Written by Anchal Sethi
Edited by Oshin
Raye resurrected 2025 back to life after releasing the retro-modern track “Where is my Husband!” This big-band/jazz crossover of a song debuted in all its grandeur at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival, and eventually went on to become undeniably TikTok famous because of the I would like a ring riff. The stats are close to the obvious—760+ Million streams on Spotify, reached the top of the Billboard charts in 2025 and peaked in the top 10 in several countries. We saw her everywhere—singing the bridge, sharing her process, people making reels on the I would like a ring trending audio. This successful marketing campaign appears to be organically driven with her solid brand identity, and the pre-release campaign definitely bore fruit.
But what was the driving factor of such a campaign? Did it run on the familiarity with the song because of the pre-release campaign, or because of a “hook” bridge? In this short research, we explore the essence of a hook in the marketing sense as well as in musicality, while looking at some intriguing examples, in an attempt to understand the functionality of both.
What is Essentially a Hook?
In social media marketing terms, a hook functions almost exactly as a bait, and has to be truly compelling to stop the scrolling. Keeping in mind the attention span of the current landscape, people often stop for content while scrolling when an intriguing and critical thing is being said or done within the first 3 seconds in any media format. That said, when it comes to marketing music, the hook concept is also directly linked to the music itself.
In the context of music, and coming to the “Where is my Husband!” example for substance, we have a rather inevitable understanding of what potentially made it famous.
The bridge of the song goes:
“I would like a ring, I would like a ring
I would like a diamond ring on my wedding finger
I would like a big and shiny diamond
That I could wave around and talk and talk about it
And when the day is here, forgive me, God, that I could ever doubt it
Until death, I do, I do, I do, I
Is he about it, ’bout it, ’bout it?
This man is testing me, uh-huh, uh-huh
Uh, help me, help me, help me, Lord
I need you to tell me”
Within the 4/4 time signature, the riff runs mostly in sixteenth note rhythms, going through a complex set of crescendo and decrescendo complexities throughout. It is so fast to the point of difficulty in keeping up with its wave, but that complexity is paired with the ease with which Raye vocalised it in the promotional videos. The mingling of effortlessness with such complexity grasps people, makes them stop and listen, and perhaps this kind of recall across platforms pre-release had people anticipating the release. But besides the theoretical jargon that gives definition to how it works, it’s a playfulness and quirkiness that truly belongs to Raye which she exhibits throughout, establishing her essence as a singer-songwriter and producer.
Besides this, for vocalists specifically, the attempt of the riff further spread the word. This was genius marketing that also offered a sneak peek into the process, strengthening her fanbase’s interest into further process and in effect, the release of the song.
Now comes the social climate and perception of the song. The song encompasses a humorous branding, drawing close attention to the storytelling aspect of looking for a lifelong partner. Post release, the song garnered tons of appreciation for its vocal and production mastery, embraced by listeners who found the playful modern-day ‘pursuit for a partner’ lyrics relevant, and appreciation by artists alike who would then attempt the popular bridge riff. The storytelling was also interwoven with Raye’s press work, wherein she accentuated her intention behind the song, sharing her honest approach, her ‘5-year’ life plan ahead, describing how this song is more than a song—it’s a manifesto.
The meticulous use of pre and post release promotion is very well devised to the point of making this such an ideal case study!
Current Marketing Ecosystem: What is Going On?
With the involvement of social media as the monopolised tool and platform for promotional activities, contemporary music consumption has reached a point of remodelling itself given how the perception of music itself has evolved. Marketers often need a strong selling point when it comes to any marketable product, especially when it comes to physically tangible products. Music, similar to films or any other form of visual-audio content, is so media-driven that the investment of consumers is moody due to availability of such content in the vast wide web. That said, how does this affect music compositions themselves?
Rather than thinking about the approach to composition from a personal and transcending standpoint, it has slightly pivoted to what sells. While this has multiple layers to it, in the marketing sense, within the over-saturation of marketing content, it becomes ever so crucial to stand out. A lot of times that is a listless effort, where sometimes the brand positioning comes almost naturally and other times it has to be built upon. In Raye’s example, again, we have a strong established entity being brought into existence through her strong ‘Motown, Jazz-Pop’ brand identity. Without any failure, there is a recall of her initial style and releases, such as the unmissable ‘Escapism.’ which was the initial touch of success Raye’s branding has had.
But it’s safe to say that the majority of times, a meticulous approach with marketing will eventually identify how to market your music as long as you are true and honest to the art you want to create. Sound is all-encompassing, possibilities and potential is endless. Artists can hone that infinitiveness and create something beautiful, while marketers can take that product and find ways to present it to the world the right way. Easier said than done, but it will always be worth the effort.
Lyrical Hooks
Lyrical hooks are probably a lyricist’s bread and butter. Melodic significance is never diminished but even more heightened by intentional lyrics paired with the same.
An all-time classic example would be Billy Joel’s Vienna which has a common motif of “Slow down” at most section openings. It nearly and immediately commands the listener to take a moment and breathe. It’s a very heavy hook with a very universal sentiment.
Another example I could think of from recent times is Sombr’s “Undressed” and the famous lyrical hook in the bridge that goes:
“And I don’t wanna learn another scent
I don’t want the children of another man
To have the eyes of the girl that I won’t forget
I won’t forget”
Paired with a powerful melody, the bridge of this song had an equally powerful heartbreaking message which encompasses what the song is about. Sombr writes about modern-day heartbreak, and with such a song skyrocketing into the internet forums, it also seals in the brand identity of the artist, with the stylistic compositional choice alongside other aspects of his brand.
Narrative Hooks
Narratives are compelling for artists to share. It builds on curiosity while also making an artists’ music resonate with their personal experiences. Mostly in mainstream pop music, you find several popular narratives being told through music, about personal experiences and feuds. Humans are social creatures after all, and run along to hear more of each side and gather as much as they can from the music that is telling the story.
Since the onset of Raye’s career, she has been frequently compared with Amy Winehouse; both singers are of English origin, and have the common ground of jazz and soul influences. Raye is very much in awe of Amy Winehouse, and often has shared how the comparisons make her feel honored and intimidated in some ways.
Coming to her new album “This Music May Contain Hope” and the song “I will Overcome.”, she digs on this from a different take:
“And it’s funny, some people say I remind them of Amy
Some spit through their keyboards, I’ll never amount
And the evil in insults, the arrows from your tongue
Is the same devils you tortured her with
Anyhow, I
I’ll overcome (She will, she will, she will)
I’ll overcome (Yes, indeed, yes, indeed, yes, indeed)”
The album overall speaks of overcoming past heartbreak and difficult time of her past, she briefly mentions how while the comparisons with Amy are honourable, the public eye can be cruel, unforgiving and unwilling to learn from their own mistakes, how the pressure can be immeasurable, but regardless, she wishes to overcome all of that.
The narrative is simple, and yet very understandable coming from an active advocate for musicians, how the industry functions and how she needs to personally and professionally pivot about it.
Chorus vs Bridge: Functionality Within a Song
The chorus of any song is conventionally considered the most memorable part that listeners would often associate the song with. That idea evolved in itself with the bridge section also being a central focus point as songs build up the anticipation towards the bridge.
One absolutely popular example would be Chappell Roan’s ‘Good luck, babe!’ The bridge and the chorus go as below:
“When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night
With your head in your hands, you’re nothing more than his wife
And when you think about me, all of those years ago
You’re standing face to face with “I told you so”
You know I hate to say, “I told you so”
You know I hate to say, but, I told you so
You can kiss a hundred boys in bars
Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling
You can say it’s just the way you are
Make a new excuse, another stupid reason
Good luck, babe, good luck, babe
You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling”
Both the chorus and the bridge have a raging grasp, expressing grief and anger towards a partner that moved on because of societal pressure against queer love. It’s a simple yet unspoken territory in pop music that Chappell Roan channelled very heartbreakingly in the song.
Hooks of all Shapes, Sizes and Words
While writing music is not strictly theory books-loaded, a sufficient amount of knowledge around music theory and songwriting concepts coined and documented by experienced artists and educators in the field, takes your writing a long long way. In Great Songwriting Techniques by Jack Perricone (Chair Emeritus of Songwriting at Berklee College of Music), Perricone has coined some interesting takes on hooks in songwriting.
Luxury Airliner
Calling it a ‘luxury airliner,’ he talks about a pre-chorus trope which is no longer a bridge between the verses and the chorus, but rather is destined to be housing some additional hook. He describes this experience as “likened to going on a trip, getting on board a luxury airliner, being served caviar and champagne, and enjoying it so much that you momentarily forget that you are still traveling to your main destination—until you actually arrive there.”
With this take on definitive ways to look at sections, I observed an interesting airliner example extending sections. In Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around Comes Back Around”, the lyrics we need to look at are:
“[Pre-Chorus]
Don’t wanna think about it (Uh)
Don’t wanna talk about it (Uh)
I’m just so sick about it
Can’t believe it’s endin’ this way
Just so confused about it (Uh)
Feelin’ the blues about it (Yeah)
I just can’t do without ya
Tell me, is this fair?
[Chorus]
Is this the way it’s really goin’ down?
Is this how we say goodbye?
Should’ve known better when you came around
That you were gonna make me cry
It’s breakin’ my heart to watch you run around
‘Cause I know that you’re livin’ a lie
But that’s okay, baby, ’cause in time, you will find
[Refrain]
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around”
https://open.spotify.com/track/3pD0f7hSJg2XdQ6udw5Tey?si=17a4430d0f1349d0
The lyrics are pretty much in a linear storyline in a confrontational second-person tone, but has a very slow buildup to the point. The verses give the basic context into the story, where the singer tells that he has been betrayed by his lover. The pre-chorus teases the fact that the singer is feeling the blues because of the loss of the relationship, he is confused and shattered because of the infidelity. Entering with that confusion in the chorus though, he mentions that he sees her “run around” and that tells that there’s more to the story. He recovers by the refrain with a calm yet snarky tone, acknowledging the fact that what happened to him is going to naturally happen to her, which it does.
But this linear writing keeps you hanging in the airliner and does not quite land to any satisfaction, both melodically and lyrically, until the refrain “what goes around, comes all the way back around” comes in and finally announces the true emotions behind the song. In the entire process, every section acted as just a minor turbulence midair along with the unexpected turns, taking sweet time to reach to the point of the song, up until the refrain—the final destination. The best, most hooky part, the refrain, feels like the chorus more than chorus itself, like how Perricone describes this breezy airline journey!
Rhythmic Hook
If someone were to play the beginning of “We Will Rock You” by Queen, you know immediately about the song, and start to move and stomp stomp clap to the beat.
Similarly, Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” has a muted guitar in the intro which gives the base rhythm of the rest of the song. The drums and bass later join in to emphasise the rhythm, and turn it so memorable that whenever and wherever you hear it, you will undeniably hear Adele singing on top of it in your head!
Rhythmic hooks function as a hook for bodily movement and have a staple recall sometimes for popular genres and styles adapted by specific artists at times. While lyrics and melody move your soul, rhythmic sections get your body moving.
Anything is a Hook!
A catchy melody, a good rhythmic section, a narrative behind the song, an impressive riff…literally anything is a hook. The common ground for both a musical hook and a marketing hook is the intention behind, to connect with the world that could use some more musical genius in their lives.