"Raw" (sometimes stylized in all caps) is a song performed by American actress and singer Victoria Justice, co-written with Emma Rosen, Toby Gad, and Will Jay. It was released as a single on April 19, 2024.[1]
Background and release[]
Victoria Justice began writing about what she expects in a relationship, mainly about being loved in her better and weaker moments, in her journal with musical compositions. The entire development of the song happened later, on the first day of songwriting sessions at German musician Toby Gad's beach house in Baja California, Mexico, where Justice was with Gad, Will Jay, and Emma Rosen. The singer showed Gad pages from her journal, which caused him to immediately take out his guitar and create a melody, leading to the creation of the entire song in one whole night.[2] Judging by the singer's statement during her appearance on the Kyle Meredith With... podcast, the exact day "Raw" was written was January 15, 2024, as she revealed it was written the day before "Down"—one of her later released singles, which was confirmed by her on X to have been written on January 16.[3] Gad had previously worked on several of Justice's songs in the past, but became her close collaborator when he reached out to her after hearing her single "Only a Stranger", released the previous year. After they composed "Raw" together, Gad praised the singer in the Marie Claire interview, because she wrote a song authentic to her, something he appreciates most in musical artists.[4]
On April 10, 2024, Justice posted a video on her social media with the caption "Something's coming...". The video showed Justice sitting in a car and playing a music file of what appeared to be the intro of the song for less than 20 seconds.[5] The next day, she announced her new single titled "Raw" would be released on April 19, posting its cover artwork, showing the singer posing with her arms above her head against a white background, and a link to pre-save on music platforms.[6]
On the day of the song's release, Justice uploaded a lyric video on her YouTube channel. The singer posted about the song on her social media: "I'm so happy to give you all this piece of me... the chorus came straight from my own journal entry. We all deserve to be loved & seen fully: for our awkward, our messy, our sad & all our sexy".[7] When asked what message she wanted her fans to take away from the song in the MTV video, Justice replied "You want someone who's going to love you for all of you, and be there and support you no matter what".[2] In an interview with Billboard at the 9th Annual Latin American Music Awards, the singer described the song as "a very laidback, kind of summer song, it has a nice groove to it", with a message of self-acceptance.
The song was released by Kite Records, a record label launched by Gad. While it's Justice's second song to be released on Kite, following her collaboration with Gad titled "Big Girls Don't Cry" the previous year, it's her first solo song released through this label, as well as her first solo single since 2013's "Gold" released on any music label. Each of her solo singles released since "Treat Myself" in 2020 has been released independently by the singer, with "Victoria Justice" listed in place of the label on music platforms. According to the official credits, Justice co-wrote it with Emma Rosen, Gad, and Will Jay; unusually, she's sometimes listed with her middle name among songwriters ("Victoria Dawn Justice"). The description under its music video confirmed Gad was also responsible for producing the song.
On June 11, Justice posted a video on Instagram announcing the release of a new version of "Raw", a tropical house mix, in the next four days – three weeks after the release of her next single, "Hate the World Without U (Maddy's Song)". A snippet of this version could be heard in the video.[8] It was also remixed by Gad, who this time was credited as the co-lead artist along with Justice. The cover of the remix is the same as the original version, except the white background is replaced with graphics depicting tropical plants.[9] It's Justice's fourth song to receive an additional version released on official music platforms, following "You're the Reason", "Love Song to the Earth", and "Big Girls Don't Cry"; coincidentally, Gad worked on each of them except "You're the Reason".
Music videos[]
The music video for "Raw" premiered exclusively via People magazine's website and was uploaded on Victoria Justice's YouTube channel on April 30, 2024. It was directed and edited by Billy Seeberg, with additional credit going to Lusine Galadjian Abikzer for hair and makeup. Justice told the magazine about the music video: "My creative process for this music video was to have a feel-good vibe surrounding the energy of the song. Showing an authentic side of myself while also having fun with it, it's an uplifting and chill song and I wanted people to get that message through this video."[10] Behind-the-scenes photos and video were posted on the singer's social media in the following days.[11][12]
The video begins in black and white with Justice spending time at home, with People writer Jack Irvin describing "she ponders the idea of fully opening up to a romantic partner". When Justice sings "Showin' you the colors no one's seen before" during the second verse, the music video suddenly changes to full colors, which Irvin refers to as the singer "prepares to go all-in on love".[10] Outside the home, the music video also features Justice in a photo studio and on the flat roof of a building with the city in the background.
The tropical house mix also received its own music video, uploaded on June 19. It depicts the singer in a mountainous landscape.
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
Yeah (yeah)
Hahahah
Mm-mm
[Verse 1]
Tell me, how'd you find your way under my skin?
I wasn't ready yet to let somebody in
I think about you way more than I should've been
I can't lie (yeah), oh, I (ah)
Never been too good at bein' vulnerable
I'm nervous, 'cause I'm startin' to get comfortable
Thinkin' that we could be somethin' beautiful
This time, but I gotta ask you
[Pre-chorus]
If I'm lettin' down my walls
I gotta know that
You would love me through it all
Mm
[Chorus]
Through my awkward, my messy
My sad and all my sexy (yeah)
My anxious, my lovely
My weird and all my ugly
All the pieces that make me
My sanity, my crazy (yeah)
Would you take me with my flaws?
'Cause I'm not perfect, but I'll givе you raw (Mm-mm, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Yeah, I'll give you raw (Hooh-ooh, hooh-ooh)
[Verse 2]
Oh, I'm throwin' all my hesitation out thе door
Showin' you the colors no one's seen before
All I wanna do is tell the world I'm yours
And you're mine (yeah), hmh-hmh-hmh
[Pre-chorus]
But if I'm lettin' down my walls (yeah)
I gotta know that
You would love me through it all
Mm-mm
[Chorus]
Through my awkward, my messy
My sad and all my sexy (yeah)
My anxious, my lovely
My weird and all my ugly
All the pieces that make me
My sanity, my crazy (yeah)
Would you take me with my flaws?
'Cause I'm not perfect, but I'll givе you raw (Mm-mm, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Yeah, I'll give you raw, uh-uh (Hooh-ooh, hooh-ooh)
Through my awkward, my messy
My sad and all my sexy (yeah)
My anxious, my lovely
My weird and all my ugly
All the pieces that make me
My sanity, my crazy (yeah), my crazy
Would you take me with my flaws?
'Cause I'm not perfect, but I'll give you raw, oh-oh
[Intro]
Yeah
Yeah
[Verse 1]
Tell me, how'd you find your way under my skin?
I wasn't ready yet to let somebody in
I think about you way more than I should've been
I can't lie (yeah), oh, I
Never been too good at bein' vulnerable
I'm nervous, 'cause I'm startin' to get comfortable
Thinkin' that we could be somethin' beautiful
This time (yeah), but I gotta ask you
[Pre-chorus]
If I'm lettin' down my walls
I gotta know that
You would love me through it all
Mm
[Chorus]
Through my awkward, my messy
My sad and all my sexy
My anxious, my lovely (yeah)
My weird and all my ugly
All the pieces that make me
My sanity, my crazy
Would you take me with my flaws? (yeah)
'Cause I'm not perfect, but I'll givе you raw
Yeah, I'll give you raw
[Verse 2]
Oh, I'm throwin' all my hesitation out thе door
Showin' you the colors no one's seen before
All I wanna do is tell the world I'm yours
And you're mine (yeah)
[Pre-chorus]
But if I'm lettin' down my walls
I gotta know that
You would love me through it all (yeah)
Mm-mm
[Chorus]
Through my awkward, my messy
My sad and all my sexy
My anxious, my lovely (yeah)
My weird and all my ugly
All the pieces that make me
My sanity, my crazy
Would you take me with my flaws? (yeah)
'Cause I'm not perfect, but I'll givе you raw
Hahah, yeah
Yeah, I'll give you raw
Yeah, I'll give you (raw) raw
Through my awkward, my messy
My sad and all my sexy
My anxious, my lovely (yeah)
My weird and all my ugly
All the pieces that make me
My sanity, my crazy
Would you take me with my flaws? (yeah)
'Cause I'm not perfect, but I'll give you raw (raw)
Raw (raw)
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/raw-single/1737137727
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=264346733338821
- ↑ https://x.com/VictoriaJustice/status/1814133137435431196
- ↑ https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/victoria-justice-interview-may-2024/
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3670121706536270
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/victoriajustice/posts/pfbid02DcijwsbtSs16tUHxTXrN41jpj18r1LsBvRqn761ZfenyBhsWrdGvrW6nBHks1kmzl
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/victoriajustice/posts/pfbid025NfwtHmG1KsKNPqjobF3dzzhZECEQoBph9CZZXfGWwceSPHaaUVgEfpMd8G7oufl
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8FoPwWJ6U4/
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/raw-tropical-house-mix-single/1743233428
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://people.com/victoria-justice-seeks-unconditional-love-in-raw-song-video-exclusive-8641083
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/victoriajustice/posts/pfbid02aYvnyYTWNV8otBQRv1gRCJks5ENTGgc6JV7AT17emu56mvJW5FajcAUTQKmRDPzdl
- ↑ https://x.com/VictoriaJustice/status/1786556048117211480