"Dirty Talk" is a song by American recording artist Wynter Gordon, taken from her debut studio album, With the Music I Die. It was released in the United States on February 17, 2010. The song was written by Gordon, Michael Caren, Gregory Ferguson, Nicole Morier, Norman White and produced by Jupiter Ace. "Dirty Talk" is a dance-pop and electropop song backed by a house beat, inspired by a bedroom fantasy. Gordon has stated that the song is a lyrical product of her and her girlfriends goofing around in the studio.
The song was well-received from critics. It was praised for its naughty lyrics and fun production. "Dirty Talk" topped Billboards Hot Dance Club Songs. Outside of the United States, "Dirty Talk" topped the charts in Australia, peaked within the top ten of the charts in the Republic of Ireland, and the top thirty of the charts in the United Kingdom. In the latter country, "Dirty Talk" also peaked at number six on the UK Dance Chart and remains a popular anthem in Britain's nightclubs. Its accompanying music video was directed by Armen Djerrahian and premiered on July 19, 2010.
Background
"Dirty Talk" was written by Gordon in collaboration with Michael Caren, Gregory Ferguson, Nicole Morier and Norman White. It was written after Gordon "finally found her lane in dance music" after she previously wrote genre varied songs for the likes of Mary J. Blige. "Dirty Talk" acts as Gordon's debut single as a solo artist. She mentioned: "Being featured on 'Sugar' with Flo Rida was great but there's nothing like having your own song."
"Dirty Talk" has been said to be about Gordon singing about bedroom fantasies. The song's lyrics were a product of her and co-writer Nicole Morier goofing around in the studio, trying to think of "sexy things". Speaking to AtlanticRecords.com, Gordon stated the song was not about anyone in particular. She said: It came about when my friend and I were in the studio just joking, laughing and pulling up words on the computer from different sites. It was meant to be more of a joke than a real song and it just happened to come out great! According to Morier in an interview with HitQuarters: "We were just being silly but on the other side I thought it had this really great catchy melody, and I love the chorus. I don’t think either of us at the time thought it would end up being her launching single."
Release
"Dirty Talk" premiered and was first made available for digital download internationally on Gordon's official website on February 17, 2010. Remixes of the song by Laidback Luke, Kim Fai and Hagenaar & Albrecht were also confirmed to follow in accompaniment of the single. A day later the song was available to buy on iTunes in the United States. The song then premiered for airplay on New York City radio station WWPR-FM on February 22, 2010. On March 1, a snippet of the Hagenaar & Albrecht remix was leaked. The full Hagenaar & Albrecht remix together with remixes by Laidback Luke, Kim Fai and Ocelot were then made available for download in EP format on March 23, 2010. A second remix EP was then made available in the US featuring remixes by Chew Fu, Electrolightz, Saul Ruiz, Watchmen and Jeremy Word on May 4, 2010. A limited edition nine-track digital remix EP of "Dirty Talk" was purchasable on June 10, 2010.
For the UK release of the song, some of the lyrics were re-recorded due to the songs sexual nature being deemed too rude for daytime listening and viewing. Only this version of the single has been used for radio play and music channels.
Critical reception
DJ Ron Slomowicz of About.com positively reviewed "Dirty Talk" calling it a "straight up club track that is down and dirty." Slomowicz went on to compliment the song's production saying: "The production is fun and bouncy and does a good job of getting you into the groove."