Who's Laughing Now (Ava Max song)

"Who's Laughing Now" is a song by American singer Ava Max. It was released on July 30, 2020, through Atlantic Records as the sixth single from her debut studio album Heaven & Hell (2020). The song was written by Max, Madison Love, Måns Wredenberg, Noonie Bao, and producers Cirkut and Lotus IV. It is a dance-pop song with lyrics about a girl being gaslighted, serving as a continuation from Max's 2018 song "Sweet but Psycho". The Isaac Rentz-directed music video was released on July 30, 2020, and features Max seeking revenge on her boss and cheating boyfriend.

"Who's Laughing Now"
Single by Ava Max
from the album Heaven & Hell
Released	July 30, 2020
Genre	Dance-pop
Length	3:00
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Amanda Ava Koci Jonnali Parmenius Linus Wiklund Måns Wredenberg Madison Love Henry Walter
Producer(s)	Cirkut Lotus IV
Ava Max singles chronology
"Kings & Queens" (2020) "Who's Laughing Now" (2020) "OMG What's Happening" (2020)
Music video
"Who's Laughing Now" on YouTube

Background and development

Max first teased "Who's Laughing Now" on her social media accounts on May 28, 2020,[1] before officially announcing the single's initial June 2, 2020 release date, and cover art the next day.[2][3] The release date was subsequently postponed because it coincided with Blackout Tuesday.[4] She then announced that the song would be released on June 25, 2020,[5] but was also indefinitely delayed on June 17, 2020.[6] She eventually announced that it would be released on July 30, 2020.[7] The cover art depicts a topless Max positioned in front of a flaming background.[2] "Who's Laughing Now" was written by Max, Madison Love, Måns Wredenberg, Noonie Bao, Cirkut and Lotus IV, with the latter two handling production.[8]

Composition and lyrics

"Who's Laughing Now" is a dance-pop song.[4][9] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic compared the song's island groove to artists such as Clean Bandit and Ace of Base.[10] It was written as a continuation from her 2018 song "Sweet but Psycho", as the lyrics both describe a misunderstood girl being gaslighted, and serve as an analogy to Max's own experiences being rejected in the music industry. She summarized the song as "basically telling everyone to just fuck off".[11] Max stated that "Who's Laughing Now" is targeted towards females who had bullied her throughout middle school, causing her to start home-school.[12] The song's title was envisioned after a self-discovery revelation by Max.[13]

Critical reception

Writing for Us Weekly, Nicholas Hautman praised the chorus of "Who's Laughing Now", indicating that it had the catchiest "don't cha" since the Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha" (2005).[14] However, Issy Sampson of The Guardian criticized the song for sounding similar to "Sweet but Psycho", which she described as an "irritating earworm". She added that the former used a "smug" horrible personality trait in place of "psychotic."[15]

Music video

The music video was directed by Isaac Rentz and released on July 30, 2020.[16] Max is depicted as a person seeking revenge after being fired by her boss and cheated on by her boyfriend. She is seen dancing in a destroyed office and breaking a car with a crowbar, before breaking free of a psychiatric hospital while strapped in a straitjacket.[17] Max wrote the video's plot, which she decided to incorporate several female characters into a corporate workforce dominated by men. One character portrayed by Max is gaslighted by a doctor into becoming "psycho", while another had musical instruments appearing from her head, which was parallel to her own negative experiences with music executives.[11] An interactive quiz was launched as a collaboration with Spotify prior to the release of Max's debut studio album Heaven & Hell (2020). It contains 10 questions asking about personality, resulting in the choice of one of four characters portrayed in the music video; Amanda, Torrence, Carmen, and Ava.[18]

Track listings

Streaming[19] No. Title Length 1. "Who's Laughing Now" 3:00 Digital download – The Remixes[20] No. Title Length 1. "Who's Laughing Now" (Breathe Carolina Remix) 2:24 2. "Who's Laughing Now" (Cat Dealers Remix) 3:40

Digital download – The Remixes[21] No. Title Length 1. "Who's Laughing Now" (KOLIDESCOPES Remix) 3:20 2. "Who's Laughing Now" (COASTR. Remix) 3:36 3. "Who's Laughing Now" (Jordan Jay Remix) 2:34

Personnel

• Amanda Ava Koci – vocals, songwriting
• Henry Walter – songwriting, production, programming
• Linus Wiklund – songwriting, production, programming
• Madison Love – songwriting
• Måns Wredenberg – songwriting
• Jonnali Parmenius – songwriting
• Chris Gehringer – mastering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• John Hanes – engineering

Credits adapted from Tidal.[8]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2020–2021) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[22] 60 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[23] 8 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[24] 4 CIS Airplay (Tophit)[25] 124 Croatia (HRT)[26] 25 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[27] 87 Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[28] 31 Euro Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[29] 19 Finland (Suomen virallinen singlelista)[30] 4 Finland Albums (Suomen virallinen singlelista)[31] The Remixes 8 France (SNEP)[32] 68 Germany (Official German Charts)[33] 65 Global Excl. US (Billboard)[34] 125 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[35] 4 Hungary (Single Top 40)[36] 9 Iceland (Tonlist)[37] 26 Latvia (Latvijas Top 40)[38] 36 Lithuania (AGATA)[39] 40 Lithuania (Radiomonitor)[40] 1 Macedonia (Radiomonitor)[41] 1 Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[42] 14 Mexico Airplay (Billboard)[43] 36 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[44] 12 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[45] 55 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[46] 14 Norway (VG-lista)[47] 8 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[48] 1 Scotland (OCC)[49] 31 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[50] 10 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[51] 61 Slovenia (SloTop50)[52] 10 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[53] 63 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] 34 Switzerland (Media Control Romandy)[55] 13 Ukraine Airplay (Tophit)[56] 63 UK Singles (OCC)[57] 93

Year-end charts Chart (2020) Position Cyprus (Top 100)[58] 69 Poland (ZPAV)[59] 64 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[60] 93

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Norway (IFPI Norway)[61]	Gold	30,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Who's Laughing Now"

Region	Date	Format(s)	Version	Label	Ref.
Various	July 30, 2020	Digital download streaming	Original	Atlantic	[62]
	August 12, 2020		The Remixes		[20]
Italy	September 18, 2020	Contemporary hit radio	Original	Warner	[63]

References

1. "You think you know what's next ?". May 28, 2020. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020 – via Instagram.
2. Francisco, Vitor (May 29, 2020). "Ava Max anuncia novo single, "Who's Laughing Now?", para próxima terça-feira (02)". PapelPop (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
3. "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? 🔥 June 2nd". May 29, 2020. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020 – via Facebook.
4. Wass, Mike (June 2, 2020). "Ava Max Announces New Single "Who's Laughing Now"". Idolator. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
5. @AvaMax (June 14, 2020). "June 25th. Who's laughing now 🖤" (Tweet). Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Twitter.
6. @AvaMax (June 17, 2020). "WLN will be further postponed as of today's news" (Tweet). Retrieved June 17, 2020 – via Twitter.
7. "THURSDAY. WHOS LAUGHING NOW. 🔥". July 27, 2020. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020 – via Instagram.
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9. Martoccio, Angie (November 16, 2020). "'In My Room' With Ava Max". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
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    • "Who's Laughing Now (The Remixes)". Apple Music (GB). Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
    • "Who's Laughing Now (The Remixes)". Apple Music (AU). Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
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    • "Who's Laughing Now (The Remixes)". Apple Music (GB). Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
    • "Who's Laughing Now (The Remixes)". Apple Music (AU). Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
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