Critical Reception
"Rich Girl" received mixed reviews from music critics. Richard Smirke of Playlouder said that it brought "a much-needed element of diversity" to L.A.M.B. and called it a "potential hit single". Krissi Murison of the NME, however, described it as "playground chant featuring a tough-girl ragga cameo from Eve." John Murphy from musicOMH gave it an overall positive review, calling it "a great fun song, and far superior to some of the dross that comes out these days", but also commented that it did not live up to "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and found the references to the Harajuku Girls "slightly creepy." Lisa Haines of BBC Music referred to the song as "disco gold, impossibly girly and very easy to dance to." The song drew comparisons to the No Doubt album Rock Steady, and Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine described it as "a lite version of 'Hey Baby.'"
| I could tell I had ruffled Gwen's feathers when we spoke before the disc came out. It was the first time I took her to task for disingenuousness—for being ungodly rich yet still singing, "If I were a rich girl...." | ||
| "What do you mean by that?" she snapped. I said the song could be seen as absurd, even untrue. She explained its lyrics were about when she was just an Orange County girl—ah, that troubling phrase!—dreaming of such wealth. | ||
| —Ben Wener, The Orange County Register | ||
Several reviewers found it ironic that Stefani, who had already sold twenty-six million records with No Doubt, discussed having money in the counterfactual conditional. John Murphy from musicOMH found it "rather strange" for Stefani to sing the song while living off of royalties from No Doubt and her husband, post-grunge musician Gavin Rossdale. Anthony Carew from Neumu called the lyrics "insipid" and noted that "the incredibly wealthy pop-starlet wonders what it'd be like to be, uh, incredibly wealthy". The Orange County Register writer Ben Wener told Stefani that the song was disingenuous and "absurd", to which Stefani responded that the point of view was from before she was famous. Stefani later refused to issue credentials to the newspaper after Wener wrote that "while posting a reported $90 million via her clothing lines she's no more 'just an Orange County girl' than Best Buy is just a shack that sells Commodore 64s" in response to a track titled "Orange County Girl" from Stefani's second album The Sweet Escape.
The interpolation of "If I Were a Rich Man" drew mixed reviews. Jason Damas, writing for PopMatters, argued that the track "turns it into an anthem of urban bling-lust" and that its "simple pounding piano chord makes for great percussive backing." Nick Sylvester from Pitchfork Media found the song corny, classifying it as "Eve- and Dre- and Tevye-powered camp-hop." The Villager's Winnie MCCroy found the interpolation "innovative" and noted the song's take on "the current style of shout-out rap songs." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly disagreed, stating that the interpolation was used awkwardly, and Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the interpolation a goof. Jason Shawhan from About.com called the track "a dancehall/classic house teardown of 'If I Were a Rich Man'" and added, "If this is what Jay-Z's fudging with Annie has wrought, I say, be glad of it."
Read more about this topic: Rich Girl (Gwen Stefani Song)
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