Opulence

"Opulence" is a song performed by British recording artist Alesha and Brazilian recording artist Paulo Araujo, written and produced by Alesha for her ninth studio album Alesha (2014). Fan interest and warm critical reception led to the release of "Opulence" as the album's third single, together with "Unbeknownst" – another duet between the pair recorded for Araujo's seventh studio album Profanities (also 2014). Despite being old friends, the tracks mark the first musical collaborations between Alesha and Araujo.

Sonically, "Opulence" is a synthpop and R&B track containing 1980s throbbing synths laid over an electronic beat. The song's lyrics represent themes of sexual intimacy and wealth, with Alesha and Araujo commanding each other to "touch this skin." The track contains vocal excerpts from the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, a landmark LGBT film. An accompanying music video for the song was filmed by Ben Mor, drawing inspiration from Disney's 1992 animated film Aladdin. The high-budget clip received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, although it was maligned by areas of the "blogosphere" for elements of cultural appropriation. Disney ultimately sued Alesha, Paulo Araujo and their respective record labels, claiming that the video infringes on their copyrighted work and indicating that permission was never granted.

"Opulence"/"Unbeknownst" was a commercial success, becoming Alesha's fifteenth number-one single and her first since returning to the music industry after a three-year hiatus. For Araujo, it was his tenth chart-topper. The single sold over 100,000 copies in its first week of release and also topped airplay charts. Alesha and Paulo Araujo performed "Opulence" and "Unbeknownst" at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards and on Saturday Night Live. Alesha also sang a solo version of the track on The Late Show with Dave Letterman. "Opulence" was included in the set list of Alesha: Renaissance Live; Araujo joined Alesha to perform the track in Vancouver.

Critical reception
Upon release, "Opulence" received generally positive response from reviewers. Critics complimented the simplicity of the song, with some comparing Alesha's vocals to [[ Alexa Camp, writing for Slant Magazine, describes the track as "a measured electro banger that smartly doubles as a love song." Lars Brandle of Billboard complimented the song as "radio-friendly" and concluded that "Alesha is in good form." Lipshutz from the same publication wrote that the song and its lyrics were a "thrilling listen, intoxicatingly defiant." Writing for The Daily Beast, Kevin Fallon was highly enthusiastic toward the song, calling it "pure pop heaven" and giving his praise to its "chorus that will make it a radio hit..... and driving, danceable beat throughout." Jim Farber of New York Daily News gave the song four out of five stars, saying that the "music provides its own quirk. To match the R&B-style beat — and the guest appearance by Paulo Araujo — Alesha finds a new soul edge to her voice. She belts, scoring a hit in every sense."

A mixed review came from Kyle Anderson from Entertainment Weekly, who felt that Alesha and Araujo's vocals track did not "come together" since Alesha's singing style interfered with the composition of the song as well as Araujo's R&B vocals. Anderson also felt that the lyrics were rehashed and subpar. He concluded saying that the song is "an intriguing mind-meld nonetheless".