Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj song) Digital Spy gave the song four and a half stars out of five and said that is "one of the year's most electrifying pop anthems". In the United States, "Bang Bang" debuted atop the "Billboard" Digital Songs chart selling 230,000 digital downloads on the week ending August 3, 2014, becoming Grande's and Minaj's second chart topper there, and Jessie J's first. Its first week sales also marked the third-largest sales debut for a song in 2014, behind Grande's own "Problem" and Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off", both of which were co-written by Max Martin. The song launched on the US
Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj song) "soulful" song, that features a "clap-heavy" production, built over "big bouncy beats and horn blasts." It's in the key of C Dorian mode, with the vocals making use of the C blues scale. The tempo is 150 BPM (Allegro). The melody of the chorus has been compared to that of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!. Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" called the song a "perfect Max Martin throwdown" that "fuses Nelly's 'Country Grammar' with Wham!'s 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,' which is some truly twisted pop archaeology." Carolyn Menyes from "Music Times" called the song "[a]