"Candy" is a song by American rapper Foxy Brown featuring American singer Kelis, released by Def Jam on August 21, 2001, as the third single from her third studio album Broken Silence (2001). A dance-pop and R&B track, it was produced by the Neptunes duo Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, who co-wrote the song alongside Brown and Juan Manuel Cordova. Brown raps on the verses while Kelis, a frequent collaborator with the Neptunes, performs the hook. The song was recorded in Virginia Beach and mixed in New York City. "Candy" premiered at the Broken Silence listening party in June 2001, and although it did not receive an official music video, a portion of it was played in the video for the album track "Tables Will Turn".
The song is about cunnilingus. While this sexually explicit content marked a continuity with Brown's earlier material, it set "Candy" apart from the rest of Broken Silence, which tended toward more introspective subject matters. According to critics, the single has elements of 1980s music, dance music, and new wave music and a more pop sound than Brown's previous albums.
"Candy" received a positive response upon release and in retrospective reviews. Music critics compared it to music by other artists, specifically Lil' Kim, while scholars analyzed its representation of black female sexuality. In the US, the song appeared on Billboard charts, reaching the top ten on the Hot Rap Songs chart. "Candy" was included on several soundtracks in the early 2000s; it was featured in the television series Dark Angel and the films Friday After Next and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Production and release
The Neptunes duo Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams produced two songs—"Candy" and "Gangsta Boogie"—for Foxy Brown's third studio album Broken Silence (2001). Billboard's Colin Finan wrote that they had become so prolific in 2001 that they had "laced nearly every R&B/hip-hop hit" that summer, including "Candy". Hugo and Williams co-wrote the single with Juan Manuel Cordova and Brown, who is credited under her legal name Inga Marchand. Cordova has writing credits on five other tracks from Broken Silence.
"Candy" features vocals by Kelis, a frequent collaborator with the Neptunes. According to music journalist Peter Shapiro, Kelis was the duo's "diva of choice" to sing hooks on other artists' songs. Shapiro noted the diversity of her work, mentioning her contributions to music "for everyone from Foxy Brown to Noreaga". "Candy" was recorded at the Master Sound Recording Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The vocals were handled by David Hummel and Erik Steinert and mixed by Axel Niehaus at Avatar Studios in New York City.
The song debuted at the Broken Silence listening party held in New York City in June 2001. On August 21, 2001, Def Jam released "Candy" in the US as the album's third single, and PolyGram promoted it in the UK in 2002. It was issued as a 12-inch single and a CD single; the 12-inch single included the song's radio edit and instrumental and "730" as its B-side. Elektra produced a pink vinyl record in a limited edition. To promote "Candy", Brown performed a portion of it in the music video for her track "Tables Will Turn".
Following its release, "Candy" was featured on early 2000s soundtracks, appearing in the films Friday After Next (2002) and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). Along with its inclusion on the 2002 soundtrack for the television show Dark Angel, it was played in the season two episode "Some Assembly Required". The song appeared on the 2003 compilation album XXX Hip Hop. AllMusic's Tim Sendra wrote that "Candy", as well as Lil' Kim's "Suck My Dick" and Khia's "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)", represented the "nasty females" on the album.
"Candy" debuted at number 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Billboard chart dated September 15, 2001. After the single reached number 48 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart, The Boomboxs Nadine Graham said it had "struggled its way up" to this position. The song also peaked at number 10 on the Hot Rap Songs Billboard chart in September 2001.