Melanie Martinez Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Dramaclub2
"You're over-analyzing every word I say"

This page lacks references of one or various claims. You can help the Melanie Martinez wiki by adding citations.

You are reading the page dedicated to the album. You may have been wanting to read about the film of the same name.

K-12 is the sophomore studio album and second major-label record by Melanie Martinez. It was released on September 6th, 2019, by Atlantic Records through digital download, CD, cassette and vinyl.[1] The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 57,000 total copies sold in its first week.[2]

Background[]

Melanie began recording the album in 2015 and finished in 2017.[3] It was originally set to be released in the fall of 2017, then got postponed to January 2018. However, it was later pushed back to early 2019, but got pushed back further to later that year. It was officially released on September 6th, 2019.

2015[]

Around late 2015, Melanie teased her second album's concept through an Instagram post.[4]

On October 6th, 2015, Melanie shared her experience with writing a hook for a hip-hop song initially two days ago, (October 4th, 2015).[citation needed] She was most likely talking about "Class Fight".

"Two days ago. I was writing a hook for a hip-hop song and got really frustrated. Then my friend said some things that made me rethink everything I was writing."
Melanie Martinez

On October 26th, 2015, Melanie revealed in an interview about her second studio album's theme.[citation needed]

"I think I have a title, but I don't wanna say anything yet, because I don't know and it's too early."
Melanie Martinez

During the same interview, she then later revealed her visions about the next album:

"It's a place in a weird town that I'm trying to create and it's Cry Baby's perspective throughout this album. You're not learning about her, you're learning about the place that she's in and her perspective. Down the line for sure I will think of other characters in this world. I've already thought about ways to incorporate a character into the second album just by pitching my vocal down."
Melanie Martinez

On December 3rd, 2015, Melanie shared that she wrote a really sick song in the tub.[citation needed] It is still unknown which song she was referring to up to this day.

2016[]

In January 2016, multiple songs like "Drama Club", "Eraser", "Glue Stick", and "Papercut" were all written and recorded with the intention of being in the album, although "Drama Club" was the only song to make it to the final cut.

In February 2016, on tour, Melanie was working on writing and conceptualizing songs such as Detention. [5]

On April 13th, 2016, and May 17th, 2016, Melanie posted two photos on Instagram with lyrics in both captions, revealing two songs that would be on the second album (K-12). Those songs were later revealed to be "High School Sweethearts" and "Lunchbox Friends".

In May 2016, it was revealed that Melanie was in the studio with CJ Baran during that month.[citation needed]

In an interview with Beats 1, (June 30th, 2016), Melanie once again shared that her sophomore album would be set in a particular place in Cry Baby's town with Cry Baby acting as the narrator. New characters would be introduced and the album would be based off of Cry Baby's experiences there. Melanie also revealed that she would be working with Michael Keenan for the whole record.[6]

In August of 2016, Melanie and Emily Warren had written "Recess", and a lot of numerous songs at that point that they've worked on together like "Wheels on the Bus" and "Strawberry Shortcake".

On October 12th, 2016, Melanie tweeted that she was at home in LA writing music.[citation needed] These songs were likely intended, or are, on her second studio album.

On October 27th, 2016, Melanie shared: "Right now I have one more song to write, and a couple of bridges to write" for K-12. Four days later, on October 31st, 2016, Melanie revealed that she was in the studio recording/writing the album.[citation needed]

2017-2018[]

On February 1st, 2017, Melanie posted a picture of herself in the studio with Michael Keenan; with a text below, writing:[citation needed]

"finishing up album 2 vocals at the studio w @michaelkeenan."
Melanie Martinez

On March 19th, 2017, Melanie shared on Twitter: "this weekend has been very productive. Currently writing and recording" for the album.[7]

Behind the timeline of March 25th-26th, 2017, "Show & Tell" was written and recorded with a voice memo during her stay at a hotel while performing at Lollapalooza Brazil.[8]

In May 2017, Melanie revealed that she was finishing up the bonus tracks, or the deluxe tracks.[9]

In June 2017, songs like "Erase Her", "Notebook", "Trophy", and other unknown deluxe tracks were written and recorded with the intention of being included on the deluxe edition of K-12.

On August 15th, 2017, Melanie explained in a Billboard interview that she was finishing up the bonus tracks, with all of the standard tracks having already been mastered.[10]

Melanie spent most of 2018 working on K-12 which accompanies this album.

Release & promotion[]

On May 15th, 2019, a teaser trailer for the film was released, revealing that the official title of the film was K-12. Melanie revealed the new website layout on the same day and a low-quality version of the album cover leaked through the site's source code. The next day on May 16th, 2019, Melanie officially unveiled the album cover on all social media platforms, revealing that the album is also titled K-12.

On May 22nd, 2019, a second teaser trailer for the film was released. A third teaser was released on May 29th, 2019, along with the album and film's release date. On June 17th, 2019, a preview featuring clips of the movie and a snippet of a new song, later revealed to be "Nurse's Office", was premiered at the MTV Movie Awards. Melanie began promoting the album with assignments on June 24th, 2019.

On July 23rd, 2019, the film's official trailer was released along with the album's song list. Additionally, pre-ordering merchandise became available. The K-12 Tour was announced on July 29th, 2019. Any fans who pre-ordered the album up until August 5th gained early access to tickets.

Beginning in September 2019, Melanie promoted the album by having the pink school bus from the film drive around the world, stopping at various locations to sell exclusive merchandise. The second leg of the K-12 Tour was announced on September 20th, 2019, with tickets going on sale a week later.

In an interview with V Magazine, Melanie confirmed that a deluxe version will likely be available in 2020. It was later revealed on January 8th, 2020, via Melanie's Instagram story that the deluxe version would be released in the format of an extended play titled After School.

On January 10th, 2020, Melanie started a TikTok challenge for fans to show their best "handshake dance" to promote "Lunchbox Friends" as a single.[11]

Tours[]

Main article: K-12 Tour

Melanie embarked on the K-12 Tour beginning on October 13th, 2019, and ending on December 17th, 2019, in support of the album. The second leg of the tour began on January 21st, 2020, and ended on February 17th, 2020. The third leg, titled the K-12 Summer Tour, was set to begin on June 3rd, 2020, and end on July 26th, 2020; however, Melanie announced in an Instagram story on May 14th, 2020, that the summer tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The summer tour was then replaced by the virtual concert CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12 in December 2020[12], which featured every song on After School EP except "Notebook".

Main article: The Trilogy Tour

In 2024, Melanie embarked on The Trilogy Tour, a tour featuring songs from her first 3 albums, Cry Baby, K-12 and PORTALS.

Story and theme[]

The album is set in Cry Baby's school and is told from her perspective. According to Melanie, it is Cry Baby stepping outside of her family and love life and acting as a narrator for the album.[13] The standard version of the album has a total of 13 songs,[14] and each track represents a different grade level from Kindergarten through 12th grade.

The album also introduces new characters, specifically friends of Cry Baby at her school, although Cry Baby is still a main focus.[15] According to Melanie, "You're not learning about her, you're learning about the place that she's in and her perspective".[16]

Characters[]

Locations[]

Tracklist[]

There are 13 tracks on the CD, and a separated 7 additional tracks, also known as After School, for the deluxe version. There are currently 16 songs that were intended for K-12, but only some of them made the final cut, (3 tracks are unreleased, and 13 tracks are released). It is unknown how many songs she made for K-12, however, in an interview from 2016, she confirmed that she was aiming to make 30-40 songs in total so she had a lot to choose from.

There is both an explicit version of the album and a clean version. The standard album contains eleven explicit songs, and two non-explicit songs, while the deluxe version contains sixteen explicit songs, and four non-explicit songs. This is Melanie's most explicit album, both standard and deluxe.

  • 🅴 indicates the song is explicit, but also has a clean version.
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Wheels On the Bus" 🅴 Melanie Martinez, Michael Keenan, Emily Warren Keenan 3:40
2. "Class Fight" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 2:41
3. "The Principal" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 2:56
4. "Show & Tell" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 3:35
5. "Nurse's Office" Martinez, Keenan Keenan 3:22
6. "Drama Club" 🅴 Martinez, Jeremy Dussolliett, Timothy Sommers One Love 3:45
7. "Strawberry Shortcake" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan, Warren Keenan 3:04
8. "Lunchbox Friends" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 2:49
9. "Orange Juice" Martinez, Keenan Keenan 3:37
10. "Detention" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 3:56
11. "Teacher's Pet" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 4:01
12. "High School Sweethearts" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 5:11
13. "Recess" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan, Warren Keenan 3:50
After School – Deluxe Edition
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
14. "Notebook" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 2:31
15. "Test Me" Martinez, Keenan Keenan 2:55
16. "Brain & Heart" Martinez, Keenan, Fred Jerkins III, Jennifer Lopez, LaShawn Daniels, Mark Rooney, Rodney Jerkins Keenan 3:24
17. "Numbers" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 4:40
18. "Glued" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 3:13
19. "Field Trip" 🅴 Martinez, Keenan Keenan 3:01
20. "The Bakery" 🅴 Martinez, Blake Slatkin Slatkin 2:33

Cut songs[]

Main article: List of unreleased songs
See also: Cut songs from After School EP

Melanie had recorded many songs between late 2015 and 2017 with the intention of including them on this album. This list is of known songs which didn't make the final cut.

  1. "Eraser"
  2. "Glue Stick"
  3. "Papercut"

During the sessions of K-12, these unreleased tracks were produced, and recorded without the intention of including them on the album.

  1. "AK-47"
  2. "Night Mime"
  3. "I Scream"

Assignments[]

Assignments were a method that Melanie Martinez used to promote her sophomore album, K-12. They were released in specific areas around the world and showcased a snippet of a song from the album. There are 13 released assignments in total.

Title Release & Location Length
Lunchbox Friends New York City, New York, USA - June 24th, 2019 0:20
The Principal London, England, UK - July 2nd, 2019 0:20
Detention Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil - July 9th, 2019 0:21
Recess Los Angeles, California, USA - July 16th, 2019 0:20
High School Sweethearts Buenos Aires, Argentina - July 22nd, 2019 0:22
Wheels on the Bus Chicago, Illinois, USA - August 1st, 2019 0:22
Class Fight New Zealand and Australia - August 8th, 2019 0:22
Teacher's Pet Atlanta, Georgia and Houston/Dallas, Texas, USA - August 15th, 2019 0:20
Show & Tell Canada and Mexico - August 19th, 2019 0:17
Drama Club South Korea and the Philippines - August 24th, 2019 0:21
Nurse's Office Germany - August 28th, 2019 0:19
Orange Juice The Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey - September 2nd, 2019 0:21
Strawberry Shortcake France and Italy - September 4th, 2019 0:19

Music videos[]

Note: all of the music videos except The Bakery are directly from the movie, but were not individually uploaded until much later.

No. Title Release Date Length
1. "Wheels on the Bus" October 10th, 2019 3:55
2. "Class Fight" October 17th, 2019 3:32
3. "The Principal" October 24th, 2019 3:00
4. "Show & Tell" October 3rd, 2019 3:53
5. "Nurse's Office" November 7th, 2019 3:00
6. "Drama Club" November 21th, 2019 3:44
7. "Strawberry Shortcake" December 12th, 2019 3:03
8. "Lunchbox Friends" January 10th, 2020 2:40
9. "Orange Juice" February 3rd, 2020 3:25
10. "Detention" February 4th, 2020 4:06
11. "Teacher's Pet" February 5th, 2020 3:58
12. "High School Sweethearts" February 6th, 2020 5:14
13. "Recess" February 7th, 2020 3:24
14. "The Bakery" September 25th, 2020 2:40

Q&A[]

On May 29th, 2019, Melanie did a Q&A regarding the album and film on her Instagram story. Questions about the album and the answers can be found below.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The longest song on K-12 is "High School Sweethearts", at 5 minutes and 11 seconds, while the shortest song is "Class Fight", lasting for 2 minutes and 41 seconds.
  • "Nurse's Office" and "Orange Juice" are the only two songs on the album that are not considered explicit.
    • Although "Nurse's Office" contains profanity and has a clean version, it is not officially listed as explicit on the regular version of the album.
    • "Nurse's Office" is also not listed as explicit on Spotify.
  • Michael Keenan confirmed that the album was completed on January 24th, 2018.[17]
  • Melanie's favorite song on the album is "Nurse's Office".[18]
  • The album's deluxe edition surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
  • Fans initially speculated that Melanie would release a perfume to accompany this album, as she stated during the Cry Baby Perfume Milk Live Event that she wanted each album to have a perfume. In an interview with Black Book, she stated that she was working on another perfume. In a Zoom interview with fans, she stated that K-12 would indeed be receiving its own perfume. However, it was never released.
    • Because of this, K-12 is the only album that doesn't have a perfume inspired by it until now.
  • The official instrumentals for all of the songs on the standard and deluxe edition have been leaked.
  • In the booklet that came out with physical copies of K-12, "High School Sweethearts" was misspelled as "High School Sweathearts" and "Recess" was misspelled as "Reccess".
    • The spelling errors have since been fixed in newly printed versions of the booklet.
  • "Strawberry Shortcake" had the biggest debut on Spotify, receiving an estimated 659K-679K streams.
  • The album debuted on Spotify with 6.6 million streams.
  • The album debuted at #33 on Spotify US Album Charts and #40 on Spotify Weekly Album Charts.
  • The album charted for 18 weeks on Billboard 200.
  • The K-12 album was certified gold by the RIAA on September 13th, 2021.
  • "Strawberry Shortcake" was one of the first songs recorded for the album. It is also the only song on the album that was recorded in late 2015 that made the final cut.
  • "Drama Club"'s fifth and snippets of the second demos were leaked a year before the album was released.
  • "Papercut" was the first scrapped song to be leaked from the album.
  • K-12 is the shortest standard album in Melanie's discography, at 46 minutes and 27 seconds.

References[]

Navigation[]

ve
K-12
Featured tracks Wheels On the BusClass FightThe PrincipalShow & TellNurse's OfficeDrama ClubStrawberry ShortcakeLunchbox FriendsOrange JuiceDetentionTeacher's PetHigh School SweetheartsRecess
Credit track Fire Drill
Bonus tracks NotebookTest MeBrain & HeartNumbersGluedField TripThe Bakery
Scrapped tracks EraserGlue StickPapercut
Characters Cry BabyAngelitaFleurCelesteMagnoliaLeoBenKellyBlue BoyBrandonBunniesDeanMs. DaphneMr. CornwellMs. HarperMs. PenelopeMiss VictoriaThe PrincipalLilithBiology TeacherPhillipeJanitorGhost GirlAbuelita
Extras Filmmerchandiseassignmentspromotional photo shootAngels SongAfter School EP
Locations K-12 Sleepaway SchoolCry Baby's House
Tour K-12 TourK-12 Tour Part 2K-12 Summer Tour (cancelled)CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12The Trilogy Tour
ve
After School Text
Featured tracks NotebookTest MeBrain & HeartNumbersGluedField TripThe Bakery
Characters AbuelitaBunnies
Scrapped tracks AbsorbCopy Cat (ft. Tierra Whack)Erase HerFire DrillFunctionHistoryLost & FoundMazeOh No!Paper CutSpin The BottleTrophyUnder The Desk
Producers Blake SlatkinMelanie Martinez (exec.)Michael Keenan
Related Promotional photoshootsK-12CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12Merchandise
Advertisement