When Selena Gomez dropped Come & Get It back in 2013, it didn't just climb the charts. It basically nuked her "Disney kid" image in under four minutes. It’s wild to think about now, but back then, people weren't sure if the girl from Wizards of Waverly Place could actually transition into a serious solo pop star. She'd had hits with her band, The Scene, sure. But this was different. This was solo. This was "adult."
And honestly? It almost never happened.
There is a long-standing bit of music trivia that is 100% true: the song was originally meant for Rihanna. The legendary production duo Stargate—who basically lived on the Billboard Top 10 for a decade—wrote it during the sessions for Rihanna’s Talk That Talk album. Rihanna passed. Then it sat on a shelf until Selena heard it and basically fought for it. She knew it was her ticket out of the bubblegum pop world and into something a bit more dangerous.
Why Come & Get It Changed Everything for Selena
Before this track, Selena’s sound was very much "safety-first" electropop. It was cute. It was catchy. But Come & Get It felt heavy. It had that grinding, low-end dubstep influence that was everywhere in 2013, thanks to people like Skrillex (who Selena actually worked with on the Spring Breakers soundtrack right before this).
The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. That’s a massive deal. It was her first Top 10 hit as a solo artist, proving that the public was ready to buy what she was selling without the "and the Scene" tag attached to her name. It wasn't just a radio hit, either; it was a cultural moment that forced people to look at her as a woman, not just a teen idol.
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The Stargate and Ester Dean Magic
You can’t talk about the sound of this track without mentioning Ester Dean. She’s the secret weapon behind massive hits like Rihanna’s "S&M" and Katy Perry’s "Firework." If you listen closely to the vocal production on Come & Get It, you can hear Ester’s influence in those rhythmic "na-na-na" chants.
The production is a weird, chaotic blend of:
- Punjabi Bhangra beats (that iconic tabla rhythm).
- Heavy dubstep drops during the chorus.
- Electropop synths that keep the energy high.
It’s a mix that shouldn't work on paper. Usually, "world music" influences in pop feel forced, but here, they felt central to the song's DNA.
The Bindi Controversy and Cultural Appropriation
We have to talk about the elephant in the room. Selena didn’t just release a song; she released a whole aesthetic. For the 2013 MTV Movie Awards and several subsequent performances, she leaned heavily into South Asian imagery. She wore a bindi. She did Bollywood-inspired choreography.
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At the time, the Universal Society of Hinduism actually demanded an apology. They felt the bindi was a sacred religious symbol being used as a "seductive" fashion accessory. It was one of the first major "cultural appropriation" conversations of the modern social media era.
Selena’s take? She called it "glamorous" and "unexpected." In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, she mentioned she wanted to try something different and was inspired by the "tribal" and "Middle Eastern" (her words) vibes of the track. Looking back through a 2026 lens, the performance feels like a time capsule of a period where pop stars often treated cultures like costumes without much pushback until the backlash hit.
The "Is This About Justin Bieber?" Factor
You can't talk about 2013 Selena without talking about the "Jelena" of it all. Fans were obsessed. Every single lyric was scrutinized to see if it was a message to Justin.
Lyrics like "This love will be the death of me, but I know I'll die happily" or "I'm not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets" felt like a public diary entry. Selena, for her part, played it cool. She told the press it wasn't about a specific person but rather about "strength and confidence."
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Most fans didn't buy that. They saw it as an anthem for a "can't quit you" kind of relationship. Even if she didn't write the words herself—since Stargate and Ester Dean handled the songwriting—the way she performed it felt deeply personal. It gave the song an emotional weight that a "standard" pop song usually lacks.
The Lasting Legacy of the Stars Dance Era
Stars Dance was the album that followed, and while it was a number one record, Selena has been pretty vocal in later years about not feeling totally connected to that era of her music. She was still finding her voice. Literally.
But Come & Get It remains a staple. It’s the song that proved Selena Gomez had "the stuff." It’s also a perfect example of the transition from the "clean" Disney era to the more experimental pop we see today.
If you're revisiting the track today, you'll notice it holds up surprisingly well. The production doesn't sound as dated as other 2013 EDM-pop tracks. It’s got a grit to it. It’s sassy. It’s confident. And it’s the moment Selena Gomez stopped being a "character" and started being a superstar.
How to Use This Info for Your Next Playlist
- Listen for the Rihanna connection: Try to imagine Rihanna’s raspy tone on the "na-na-nas"—it changes the whole vibe of the song.
- Compare the production: Put this track next to "Slow Down" from the same album. You can see how she was playing with different levels of EDM intensity.
- Check the credits: Look up Ester Dean’s other work from 2012-2014 to see how she practically defined the sound of that entire pop era.
Next Step for Your Deep Dive
To understand how much Selena has evolved, listen to Come & Get It back-to-back with "Lose You to Love Me." The difference in vocal control and emotional honesty shows the massive journey she took from being a vessel for a Stargate hit to a songwriter in her own right.