What You Waiting For?

"What You Waiting For?" is a song by American singer Gwen Stefani from her debut solo studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004). Written by Stefani and Linda Perry, the song is the album's opening track and was released as Stefani's debut solo single. "What You Waiting For?" details Stefani's lack of inspiration, fear of producing the album, as well as her reaction to pressures exerted by her record label. It is primarily an electropopsong and introduces Stefani's four back-up dancers, the Harajuku Girls, who had a major input into the album's production.

"What You Waiting For?" was released as the album's lead single; according to Stefani, as an "explanation for doing the record".[1] The song was well received by critics, and was frequently cited as a highlight of the album. The single was commercially successful, topping the chart in Australia and reaching the top 10 in several countries. It was certified gold in the United States, and was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 47th Grammy Awards. The song has been remixed a number of times, and was covered by the indie rock band Franz Ferdinand and singer Marina and the Diamonds. During the night of the 2003 Grammy Awards, Perry forced Stefani into a chokehold, and demanded that they were "gonna write songs together!", to which Stefani reluctantly agreed.[2] Soon after, Stefani finished the Rock Steady Tour with her band No Doubt, and took a call from her label, who informed her that Perry was in a studio ready to collaborate, and that Perry "only [had] five days out of the whole year to work with [her]."[3][4] Stefani has since admitted that she was frustrated by not being able to see her husband Gavin Rossdale, and was intimidated at the thought of collaboration, in particular with Perry, who she did not feel was qualified to write dance music. Stefani was exhausted by the recently completed tour,[3][4] and shortly afterwards suffered an emotional breakdown, which she spent in bed crying.[3]

During their first day of work, the two wrote a song titled "Fine by You", which Stefani later described as "a stupid love song, but really good".[5] Perry remarked that the song "wasn't right", and the track was excluded from the album.[6] The session was unproductive, due in part to Stefani's self-consciousness and writer's block, and she at one stage broke down in tears in the studio.[7][8] Stefani has since admitted that writing songs without her band members felt "humiliating and intimidating even if they're sweet and excited, because you're drowning in their creativity".[7]

That night, Perry began work on another track, which she played for Stefani the next day to motivate her.[5] Stefani was impressed with the track, and Perry asked her, "What are you waiting for?"[3] According to Perry, Stefani took the question as a dare, replying, "You're totally challenging me, right?"[6] The two began writing lyrics for the new wave-styled song based on Stefani's writer's block and fears about making a solo record, and it grew into "What You Waiting For?"[1]

Stefani came up with the idea of the Harajuku Girls while writing the song. Stefani first saw the women of Harajuku, known for their unique style drawing from Gothic Lolita and cyberpunk fashion, in 1996 and had admired them since.[5][9] She decided to mention them in the line "You Harajuku Girls, damn you got some wicked style", and the concept grew into a running theme on ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'', which went as far as to feature one song named after and dedicated to them.[5]"What You Waiting For?" received positive reviews from critics. Nick Sylvester of Pitchfork gave the song a strong review, rating it four and a half stars, and labeled it "fucking great".[16] The website went on to rank the song 16th on its list of the Top 50 Singles of 2004.[20]RJ Smith of Blender noted the song's new wave influence by stating that it could start a revival of Missing Persons,[21] and Amy Linden of The Village Voice compared the "giddy, yodeling vocals" to those of Lene Lovich's 1981 song "New Toy".[22] Jason Damas from PopMatters was mixed on the song, calling the opening "awkward" and the refrain "ridiculously dumb", but arguing that the song "is so frivolous and stupid that it winds up being brilliant; it pretends to be nothing more than party bubblegum and achieves its artistic criteria beautifully."[23] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani agreed, stating that "it's this impishness that helps make 'What You Waiting For' one of the hottest 'arrival' songs of all time".[24] Richard Smirke of Playlouder found the track's production "crisp" and "edgy",[25] and Jennifer Nine of Yahoo! Music called the song "itchily irresistible".[26] Jemma Volp-Fletcher, writing for Contactmusic.com, rated the song nine out of 10, commenting that it has "irresistible commercial pull and a melody to die for" and that the track "makes the most of her unmistakable vocal and reflects that off-the-wall Stefani personality perfectly."[27] Natasha Tripney from musicOMH gave the song a negative review, stating that "it'll become one of those tracks that's irritatingly catchy—but on this initial listening, Ms Stefani's debut solo effort is just plain irritating."[28]

Many reviewers considered the track one of the album's highlights. Entertainment Weekly critic David Browne gave ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby. a C+ rating but called the track "one of the album's undeniable highs".[29] In its review of the album, Nick Sylvester of Pitchforkbelieved that "we can't expect 12 more cuts as personal or urgent as debut single 'What You Waiting For'", while naming it "one of the best electro songs this year".[30] Lisa Haines of BBC Music stated that it "stands out as the best track on the album for the way it pits storming beats against enthusiastic lyrics" and compared the song to Goldfrapp's 2003 single "Strict Machine".[31] Eric Greenwood of Drawer B, who felt that the album "fails on every level", also commented that "if this album had even two more songs this immediate and catchy, then I'd stick my neck out for it, but, sadly, it's the only song worth listening to."[18] In 2009, The Daily Telegraph'' listed the song at number 82 on their list "100 songs that defined the Noughties."

Stefani closed performances on her 2007 Sweet Escape Tour by performing "What You Waiting For?" during an encore

In the United States, "What You Waiting For?" debuted at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated October 16, 2004.[33] It reached a peak of number 47 on November 27, 2004 and remained on the chart for a total of 20 weeks.[34] The song topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart, but only had moderate success on the pop charts, reaching number 17 on the Mainstream Top 40 and number 24 on the Adult Top 40.[35] The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 25, 2005.[36] Additionally, it was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2005 Grammy Awards, but lost to Norah Jones' "Sunrise".[37]

Elsewhere, the song's reception was stronger. In Canada, it debuted in the top 40 on the Canadian Singles Chart before reaching number 24 in late January 2005.[38] In the United Kingdom, "What You Waiting For?" debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and remained on the chart for 15 weeks.[39] The single performed well across most of the rest of Europe, reaching the top five in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, and Norway, and the top 10 in Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Sweden.[40][41][42][43]

In Australia, "What You Waiting For?" debuted atop the ARIA Singles Chart on November 14, 2004 and stayed there for two weeks. It remained within the top three through January 17, 2005 and dropped off the chart after 15 weeks.[44] In 2014, the single was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[45] The song reached number three on New Zealand's RIANZ Singles Chart and spent four months on the chart..