"Hard out Here" is a song by English recording artist Lily Allen. The song was released on 17 November 2013 as the lead single from Allen's third studio album Sheezus and is Allen's first original solo recording since 2010. Allen wrote the song in collaboration with Greg Kurstin, with the song's production handled by the latter. Musically, "Hard out Here" is a synthpop song with lyrics revolving around "body image pressures and misogyny in the entertainment industry."

"Hard out Here" was critically acclaimed; many critics praised its lyrical content and praised Allen's take on the industry, dubbing the song a "feminist anthem through and through". According to The Wire, the title is a "thinly veiled reference" to Three 6 Mafia's Academy Award-winning 2005 song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp". The song topped the Austrian charts and charted within the top ten in the U.K., Germany and Switzerland

To promote the song, Allen performed at YoYos pod in London. The music video for the song was directed by Christopher Sweeney and premiered on Allen's website on 12 November 2013. The video depicts Allen receiving liposuction and twerking. The video received positive reviews from most critics, but also sparked minor controversy over the ethnicity of the backing dancers.

Allen released her second album It's Not Me, It's You in 2009, which saw a genre shift to synthpop, rather than the ska and reggae influences used in her debut album Alright, Still (2006). The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Australian Albums Chart and was well received by critics, noting the singer's musical evolution and maturity. It spawned the hit singles "The Fear" and "Fuck You", popular mostly in Europe. Allen and Amy Winehouse were credited with starting a process that led to the media-proclaimed "year of the women" in 2009 that has seen five female artists making music of "experimentalism and fearlessness" nominated for the Mercury Prize.

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Wikipedia