Grow Up Girl

"Grow Up Girl" is the debut single by Kuboian rapper Amy-Elizabeth. Produced and co-written by Kool Teazer, the song samples "Jerk It Out" by Swedish rock band Caesars. It was released on 26th March 2006 as the lead single from Amy-Elizabeth's self-titled debut studio album. Lyrically, the song is about Amy-Elizabeth wanting to express her inner child despite being in her adulthood years.

"Grow Up Girl" received mostly negative reviews from critics, who labelled the song as "annoying" and criticised the "Jerk It Out" sample and Amy-Elizabeth's rapping ability. In spite of this, it was a commercial success, debuting at the top of the Karuboia charts and charting moderately throughout Europe.

Background
Amy-Elizabeth met Rodrick Miles in the summer of 2005, who offered to sign her to Oyea Records under the condition that she also worked as a television presenter starting in the beginning of 2006. She insisted in a 2008 interview that she never intended to become a presenter, but still signed the contract because she really wanted to start a music career for herself. "Grow Up Girl" was the first song that Amy-Elizabeth wrote after being signed to Oyea. When asked about the song's production, she admitted that she did not know if she would be recording a full-length album at the time or not, and therefore wanted to write a song that would "introduce" herself to the public.

According to producer Kool Teazer, the idea to sample "Jerk It Out" came around by pure accident. Teazer claimed that when he asked Amy-Elizabeth what type of instrumental she was looking for, she naturally started mimicking guitar strings that he thought were similar to the guitar riffs present on "Jerk It Out". After producing the instrumental for "Grow Up Girl", Teazer let Amy-Elizabeth personally mix the song herself; she allegedly spent three hours playing with the track's stems.

The song features two rap verses. The chorus uses an Auto-Tune effect for Amy-Elizabeth's vocals, though Teazer insisted that he did not want to go "overboard" with the Auto-Tune to prevent Amy-Elizabeth from "sound[ing] like a robot. The song is in the key of G flat minor and has a tempo of 95 beats per minute.

Critical reception
Aside from a positive B rating from Pop Magazine, "Grow Up Girl" received mostly negative reviews from critics. In a review of the Amy-Elizabeth album, The Guardian said the song felt like a parody of typical lipstick rap music, citing that Amy-Elizabeth herself "sounds like a spoilt pre-teen girl" and criticised Kool Teazer's "lazy" use of the "Jerk It Out" sample. British website Digital Spy likewise awarded "Grow Up Girl" a two out of five stars noting "Amy-Elizabeth does little to distinguish herself from the other Kuboian bubblegum MCs other than the fact she has ties with Ericka Streets. [...] The song feels like it was made for the CBeebies demographic." The reviewer also felt that the single's B-side, "My Last Chance" was more meaningful and had better production, arguing that it should have been the A-side instead.

Amy-Elizabeth was reportedly upset with the negative reception the song received, accusing the song's citics over insulting her rather than giving constructive criticism. She stated in a Q&A video on her YouTube channel in 2020 that the criticism lowered her self-esteem and made her hesitant to release more music.

Music video
The music video for "Grow Up Girl" debuted during the Children's Appeal Telethon on 14th March 2006. It features Amy-Elizabeth doing childlike activities like playing on the swings in a park whilst other people look at her in a confused or awkward manner.

A low-budget music video for the single's B-side, "My Last Chance", premiered on Nick Video in June 2006, and features Amy-Elizabeth on the streets of Fahrbahnin in the middle of the night.

Kuboian CD single

 * 1) "Grow Up Girl"
 * 2) "Grow Up Girl" (extended mix)
 * 3) "My Last Chance"
 * 4) "Grow Up Girl" (instrumental)

Kuboian cassette single

 * 1) "Grow Up Girl"
 * 2) "My Last Chance"

European CD single

 * 1) "Grow Up Girl"
 * 2) "Grow Up Girl" (karaoke ver.)
 * 3) "Grow Up Girl" (video)

UK CD single

 * 1) "Grow Up Girl"
 * 2) "Grow Up Girl" (W.I.P. mix)
 * 3) "My Last Chance"