Take a Hint

"Take a Hint" was written by Meghan Kabir, Kevin Kadish, and James Michael, with Michael also serving as the track's producer. The song was originally performed by Kabir. The song was released as a single through Nickelodeon and Columbia Records on March 3, 2012, by the Victorious cast, featuring two of the show's actresses, Victoria Justice and Elizabeth Gillies. The track was later added on the show's debut extended play (EP) Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show on June 5, 2012. The track was released in the show's third season, sixth episode, titled "Tori & Jade's Play Date" on the same day as its single release. In the episode, Tori Vega (Justice) and Jade West (Gillies) are forced to play a married couple in a play. Their teacher Erwin Sikowitz (Eric Lange) becomes frustrated when they can't stop arguing and be friends. He tells them to hang out at a karaoke restaurant, warning that they would fail his class if they couldn't get along. Music critics have described "Take a Hint" as a pop, electropop, dance-pop, and EDM track. The song's lyrics are about having the right to consent and standing up to unwelcome advances: "No you can't buy me a drink/Let me tell you what I think/I think you could use a mint." ==Critical reception==

Jessica Dawson for Common Sense Media gave the song three stars out of five, and opined that the song is "harmless and humorous", and thought it is "fun and meant to be lighthearted". The staff of M Magazine called the track "so catchy". Tiara B, writing for The Shade Room, put the song at number seven on her "Victorious: The Top 10 Songs That Still Have Us Hooked" list, labeling it as a "powerful duet". Writing for MovieWeb, Israel Olorunnisola placed "Take a Hint" at number four on his "Victorious: 10 Songs You Forgot Were Awesome" list, saying the song has a "catchy melody" and "witty and empowering lyrics". For Her Campus, Megan Gaertner and Allison Kane placed the song at number one on their "the Best Songs from Victorious" list, describing the track as a "complete bop" that introduced them to feminism. ==Commercial performance==

"Take a Hint" peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in March 2012, lasting two weeks on the chart. In 2023, it was certified silver in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 200,000 certified units. ==Live performances==

To promote the song, Justice performed performed "Take a Hint" lived at the Pacific Amphitheatre in August 2012. She also performed the song live during the 2012 Great Allentown Fair. In 2022, fellow Victorious actor Matt Bennett performed the song live with Gillies during some of his DJ concert sets. ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==

Credits adapted from Tidal. • Victoria Justice vocals • Elizabeth Gillies vocals • Shahnaz background vocals • James Michael songwriter, producer, recording engineer • Kevin Kadish songwriter • Meghan Kabir songwriter • Michael Corcoran engineer • Brian Gardner mastering engineer • Miles Walker mixing engineer • Eric Bisgyer assistant engineer ==References==