Selena Gomez’s song with A$AP Rocky is a totally new sound

By Lilian min

June 23, 2015

By Lilian min

June 23, 2015

Selena Gomez has been having a good year. She’s been shouting out body positivity to her millions of fans, surrounding herself with friends who both have her back and are objectively awesome, and also dropping some wisdom of her own on being happy. But her latest triumph: A total career 180° in the form of the low-lit, simmering “Good For You,” a collaboration with rapper A$AP Rocky.

Gomez’s earliest hits all followed the straight pop mode that many post-Disney/Nick stars adopt (see: Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande) — she even had a cutely-named backing band (RIP The Scene). But starting with last year’s “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” she’s been branching into a more R&B-influenced sound, and “Good For You” serves as a culmination of that evolution. It’s sensual but also edgy (the Auto-Tune helps that along), cheeky, and confident, brazenly so. After all, when you start comparing yourself to Midas and name-dropping Tiffany & Co., you’re clearly on another level.

A$AP Rocky, fresh off his own success in the well-reviewed film Dope, drops into the song to deliver a racy, romantic-ish verse, gloing up his girl Gomez by complimenting her self-assuredness and also her, uh, physical attributes. But it’s firmly Gomez’s show, and even though she’s posturing for the person outside of the song, it’s all part of the ritual of looking good for “you”: Yes, the object of your affections, but also the person you see when you look in the mirror.

Take a listen to the song below, and just try to deny its spell. And the next time you’re prepping for a night out, you’ll know what to play.