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"Summer Bummer"
Single by Lana Del Rey featuring ASAP Rocky and Playboi Carti
from the album Lust for Life
Released	July 12, 2017 (2017-07-12)
Genre	Hip hop pop trap
Length	4:21
Label	Polydor Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Lana Del Rey Matthew Samuels Rakim Mayers Jordan Carter Tyler Williams Jahaan Sweet Andrew Joseph Gradwohl Jr.
Producer(s)	Boi-1da Sweet Rick Nowels T-Minus (co.) BigWhiteBeatz (co.)
Lana Del Rey singles chronology
"Lust for Life" (2017) "Summer Bummer" (2017) "Groupie Love" (2017)
ASAP Rocky singles chronology
"Who Dat Boy" (2017) "Summer Bummer" (2017) "Groupie Love" (2017)
Playboi Carti singles chronology
"Magnolia" (2017) "Summer Bummer" (2017) "Butterfly Coupe" (2017)
Licensed audio
"Summer Bummer" on YouTube

"Summer Bummer" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey featuring American rappers ASAP Rocky and Playboi Carti featured on her fifth studio album Lust for Life. The song was released for digital download on July 12, 2017, alongside "Groupie Love" featuring ASAP Rocky, as a promotional single with the pre-order of the album. The song was written by the artists, alongside producers BigWhiteBeatz., Boi-1da, Jahaan Sweet, and T-Minus, with additional production credits going to Rick Nowels.

Background and composition

The song was written by Lana Del Rey in collaboration with songwriters such as ASAP Rocky, Boi-1da, Playboi Carti, Matthew Samuels, and Tyler Williams in the summer of 2016. On June 2, 2017, Del Rey revealed that she and ASAP Rocky had collaborated on a track for the album by posting a snippet of the song on Instagram with the caption: "We made a lot of good ones but I think we picked the best ones for the record".

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, "Summer Bummer" is composed in
₄ time and the key of E-flat minor, with a relaxed trap/hip hop and electronica tempo of 67 beats per minute. "Summer Bummer" was labeled a hip hop song by Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine, while Ryan Reed of Rolling Stone described the sound of the song as "dark noir-pop style over a rattling trap beat".

Critical reception

"Summer Bummer" received generally positive reviews from critics. Anna Gaca of Spin stated "Even as it widens—slightly—the range of her catalog, 'Summer Bummer' is best viewed as a classically Lana Del Rey set piece: a heavily stylized soundtrack for drugs, pools, and high-contrast monochromes. 'White lies'—or maybe that's, ahem, 'white lines'—'and black beaches/And blood red sangrias', she sings later, mirroring a color scheme that dates back to 'Off to the Races'. Sonically, 'Bummer' is like a trap-inspired take on Honeymoon's High by the Beach, and thematically, it doesn't go anywhere that song didn't already." Pitchfork's Rebecca Haithcoat said " is not a traditional contender for the song-of-the-summer flower crown. It's sticky, but in a dense and oppressive, not light and carefree way. Even in Del Rey's songs with a cooler temperature, there's a humidity to her voice, a thickness that slows her tongue. Listless delivery paired with such vivid description is a hallmark of her work, and here it functions as a cocoon you don't want to escape even as you feel the knife's edge of danger. ASAP Rocky and Playboi Carti's contributions feel a little unnecessary, as Del Rey has no trouble carrying a track on her own. Near the end, her voice suddenly jumps an octave and, for a moment, floats sweetly atop the roiling fever dream." Frank Guan of Vulture stated "Summer Bummer is about love. But the music on 'Bummer carries with it an unprecedented charge. Boi-1da and T-Minus, A-list producers renowned for their work with Drake and other rap artists, have laced Lana with a heat-dazed, shade-cooled beat, a banger situated halfway between beach and trap. It's a track that any rapper would be proud to surf over, and Rocky knows it, delivering a calmly boastful, well-tailored verse punctuated by a choice, subdued set of A$AP affiliate Playboi Carti's ad-libs. Meanwhile Lana's voice, passionate and aching yet effortless and chill, sings to a lover free to change yet fated to accept her love. Racial subtext slips in through lines about white lines and black beaches, though the real poetic highlight is the blood-red sangrias. After years in the dark, Lana's love with hip-hop is out in the open again, and like any love, it feels as if no time has passed at all." The Washington Post's Chris Richards claimed "The album's most narcotic single, Summer Bummer, is an echo of Del Rey's trademark hit, Summertime Sadness, only more evocative. Picture the singer idling around in the July heat, slowly typing out a telepathic love letter inside her skull. She's listening to the radio, and her mind is drifting between external sensation and internal desire. We hear the voices of Playboi Carti and A$AP Rocky splashing around the background—they're hip-hop in the summer, the song on the airwaves."

The song was ranked the 56th best song of 2017 by Noisey.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Lust for Life album liner notes.

Recording and management

• Recorded at Record Plant Studios (Los Angeles) and Hampstead Studios (London)
• Mastered at Gateway Mastering
• Published by 1Damentional Publishing (ASCAP), Sony/ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP), A$AP Rocky Music Publishing LLC/Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI), Brother Bagz Publishing/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI), Jahaan Sweet Publishing Designee (BMI), Sony/ATV Music Publishing (ASCAP)
• A$AP Rocky appears courtesy of A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music/RCA Records
• Playboi Carti appears courtesy of AWGE/Interscope Records

Personnel

• Lana Del Rey – songwriter, lead vocals
• Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels – songwriter, producer, drums, bass
• A$AP Rocky – songwriter, vocals
• Playboi Carti – songwriter, vocals
• Tyler "T-Minus" Williams – songwriter, cello, synth bass
• Jahaan Sweet – songwriter, producer, piano
• Andrew Joseph "Big White Beats" Gradwohl Jr. – songwriter, synthesizer
• Rick Nowels – additional producer, synthesizer
• Zac Rac – harpsichord
• Kieron Menzies – engineer, mixer
• Dean Reid – engineer, mixer
• Trevor Yasuda – engineer
• Hector Delgado – engineer
• Adam Ayan – mastering engineer

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

1. "Every Lana del Rey Song, Ranked: Critic's List". Billboard.
2. "Summer Bummer - Lana Del Rey - Song Info - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
3. "Lana Del Rey - Summer Bummer Lyrics - Genius Lyrics". Genius. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
4. Lana Del Rey on Facebook Watch, retrieved 2020-08-04
5. Elizabeth, Grant; Jahaan, Sweet; Jordan, Carter; Jehu, Samuels; Rakim, Mayers; Tyler, Williams; HDpiano; Lana, Del Rey; Rocky, A$AP (2018-02-01). "Summer Bummer". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
6. Alexa Camp (July 12, 2017). "Lana Del Rey Drops Two New Songs: 'Summer Bummer' and 'Groupie Love' - The House Next Door - Slant". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
7. Reed, Ryan (12 July 2017). "Lana Del Rey Unveils 'Lust for Life' Details, New Songs With A$AP Rocky". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 November 2020. On "Summer Bummer," Del Rey croons in her trademark, dark noir-pop style over a rattling trap beat
8. Anna Gaca (July 12, 2017). "Review: Lana Del Rey - 'Summer Bummer' - SPIN". Spin. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
9. Rebecca Haithcoat (July 13, 2017). "'Summer Bummer' [ft. A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti] Review - Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
10. Frank Guan (July 12, 2017). "Review: Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky's New Songs". Vulture. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
11. Chris Richards (July 25, 2017). "Lana Del Rey suddenly sounds like the peat laureate of post-truth - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
12. "The 100 Best Songs of 2017". Noisey. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
13. ^ "Amazon.com: Summer Bummer [feat. A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti] [Explicit]: Lana Del Rey: MP3 Downloads". Amazon MP3. July 12, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
14. ^ "Summer Bummer (Snakehips Remix) [feat. A$AP Rocky & Playboi Carti] - Single by Lana Del Rey on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
15. ^ "Summer Bummer (feat. A$AP Rocky & Playboi Carti) [Clams Casino Remix] - Single by Lana Del Rey on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
16. Lust for Life (Media notes). Lana Del Rey. Polydor Records / Interscope Records. 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
17. "ARIA Australian Top 40 Urban Singles". ARIA Charts. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
18. "Lana Del Rey feat. A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti – Summer Bummer" (in Dutch). Ultratop Urban. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
19. "Lana Del Rey Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
20. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart - The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
22. "Veckolista Heatseeker – Vecka 30, 28 juli 2017". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
23. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
24. "Lana Del Rey Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
25. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
26. "American single certifications – Lana Del Rey – Summer Bummer". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 24, 2021.

• Songs about weather
• 2017 singles
• 2017 songs
• ASAP Rocky songs
• Interscope Records singles
• Lana Del Rey songs
• Polydor Records singles
• Songs written by ASAP Rocky
• Songs written by Lana Del Rey
• Songs written by Boi-1da
• Songs written by T-Minus (producer)
• Songs written by Playboi Carti
• Song recordings produced by Rick Nowels
• Playboi Carti songs
• Song recordings produced by Boi-1da