Rare is the third studio album by American singer Selena Gomez, released on January 10, 2020, by Interscope Records. As the executive producer, Gomez worked with many producers, including Ian Kirkpatrick, Jason Evigan, Mattman & Robin, Sir Nolan, Simon Says, The Monsters & Strangerz and David Pramik. Described by Gomez as her "diary from the past few years", Rare is a midtempo pop and dance-pop record, taking cues from electronic, Latin pop and R&B styles. Lyrically, the album explores themes of self-love, self-empowerment, self-acceptance, and self-worth. Guest features on Rare are from rappers 6lack and Kid Cudi.
The album was promoted by two singles prior to its release: The lead single "Lose You to Love Me" was released on October 23, 2019. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became Gomez's first number-one single in the United States. "Look at Her Now" was released a day after the lead single, peaking at number 27 on the chart. Coinciding with the album release, the title track was made the third single, peaking at number 30 on the Hot 100. Rare was marketed as "#SG2", signifying Gomez's second album with Interscope. The album received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production and cohesiveness, with many calling it Gomez's best album to date. Rare topped the charts in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, and Scotland.
Debuting atop the Billboard 200, Rare gave Gomez her third consecutive number-one album in the US. The Target-exclusive edition of Rare additionally includes five of Gomez's standalone singles released in 2017–18: "Bad Liar", "Fetish" featuring Gucci Mane, "It Ain't Me" with Kygo, "Back to You", and "Wolves" with Marshmello. The vinyl edition of Rare adds "Feel Me" as a bonus track. The deluxe edition with three new tracks, including the fourth single "Boyfriend", was released on April 9, 2020.
Background and release
Speaking in a November 2019 interview for Apple Music on the subject of her upcoming studio album Rare, Gomez admitted that the unreleased tracks were where she currently was. She also said that the songs on the tracklist went well with each other, after putting them in order.
Gomez appeared on the radio program On Air with Ryan Seacrest and stated that she had "a million ideas and it's just going to be cooler and it's going to be stronger and it's going to be better." She stated on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that the album would have a "sense of strong pop", and that she experimented with electric guitar. She also said that it took her "four years now to even feel at a good place with this album".
According to Semrush, Rare was one of 2020's three most-searched albums on Google, collecting 1.2 million monthly searches; the other two are Taylor Swift's Folklore and J Balvin's Colores.
Music and lyrics
Rare is primarily a pop and dance-pop record with a dark tone, deriving elements from various musical styles, such as R&B, electro, funk-pop, reggaeton, alternative pop and electronic music. The main themes are of "love, loss and dating". Gomez herself stated that the album is "honest, empowering and uplifting", while its main messages are "self-love, acceptance and empowerment". She also added that the songs on Rare are "the most honest music I've ever made".