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"What Baby Wants" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Alice Cooper, from his nineteenth studio album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011) and features American pop artist Kesha. It was written by Cooper, with Bob Ezrin, Tommy Henriksen, and Kesha Sebert. Production of the song was completed by Bob Ezrin. After meeting at the Grammys, Cooper and Kesha became friends, which eventually lead to the song being penned. According to Cooper, Kesha was included on the song because he wanted to include people on his album that do not generally fit the perception people have of himself and the artist featured. The song's lyrics see Cooper trying to con his way out of a deal with the devil, who is portrayed by Kesha.

Background

After meeting at the Grammys earlier in the year, Alice Cooper and Kesha became friends. The meet was eventually succeeded by a performance by the two in Norway in the summer of 2011, where they performed Cooper's song "School's Out". They later went into the studio and recorded "What Baby Wants". The song was written by Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin, Tommy Henriksen and Kesha Sebert, with production done by Bob Ezrin. According to Cooper, Kesha's part in the song portrays her as the Devil and Cooper tries to con his way out of a deal with her. While writing the song, Cooper commented that Kesha contributed the "most disgusting lyrics in the song" and that he had to rein her back in while she was writing. Regarding the choice of enlisting Kesha on the project Cooper explained that he likes to include people that do not generally fit the perception people have of them, which he elaborated on:

"I like people that don't belong and yet what they're doing works perfectly. I don't care where it comes from, as long as it's right. If you tell me something doesn't work, I'll work my head off until it does then shove it down your throat. I think a lot of my audience is going to go 'KE$HA!?', but she probably wrote the most wicked lyrics in the song – we had to rein her in. I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that doesn't mean that's what they are. Give people a little room."

Composition

"What Baby Wants" is a new wave song that has "metallic bubblegum" influences. The lyrics of the song discuss Cooper trying to con his way out of a deal with the devil, who is portrayed by Kesha. It uses a inter-spliced lyric delivery between Kesha and Cooper discussing different situations:"I got a pretty face/ but I see what's hiding underneath/ You like my pretty mouth/ But you've got razorblades instead of teeth."

Reception

Chuck Eddy from Rolling Stone was mixed in the review of Welcome 2 My Nightmare. Eddy wrote that when Cooper dropped the sequel concept that was when the album became "fun", highlighting "What Baby Wants" as an example. His review of the song was positive, he praised the collaboration writing that "Slapstick was always his strong suit." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic wrote that Cooper was consistently able to create records that would fit in back in the '70s but were also modern. Erlewine commented on the production and Cooper's vocals writing that Cooper had enough Auto-tune that he was easily able to compete with Kesha. Nevertheless, "What Baby Wants" was listed as one of the album's four strongest tracks.

Credits and personnel

• Songwriting – Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin, Tommy Henriksen, Kesha Sebert
• Production – Bob Ezrin
• Guitar – Steve Hunter

References

1. Graff, Gary (2011-08-24). "Alice Cooper Welcomes Ke$ha to His Nightmare: 'This Girl Is Not a Pop Diva'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
2. ^ Wardlaw, Matt (2011-08-02). "Alice Cooper to Duet with Kesha on New Song 'What Baby Wants'". Ultimateclassicrock.com. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
3. ^ Wilkening, Matthew (2011-08-11). "Alice Cooper Casts Kesha as the Devil on New Album 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare'". Ultimateclassicrock.com. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
4. "Welcome 2 My Nightmare: Alice Cooper Returns with a New Album, New Nightmare". Universal Music Enterprises. PR Newswire Association LLC. Retrieved 2011-09-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
5. ^ Eddy, Chuck (2011-09-13). "Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-09-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
6. ^ Erlenwine, Thomas Stephen. "Welcome 2 My Nightmare". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-09-14. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
7. Copsey, Robert (2011-08-24). "Ke$ha, Alice Cooper duet surfaces online - Listen". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 2011-09-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)