Ready or Not

"Ready or Not" is the debut solo single by American singer Bridgit Mendler, and is the lead single from her debut studio album, Hello My Name Is... (2012), which garnered its name from a line in the song. It premiered on Radio Disney on August 3, 2012, and was released digitally on August 7, 2012. The song's chorus is based on a sample of the Fugees' song "Ready or Not", and contains an interpolation of the Delfonics' song "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)". "Ready or Not" has received positive reviews from music critics, praising the song's unique sound and Mendler's vocals, which have been compared to Cher Lloyd, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Demi Lovato. The song was a commercial success in the United Kingdom, where it debuted in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. It was also a modest hit in North America, reaching number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and peaking at number 43 in Canada. The song attained gold certifications in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and platinum certifications in Canada, Denmark, and the US. Writing and composition In an interview with Kidzworld Media about the song, Mendler said: "It’s a fun song about a girl who is feeling like she has been the wallflower her whole life and she wants to go out there and take charge. It has the romantic element of her going for the boy rather than waiting for the world to come to her. I wrote it with some great writers and producers. We wrote most of the album together." Mendler also said of the song: "I'm thrilled to finally share my songs with the world. I wanted to write something that was empowering for girls. I consider myself to have been that girl sitting on the curb waiting for the world to notice". Mendler co-wrote the song with Emanuel Kiriakou, Evan Kidd Bogart and Andrew Goldstein. Thom Bell and William Hart are also credited as co-writers, because the song's chorus loosely interpolates the 1968 Delfonics song "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)", which they wrote; that song had also been interpolated in the chorus of the 1996 song "Ready or Not" by Fugees, which Mendler's "Ready or Not" chorus was based on. The track was produced by Kiriakou and Goldstein.