 weeks on the chart.[18] Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) awarded the song a platinum certification for track-equivalent sales of 30,000 units in New Zealand.[19] On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 78 in January 2020 before peaking at number 58 the following month. It charted for nine weeks,[20] and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for 200,000 track-equivalent unit sales in the UK.[21] Following the release of Ginger, "Sugar" debuted at number 64 on the Irish Singles Chart.[22] On January 10, 2020, the song re-entered the chart at number 57 and reached a peak of number 36 four weeks later.[23][24] It spent 14 weeks on the chart.[25] In January 2020, the song charted for one week at number 98 in Sweden and it was certified gold in Poland by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) for sales of 10,000 in Poland.[26][27]

A music video for the song was released on December 10, 2019. Directed by Kevin Abstract, the visual opens with an intense sex scene that is interrupted by a murderous alien.[4] It also finds a psychedelic vision of the afterlife, with a fiery depiction of hell.[28] After the song went viral on TikTok, Brockhampton released a second music video on February 17, 2020.[29] In it, the artists perform in front of a backdrop and occasionally accentuated by a mirror, chair or ladder. In the end, they chaotically run around a warehouse, closing with the mirror reflecting them getting wheeled away.[30]

Brockhampton delivered their first live performance of "Sugar" with Beatty on August 23, 2019, as the second song during their Friday Therapy concert at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, to celebrate the release of Ginger.[31] During their The Ellen Show debut on September 6, the band performed the song with Beatty.[32][33] The performance used moving cloud graphic in the background alongside pastel flashing lights, while the group sat down on a raised platform and got up one by one to perform their respective parts.[34][35] The song was included on the setlist of the group's Heaven Belongs to You Tour from October to December 2019.[36] On October 24, Beatty joined the group to perform the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[37] They wore orange jumpsuits and performed it similarly to their performance on The Ellen Show, with each member one by one going up to perform their respective parts.[38][39]

• Digital download and streaming[16]

1. "Sugar" – 3:24

• Digital download and streaming – remix[40]

1. "Sugar" (remix) [featuring Dua Lipa] – 3:42

Credits adapted from Brockhampton's website and Tidal.[41][42]

Studio locations

• Recorded at the BH Factory (Los Angeles, California)
• Mixed at Electric Lady Studios (New York, New York)
• Mastered at Vlado Meller Mastering (Charleston, South Carolina)

Personnel

• Jabari Manwa – production, recording
• Romil Hemnani – production, recording
• Chuks Chiejine – additional production, guitar
• Ryan Beatty – vocals
• Tom Elmhirst – mixing
• Brandon Bost – engineering,[lower-alpha 1] mix engineering
• Matthew Scatchell – assistant production,[lower-alpha 1] mix assisting
• Vlado Meller – mastering
• Louis Lion[lower-alpha 1] – engineering
• Playdough[lower-alpha 1] – miscellaneous production
• Dua Lipa[lower-alpha 1] – vocals
• Jon B[lower-alpha 1] – recording, vocals
• Lorna Blackwood[lower-alpha 1] – recording
• Sean Matsukawa[lower-alpha 1] – recording