Like a Champion

After the end of the When the Sun Goes Down era, Gomez announced that she would pause her musical career to focus on her film roles. After that, the singer confirmed the end of the band Selena Gomez & the Scene, after three studio albums. Gomez announced in October 2012 that she had started the preparation of her new album.[1] Gomez invited various producers including Leah Haywood and Daniel James from the Australian production team Dreamlab, who produced “Hit the Lights” for Selena's early band,[2] to work on new material for her new album. They produced about six tracks including “Write Your Name”, “Music Feels Better” and “Like a Champion”, the last being the first track to be produced by them.

On June 3, 2013, the singer participated in a live chat promoted by YouTube, which revealed that the album would be titled Stars Dance and its release date, as well as talk about the songs of the record; about "Like a Champion" Gomez said "being able to travel is one of my favorite parts of my job, because I get to see beautiful places [...] I get to hear new music and new sounds and I toured South America which was incredible and beautiful and I kinda got this islandy feel when I was there, so I wanted to put that kinda vibe into this album and I didn't know how to do it and I heard this song called "Like a Champion" [...] I wanna make sure that it kinda had a little bit almost a Spanish but a little bit of reggae style [...] makes you definitely going to make you feel like you want to go to Jamaica or South America".[3] A week before the record hit stores, the artist unveiled previews of all the songs on the album on her channel.[4] "Stars Dance" could be heard in its full version by the public on July 16, 2013, the date which the album was released to be listened on iTunes Store.[5]

"Like a Champion" was written by Bebe Rexha (pictured).

Firstly, Bebe Rexha recorded a demo of the song, which was originally produced by Peter Thomas and written by Rexha and Thomas; after that, Thomas gave the song to Dreamlab and they played for Gomez. Selena liked the song and it was re-written and re-produced by Dreamlab. At the end, "Like a Champion" was credited with Daniel James, Leah Haywood, Peter Thomas, Bebe Rexha, Mark Myrie and Leroy Sibbles as the songwriters of the song, Dreamlab was credited as the producer and the vocal producer and Peter Thomas as a co-producer. Rob Ghost and Simon French were the assistant engineers while Joe Pringle was the studio assistant. The song's recording sessions took place at Dreamlab Studios and at Glenwood Studios in Los Angeles and it was mixed at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach by Serban Ghenea and John Hanes served as the mix engineer. Finally, the track was mastered in Sterling Sound at New York City by Chris Gehringer.

"Like a Champion" is an uptempo dancehall song[6] with influences of funk, jamaican music, reggae and soca music [7][8] that lasts for a total of two minutes and fifty-five seconds.[9] The song is composed in the key of C major and features a moderate tempo of 90 beats per minute. Gomez's vocal range spans from the low tone of G3 to the high note of G4. The song opens with a sample of Buju Banton 1995 song "Champion", before transitioning into a more dancehall influenced sound. Gomez said the song was inspired by the trips that she made to South America during the We Own the Night Tour. The track is a self-empowerment anthem that contains reflections of "living the moment" and of self-confidence.

The song has compared to Rihanna's works (pictured).

Andrew Hampp of Billboard compared the song with Rihanna's works by saying "The Rihanna-esque portion of "Stars Dance" kicks in with "Like A Champion," a reggae-lite confection from co-writer Peter Thomas [...] that ultimately falls victim to too many references to the Barbadian pop princess — right down to the lyric "shine like diamonds in the sky." Though a little island flair ultimately suits Gomez well, "Like A Champion" doesn't do much for establishing her own musical identity".[10] Love Is Pop said that the song is "the album’s magnificent self-empowerment anthem" they also said that "[it] has an air of reggae to it, both in terms of the percussion and the way Selena sings it [...] the song actually begins with a guy who sounds like a genuine reggae artist singing the chorus, so I’m not imagining that".[11] Idolator said that the song is "absurdly charming" and the described the song has a "faux island swagger" [12] Kia Makarechi of The Huffington Post was critical of "Like a Champion" by saying "the biggest offender of accent and cultural appropriation on "Stars Dance" goes to this incredibly horrible song".[13]

"Like a Champion" was performed on November 28 during the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Halftime Show.[14] Gomez performed the song as the first portion of a medley featuring "Come & Get It" and "Slow Down".[14] The song was added to the set list of Gomez's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball performances, along with four other songs.[15] Gomez performed the songs using a hand-held microphone in a red "floor-length, lacy gown".[16] The track is the third song to be performed on the Stars Dance Tour. Selena performed the song dressed in white stretchy pants, a white crop top vest, and a long, sleeveless white coat. Before the song begins Selena welcomes everyone to the show and asks the audience for help singing the song.

Recording, management and sample

• Recorded at Dreamlab Studios (Los Angeles, California) and Glenwood Studios (Los Angeles, California)
• Mixed at MixStar Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
• Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)
• Songs Of Peer, Ltd. obo Itself and Land Down Under Music (ASCAP); Kobalt Songs Music Publishing (ASCAP); Downtown DLJ Songs obo Simple Is Perfekt/Pulse Recording Songs (ASCAP); BMG Platinum Songs (BMI)/Kiss Me If You Can Music, All rights administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC; Universal - Songs of PolyGram Int., Inc./Gargamel Music/Donovan Germain Music (BMI); Eppic Music Publishing (SOCAN)
• This track contains a sample of the recording “Champion” as performed by Buju Banton. Courtesy of the Island Def Jam Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. Under license from Universal Music Enterprises. Used by permission. All rights reserved
• This composition embodies portions of “Champion”, written by Mark Myrie and Leroy Sibbles, published by Eppic Music Publishing (SOCAN)/Universal - Songs of PolyGram International, Inc. obo Itself; Donovan Germain Music and Gargamel Music (BMI)

Personnel

Credits adapted from Stars Dance liner notes.[17]