Worth It

Album: Reflection (2015)
Charted: 3 12
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This empowering slice of party-ready R&B was penned by Muni Long and produced by the Norwegian hit-making team of Stargate along with the jazz saxophonist and music producer Ori Kaplan. Muni Long, who had a hit as an artist in 2022 with "Hrs And Hrs," was writing for other artists at this time under the name Priscilla Renea. She also wrote Chris Brown's "Don't Wake Me Up" and Pitbull's "Timber."
  • Lyrically, this finds Fifth Harmony calling the shots with some guy they are interested in, assuring him that they are "worth it." Dinah Jane Hansen croons the first verse, Camila Cabello the second whilst Normani Kordei handles the first pre-chorus section and Ally Brooke Hernandez the second and third.
  • LA rapper Kid Ink makes a guest appearance, rapping on the bridge about how his girl is acting shy and encouraging her to "bring it back like you left something."

    Originally, the song was slated as a Kid Ink solo effort; when it went to Fifth Harmony, it was tweaked to make it from a female perspective.
  • The video incorporates the song's message of feminism and girl power as all five of the Fifth Harmony girls take control from a man in different circumstances. "The gender roles were kind of swapped within the music video," Normani told MTV News. "That's a point that we really wanted to make sure that stood out."
  • Three of the Fifth Harmony members, Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui, and Ally Brooke Hernandez, are Latinas, so it was a logical move for them to record an Español version of this song. The quintet dropped "Dame Esta Noche," the same week that they performed the tune on Spanish-language awards show Premios Juventud.
  • Before making the video, the girls asked fans to tweet in about feminism and female empowerment. Bits from some of the tweets they received were used in the backdrop in the scenes where words and symbols are scrolling across a screen.
  • Stargate's Tor Erik Hermansen told Entertainment Weekly how the production duo came to work with the girl group. "Fifth Harmony's record company came to us and asked us to work with them. We saw something in the group that hadn't necessarily been brought out yet, which was the fact that these girls were into hip-hop and more urban records. The songs they put out didn't reflect their personalities, so that really sparked our vision for writing for them. This particular song started with a saxophone riff from a guy named Ori Kaplan from the group Balkan Beat Box, which plays Eastern European music in a very original way. We built a beat around this saxophone riff, and once we had that, we said, 'Okay, do we have any a cappellas that could fit it?' It was almost like what you would do if you were a DJ trying to make a mashup. The melody and lyrics were from an old song we had, and it just worked over the beat right away. Priscilla Renea didn't even remember the original track. We had to tell her, 'Remember this song that you wrote a year or two ago?'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Squire of Yes

Chris Squire of YesSongwriter Interviews

One of the most dynamic bass player/songwriters of his time, Chris is the only member of Yes who has been with the band since they formed in 1968.

N.W.A vs. the World

N.W.A vs. the WorldSong Writing

How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.