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K-12

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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 6, 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 6, 2019.

2015[]

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

On October 6, 2015, Melanie shared her experience with writing a hook for a hip-hop song initially two days prior, (October 4, 2015).[5] 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 26, 2015, Melanie revealed in an interview about her second studio album's theme.[6]

"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

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, while on the Cry Baby Tour, Melanie was working on writing and conceptualizing songs such as Detention. [7]

On April 13, 2016, and May 17, 2016, Melanie posted two photos on Instagram with lyrics in both captions, revealing two songs that would be on the album. 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 on June 30, 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.[8]

In August 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 12, 2016, Melanie tweeted that she was at home in LA writing music.[9] These songs were likely intended, or are, on her second studio album.

On October 27, 2016, Melanie shared: "Right now I have one more song to write, and a couple of bridges to write" for K-12.[10] Four days later, on October 31, 2016, Melanie revealed that she was in the studio recording/writing the album.[11]

2017-2018[]

On February 1, 2017, Melanie posted a picture of herself in the studio with Michael Keenan; with a text below, writing:[12]

"🐻✂️🌟🍼in the studio✌🏼 W/👶🏼 @michaelkeenan."

Melanie Martinez

On March 19, 2017, Melanie shared on Twitter: "this weekend has been very productive. Currently writing and recording" for the album.[13]

Between the timeline of March 25-26, 2017, "Show & Tell" was written and recorded with a voice memo during her stay at a hotel while performing at Lollapalooza Brazil.[14]

In May 2017, Melanie revealed that she was finishing up the bonus tracks, or the deluxe tracks.[15]

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 15, 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.[16]

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

Release & promotion[]

On May 15, 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 16, 2019, Melanie officially unveiled the album cover on all social media platforms, revealing that the album is also titled “K-12”.

On May 22, 2019, a second teaser trailer for the film was released. A third teaser was released on May 29, 2019, along with the album and film's release date. On June 17, 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 24, 2019.

On July 23, 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 29, 2019. Any fans who pre-ordered the album up until August 5 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 20, 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 8, 2020, via Melanie's Instagram story that the deluxe version would be released in the format of an extended play titled After School EP.

On January 10, 2020, Melanie started a TikTok challenge for fans to show their best "handshake dance" to promote "Lunchbox Friends" as a single.[17]

On September 6, 2024, an email was sent by Spotify to Melanie's top fans on the streaming platform saying that in celebration of the fifth anniversary of K-12, Melanie designed a picture disc vinyl and a merch line exclusively for her top fans on Spotify. The picture disc vinyl and the items in the merch line were available until September 13, 2024 at 12:00 pm EDT or while supplies last.

Tours[]

Main article: K-12 Tour

Melanie embarked on the K-12 Tour beginning on October 2019, and ending in December 2019, in support of the album. The second leg of the tour began in January 2020, and ended in February 2020. The third leg, titled the K-12 Summer Tour, was set to begin in June 2020; however, Melanie announced in an Instagram story on May 14, 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[18], 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. Out of 20 songs, 9 of them are performed, while five of them were shortened. For each show, Melanie was wearing a pink K-12 uniform, but later on she changed it to a purple one.

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.[19] The standard version of the album has a total of 13 songs,[20] 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.[21] According to Melanie, "You're not learning about her, you're learning about the place that she's in and her perspective".[22]

Characters[]

Track list[]

There are 13 tracks on the standard, and 7 additional tracks, also known as After School EP, for the deluxe version. There is both an explicit and clean version of the standard album.

There are currently 16 known 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). 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.

  • 🅴 indicates the song is explicit, but also has a clean version.
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Wheels on the Bus 🅴"  Melanie Martinez • Michael Keenan • Emily WarrenKeenan 3:40
2. "Class Fight 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:41
3. "The Principal 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:56
4. "Show & Tell 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:35
5. "Nurse's Office 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:22
6. "Drama Club 🅴"  Martinez • Jeremy Dussolliet • Tim SommersOne Love 3:45
7. "Strawberry Shortcake 🅴"  Martinez • Keenan • WarrenKeenan 3:04
8. "Lunchbox Friends 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:49
9. "Orange Juice"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:37
10. "Detention 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:56
11. "Teacher's Pet 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 4:01
12. "High School Sweethearts 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 5:11
13. "Recess 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:50
Total length:
 46:27
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Wheels on the Bus 🅴"  Melanie Martinez • Michael Keenan • Emily WarrenKeenan 3:40
2. "Class Fight 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:41
3. "The Principal 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:56
4. "Show & Tell 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:35
5. "Nurse's Office 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:22
6. "Drama Club 🅴"  Martinez • Jeremy Dussolliet • Tim SommersOne Love 3:45
7. "Strawberry Shortcake 🅴"  Martinez • Keenan • WarrenKeenan 3:04
8. "Lunchbox Friends 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:49
9. "Orange Juice"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:37
10. "Detention 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:56
11. "Teacher's Pet 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 4:01
12. "High School Sweethearts 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 5:11
13. "Recess 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:50
Total length:
 46:27
After School – Deluxe Edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
14. "Notebook 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:31
15. "Test Me"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 2:55
16. "Brain & Heart"  Martinez • Keenan • Fred Jerkins III • Jennifer Lopez • LaShawn Deniels • Mark Rooney • Rodney JerkinsKeenan 3:24
17. "Numbers 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 4:40
18. "Glued 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:13
19. "Field Trip 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:01
20. "The Bakery 🅴"  Martinez • Blake SlatkinSlatkin 2:33
Total length:
 1:08:39
iTunes bonus video / physical DVD
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
14. "K-12"  MartinezTyler Zelinsky • Kimberly Stuckwisch • Alissa Torvinen • Gergely Varga 1:32:06
Total length:
 2:18:33
Bonus Pink Heart-Shaped Vinyl
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Strawberry Shortcake 🅴"  Martinez • KeenanKeenan 3:04
Total length:
 54:42


Draft track listing[]

According to Melanie, the track list for her album was completed before she wrote "Show & Tell." However, it's unclear which song "Show & Tell" replaced. In 2017, Melanie wrote and recorded "Show & Tell" using a voice memo during her stay at a hotel during Lollapalooza, which ultimately led to its inclusion in the final version of the album.

Early drafts of the deluxe edition only included three tracks, which would later evolve into the After School EP in the final rendition.

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 early 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"

Unknown songs[]

These are songs with unknown titles that Melanie has worked on but were only mentioned with little information. There are no audio files surfacing as of now.

In an interview with Paper Magazine, American singer-songwriter Noah Cyrus stated that Melanie Martinez was the first person to take her into a studio and they wrote a song together sometime in 2016, as a presentation of Noah's work to Maverick Management.[23]

On December 3rd, 2015[24], Melanie Martinez tweeted that she wrote "a really sick song in the tub",[25] however, she apparently said that no guitar would be in the song.[26]

According to Melanie, the track list for her album was completed before she wrote "Show & Tell". However, it's unclear which song "Show & Tell" replaced. In 2017, Melanie wrote and recorded "Show & Tell" using a voice memo during her stay at a hotel during Lollapalooza, which ultimately led to its inclusion in the final version of the album instead of the unknown song.

To see even more unknown songs check here.

Session songs[]

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

  1. "AK-47" (HYDDE collab)
  2. "Night Mime" (pitch version)
  3. "I Scream" (Snow Tha Product collab)

Music videos[]

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

Release history[]

Digital[]

Release name Format Release date Edition Tracks
K-12 Digital download • streaming September 6, 2019 Standard 13
K-12 Digital download • streaming September 6, 2019 Standard, clean 13
K-12 (After School - Deluxe Edition) Digital download • streaming September 25, 2020 Deluxe 20

Physical[]

Release variant Region Release date Edition Additional notes
Baby Pink 12" LP USA September 6, 2019 Standard Pop-up gatefold[note 1]
Mint Green 12" LP USA September 6, 2019 Standard Limited edition, pop-up gatefold[note 1]
Mint Green 12" LP + Pink Heart-Shaped 10" Single USA September 6, 2019 Standard Limited edition, pop-up gatefold[note 1]
Lilac 12" LP USA September 6, 2019 Standard Limited Urban Outfitters exclusive, 5000 copies only, pop-up gatefold[note 1]
Blue-Gray Marble 12" LP USA April 18, 2024 Standard Limited Barnes & Noble exclusive
Violet (Opaque) 12" LP USA April 26, 2024 Standard Walmart exclusive
Violet (Translucent) 12" LP Europe April 26, 2024 Standard -
Baby Pink 12" LP USA May 3, 2024 Standard Repressed version with new gatefold
CDs
Standard CD Australia, Canada, Brazil, Europe & USA September 6, 2019 Standard -
Standard CD/DVD Brazil, Europe & USA September 6, 2019 Standard -
Cassettes
Pink Cassette USA September 6, 2019 Standard Webstore exclusive

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.

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

Gallery[]

Trilogy tour houston 7
To view the gallery of K-12 (album), click here.

Trivia[]

  • The songs on this album that were written out of Melanie's experience are "Wheels On the Bus", "The Principal", "Show & Tell", "Drama Club", "Strawberry Shortcake", "Lunchbox Friends", "Detention", "High School Sweethearts" and "Recess".
  • This is Melanie's only album with more than 16 tracks on the deluxe edition.
    • Because of this, K-12 is Melanie's longest album on the deluxe edition.
  • 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.
    • On the deluxe edition, "Notebook" is the shortest song, lasting for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
  • "Nurse's Office", "Orange Juice", "Test Me", and "Brain & Heart" 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 24, 2018.[27]
  • Melanie's favorite song on the album is "Nurse's Office".[28]
  • The album's deluxe edition surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
    • In 2024, the album's deluxe edition surpassed 2 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 album was certified gold by the RIAA on September 13, 2021.
    • It was later certified platinum on September 9, 2024.
  • "Teacher's Pet" was certified gold by the RIAA on July 15, 2022; this makes it the first and so far only track from K-12 to receive a certification.
  • "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.
  • "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.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 All LPs labeled with "pop-up gatefold" have been discontinued. In 2024, all non-limited vinyl variants have been repressed with a new gatefold, which does not have the special pop-up.

References[]

  1. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/ByDWlQTAa1R/
  2. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8530004/post-malone-hollywoods-bleeding-No1-debut-billboard-200-chart
  3. ↑ File:4BCF3703-1A2A-4D81-BEEE-F8EC8A37BEF0.jpeg
  4. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CRbE7bPlKGe/
  5. ↑ https://www.ladygunn.com/music/melanie-martinez/
  6. ↑ https://v13.net/2015/10/an-interview-with-melanie-martinez-mod-club-toronto-oct-26-2015-2/
  7. ↑ http://lanaboards.com/topic/8111-melanie-martinez/page/1437/?tab=comments#comment-1734317
  8. ↑ https://youtu.be/3DeZytjd1CQ?t=285
  9. ↑
    12-10-2016 tweet
  10. ↑ https://www.teenvogue.com/story/melanie-martinez-interview-cry-baby-new-music
  11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20161124080141/https://twitter.com/melanieLBBH/
  12. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CRd1ECrlq3i
  13. ↑
    2e4f67d104a64c7e90179ca01b843936ead5f5ff hq
  14. ↑ File:Show & Tell Alt Press Interview.png
  15. ↑ File:69c424c3858b3cbcf734ab8ca3ec0d9f6612e244 hq.jpg
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20171205015447/https://twitter.com/billboard/status/897490601268187136
  17. ↑ File:LBF.png
  18. ↑ File:Canceled_Tour.png
  19. ↑ http://www.fuse.tv/videos/2016/05/melanie-martinez-interview-fuse-first-next-album
  20. ↑ http://g1.globo.com/musica/lollapalooza/2017/noticia/melanie-martinez-faz-pop-sombrio-inspirado-em-depressao-e-donald-trump-ele-e-assustador.ghtml
  21. ↑ http://www.theaquarian.com/2016/03/23/an-interview-with-melanie-martinez-its-her-party/
  22. ↑ https://lithiummagazine.com/2015/10/27/an-interview-with-melanie-martinez-mod-club-toronto-oct-26-2015-2/
  23. ↑ https://www.papermag.com/noah-cyrus-halloween-2641154384.html
  24. ↑ https://x.com/ahricynthia5/status/672306903007952900
  25. ↑ https://x.com/pairofblackeyes/status/673154688620081152
  26. ↑ https://x.com/mc355sb/status/672325911224692736
  27. ↑ https://twitter.com/michaelkeenan/status/956267758349565952
  28. ↑ https://twitter.com/MelanieLBBH/status/1166729187006267398

Navigation[]

v • e
K-12
Featured tracks Wheels On the Bus • Class Fight • The Principal • Show & Tell • Nurse's Office • Drama Club • Strawberry Shortcake • Lunchbox Friends • Orange Juice • Detention • Teacher's Pet • High School Sweethearts • Recess
Bonus tracks Film • Notebook • Test Me • Brain & Heart • Numbers • Glued • Field Trip • The Bakery
Scrapped tracks Eraser • Glue Stick • Papercut
Related tracks Angels Song • AK-47 (with HYDDE) • Fire Drill • Night Mime • I Scream (with Snow Tha Product)
Characters Cry Baby • Angelita • Celeste • Magnolia • Fleur • Lilith • Ben • Leo • Kelly • K-12 students • Chloe • Lucy • Holly • Rachel • Blue Boy • Brandon • The Principal • School staff • Nurses • Ms. Daphne • Mr. Cornwell • Ms. Harper • Ms. Penelope • Biology Teacher • Counselor • Miss Victoria • Phillipe • Ghosts • Bakery workers • Abuelita
Producers Michael Keenan • One Love • Melanie Martinez (exec.) (deluxe) • Blake Slatkin (deluxe)
Tour K-12 Tour • K-12 Summer Tour (cancelled) • CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12 • The Trilogy Tour
Locations K-12 Sleepaway School • Cry Baby's house
Extras Merchandise • Assignments • Promotional photo shoot • Early concept photo shoot • After School EP
v • e
After School Text
Featured tracks Notebook • Test Me • Brain & Heart • Numbers • Glued • Field Trip • The Bakery
Scrapped tracks Absorb • Clockwork • Copy Cat (ft. Tierra Whack) • Erase Her • Fire Drill • Function • History • Lost & Found • Paper Cut • Spin The Bottle • Trophy • Under The Desk
Related tracks Chrysalis • Maze • The Tunnel
Characters Abuelita • Bunnies
Producers Blake Slatkin • Melanie Martinez (exec.) • Michael Keenan
Extra K-12 • CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M OUT OF K-12 • All Hallow's Eve • Merchandise
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