"Beautiful Girls" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Sean Kingston | ||||
from the album Sean Kingston | ||||
Released | May 26, 2007 | |||
Recorded | 2006-2007 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Sean Kingston singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Beautiful Girls" on YouTube |
"Beautiful Girls" is the debut single by American reggae-influenced musician Sean Kingston from his 2007 eponymous debut album;it was first released in 2007,when Kingston was 17. The song samples the 1961 song "Stand by Me" by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King. The song is about a boy who feels "suicidal" (or "in denial" in the edited version) over the prospect of dating a "beautiful girl". It is Kingston's signature song.
Rapper Lil Mama and actors Kenny Vibert and Lil' JJ are featured in the music video directed by Marcus Raboy,which hit 1 billion YouTube views on September 8,2022. [2]
Due to the lyrics containing references to suicide,the track was removed from various radio playlists including FM104 in Dublin,where complaints were phoned in on a late night chat show,The Adrian Kennedy Phoneshow,and Wild 102 in Roseau,Minnesota. It was allegedly pulled from 2FM although a spokesperson said the song was not on its playlist at the time but did not confirm if it had been prior. [3] FM104 replaced "suicidal" with "in denial",a change Sean Kingston made for the radio station. The edited version also changed the line "Damn all these beautiful girls" to "Man,all these beautiful girls",and "When I went away for doing my first crime" became "When I'd rush back just to see you in time".
US promo CD
UK CD single
The song benefited from extensive airplay before its digital release,reaching as high as number 17 on the Hot 100. On July 24,"Beautiful Girls" was accidentally leaked onto the US iTunes Store,two days before the planned release date. The week after the song's digital release it hit number one on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs,debuting with 260,000 downloads in its first week (the second highest digital sales for a new song of 2007,only behind Rihanna's "Umbrella"). [4] Kingston became the first artist born within the 1990s to top the Hot 100,beating rapper Soulja Boy Tell 'Em to it by six weeks. [5] It has also gone on to occupy the top spot on the US Hot 100 Airplay and the Canadian Hot 100. It remained on top of the UK Singles Chart for four weeks before being knocked off by the Sugababes' first single from their fifth studio album Change ,"About You Now". The song ended 2007 as the year's 15th biggest-selling single in the UK. [6] On the official ARIA charts in Australia,it debuted at number one but fell to number two the following week when Delta Goodrem's comeback single took the top spot. "Beautiful Girls" returned the next week and remained for a month before being replaced by Timbaland's "The Way I Are".
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [62] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [63] | Gold | 30,000* |
Canada (Music Canada) [64] | 2× Platinum | 80,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [65] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Germany (BVMI) [66] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [67] | Platinum | 15,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [68] | Gold | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [69] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [70] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
Ringtone | ||
Canada (Music Canada) [71] | 3× Platinum | 120,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [72] Ringtone | Platinum | 20,000* |
United States (RIAA) [73] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
A few months after "Beautiful Girls" was released in 2007, a new online video service called Votigo began a cover contest in which fans could submit covers of the song for a chance to get a call from Sean Kingston. After an online vote user Mallory Robbins won with an a cappella version of the song. Top honors also went to a rock cover of the song performed by the Ailan Christopher Project. Shortly afterwards, singer JoJo released a cover response version of the track which was released on Myspace, however was not featured on her upcoming album. Chris Moyles also released a parody cover, however it was about the song describing how bad it was in his opinion.
The lead singer of Sublime with Rome, Rome, sang the acoustic version of "Beautiful Girls" on RAWsession on October 20, 2008.
The Plain White T's, whose song was knocked out of the charts by this one, did a cover version for Yahoo Music. Lead vocalist Tom Higgenson says that the group "started covering it as a joke almost. We started learning it because we were number one for a few weeks and then we got knocked out of the number one spot by Sean Kingston, by this song. It's kind of like an ode to Sean." [74] To close out the song guitarist Mike Retondo breaks into the chorus of "Stand by Me", which is also done in the cover version by Boyce Avenue, a nod to the fact that that song's bassline is used in "Beautiful Girls". Maverick Sabre did the same at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. [75]
Teddy Geiger covered the song on her 2007 tour, due to popularity a recorded version of the song will be featured as a bonus track on the iTunes version of her upcoming CD The March.
Lil' Brianna remixed the song and featured Kingston's vocals on her second mixtape, Princess of Miami.
Jesse McCartney covered "Beautiful Girls" during his Right Where You Want Me tour.
David Archuleta briefly sang the chorus of the song at the end of his May 6, 2008 performance on the American TV show American Idol . He was singing Ben E. King's original "Stand by Me" song.
Deer Tick recorded a cover of "Beautiful Girls", which can be found on Myspace.
Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter recorded a cover of this song and has occasionally performed it live.
Boyband JLS performed a mashup of "Beautiful Girls" and "Stand by Me" as their bottom two performance on the fifth series of the UK TV show The X Factor . A year later on series six of the show, Lloyd Daniels sang the chorus and last verse of the song in his November 30, 2008 performance, also singing King's original "Stand by Me".
Bayside covers the song on Punk Goes Pop Volume Two .
BAMF! recorded a version entitled "Bootyfull Girl".
Russell Crowe, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, and Alan Doyle performed a cover version during the press tour for Robin Hood and at several benefit shows afterwards.
"Beautiful Girls Reply" | |
---|---|
Song by JoJo | |
Released | July 20, 2007 |
Recorded | 2007 |
Genre | R&B |
Length | 3:32 |
Label |
|
Songwriter(s) | Joanna "JoJo" Levesque |
Producer(s) | J.R. Rotem |
"Beautiful Girls" (also known as "Beautiful Girls Reply") is a song by American singer JoJo. It was released digitally on July 20, 2007, as a cover response to "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston. [76] The song samples Ben E. King's classic "Stand by Me" and uses digital pitch correction technology on the vocals. Whereas Kingston's version is about a boy who is suicidal over the failure of his relationship with a "beautiful girl", JoJo speaks from a girl's perspective.
The song debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart one month after its release.
Chart (2007) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard) [77] | 39 |
This song is featured in the 2008 monster film Cloverfield , the 2019 crime drama Hustlers , and on The CW's Gossip Girl . The "suicidal" version of the song, which ends differently from the single mix is also featured in the video game SingStar Hottest Hits . It was the score screen theme for almost every game from the Peruvian flash games website Inkagames.
"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan's disco group the Eleventh Hour. The song is famous for the repeated refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" in French as part of the chorus, a sexually suggestive line that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
"21 Questions" is a song by American rapper 50 Cent featuring fellow American singer Nate Dogg. Released in March 2003 through Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's own G-Unit Records as the second single from 50 Cent's debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin', it differs from his previous singles and most of the songs on the album by being an R&B-influenced love song, largely themed around a series of questions pertaining to a relationship between 50 Cent and an unnamed girlfriend, and contains elements of Barry White's 1978 song "It's Only Love Doing Its Thing".
"Do It to It" is the lead single from American girl group Cherish's 2006 debut album, Unappreciated. "Do It to It" features rap/hip hop artist Sean P. The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 during its 16th week on the chart. It also reached number three on the New Zealand Singles Chart, where it charted for 23 weeks. It had strong video play on BET and reached number two on 106 & Park. The song played for the limit of 65 days on the countdown and was eventually retired. It was the only video to be retired that year that did not reach number one.
"I Wanna Love You" is a song written and recorded by American singer Akon featuring American rapper Snoop Dogg. It was released in October 2006 as the second single from his second studio album, Konvicted. It is also featured on Snoop Dogg's eighth album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. This song was Akon's first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also Snoop's second #1 on the same chart. It also reached a peak of #3 on the UK Singles Chart. The track originally had Akon as a featured artist and was performed by rapper Plies from Fort Myers, Florida, but his verse was replaced by Snoop's and his name has been left out from the writers' credits. This song was #88 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008.
"Big Girls Don't Cry" (also known as "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)") is a song by American singer-songwriter Fergie from her debut studio album, The Dutchess (2006). It was written by Fergie and Toby Gad while the production was helmed by will.i.am. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on May 22, 2007. "Big Girls Don't Cry" deviates from the hip hop and urban music of Fergie's previous singles and opts for a more simplistic pop ballad sound that incorporates acoustic elements. It features credits from about thirty instrumentalists, many of which play the violins, violas and celli on the track. Lyrically, the song talks about moving on from the pain of a breakup.
"Beggin'" is a song composed by Bob Gaudio and Peggy Farina and first released as a single by American band the Four Seasons in 1967. Initially charting at number 16 in the US Billboard Chart, the song became popular in the Northern soul scene in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. It has been covered multiple times, with versions by Norwegian hip-hop duo Madcon and Italian rock band Måneskin topping music charts in Europe and beyond. The Four Seasons' version was remixed in 2007 by French DJ Pilooski and re-released as a single, reaching number 32 in the UK Singles Chart, commercially outperforming the band's original release in the UK.
"Me Love" is the second single by Sean Kingston from his debut album Sean Kingston, produced by J.R. Rotem and interpolates Led Zeppelin's song "D'yer Mak'er" from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy.
"Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" is the lead single from Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean's sixth studio album, Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant. The R&B and hip hop song features vocals from Niia and Akon, as well as rapper Lil Wayne. Verizon Wireless released the song on their V CAST service on August 7, 2007. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008.
"Take You There" is the third single by Sean Kingston from his self-titled debut album. It was produced by J.R. Rotem. The song was co-written by Kingston, Rotem, Evan "Kidd" Bogart, Rock City, and Eric Bluebaum. The song is about Kingston taking his girlfriend on a date to the West Indies, particularly his native Jamaica. As he told noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul in June 2007: "In 'Take You There' I'm basically telling a girl 'Let me take you to where I'm from - to Jamaica, to the paradise and to the slums!'. Because, while many people just think of the tropical beaches, there is definitely another, rugged side to the island too!" The song was originally supposed to be Kingston's debut single in early May of 2007, but Beautiful Girls became his debut single on May 26, 2007.
"Low" is the debut single by American rapper Flo Rida featuring American singer T-Pain, from the former's debut studio album Mail on Sunday and also featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Step Up 2: The Streets. An official remix was made which also features Pitbull. The song peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
"Ride It" is the first single from Jay Sean's second album My Own Way and is also featured on his US debut album All or Nothing. It was written by Jay Sean himself and Alan Sampson, and produced by the latter. It was released on 21 January 2008. The song reached the top 20 in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 11. The single was also very successful and one of the most played songs in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, Bulgaria and Romania, where it became one of the top three best-selling singles of the year. A Hindi version of the song was also included in the Indian release of the album My Own Way.
"Whatever You Like" is a song by the American rapper T.I., released as the lead single from his sixth studio album, Paper Trail (2008). The song was written by T.I. and David Siegel, alongside the song's producer Jim Jonsin. "Whatever You Like" served as the third single from Paper Trail in the United Kingdom with a release date of June 1, 2009.
"Beautiful" is the third single from Akon's third studio album, Freedom. The song features American pop singer Colby O'Donis and a rap verse from Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall. "Beautiful" was released to radio on January 6, 2009. The song has also been released in other three international versions, with different featured artists replacing both Colby's vocals and Kardinal's rapping: in Portuguese with Brazilian singer Negra Li, in Dutch with Dutch singer Brace, and in Spanish with Mexican singer Dulce María. The original version peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside of the United States, the original version peaked within the top ten of the charts in Israel and the United Kingdom.
"Down" is a song by British singer Jay Sean featuring American rapper and labelmate Lil Wayne. The song was released in North America as his debut single from his first album there, All or Nothing. In other markets, including the United Kingdom, the song serves as Jay Sean's lead single from his third studio album. Produced by J-Remy and Bobby Bass, "Down" is the seventh-best selling single of 2009 and has been certified Platinum in several countries. The song went on to sell six million copies in the United States.
"Fire Burning" is a song by Jamaican-American singer-songwriter Sean Kingston, released in April 2009 as the lead single from his second studio album Tomorrow. Unlike many of his previous singles, which are all produced by J.R. Rotem, the song is produced by RedOne. The song was used for the opening number of the Miss Universe 2009 live at the Atlantis Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas. It was also used in Fred: The Movie where it shows Fred Figglehorn standing up on his bed, singing the song.
"Sexy Bitch" is a song by French DJ David Guetta recorded for his fourth studio album One Love (2009). The song features vocals from Senegalese-American recording artist Akon. It was released as the second single from One Love internationally. The song was serviced to mainstream and rhythmic crossover radios on 1 September 2009 in the United States, through Astralwerks, together with Capitol Records.
"Prayer in C" is a song by the French folk pop duo Lilly Wood and the Prick that was originally released on their album Invincible Friends in 2010.
"I'm the One" is a song by American disc jockey DJ Khaled featuring Canadian singer Justin Bieber and American rappers Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne. The song was released on April 28, 2017, by We the Best and Epic Records as the second single from Khaled's tenth studio album Grateful. On July 27, 2018, all artists, with the exception of Lil Wayne, were featured on Khaled's "No Brainer" from his eleventh studio album, Father of Asahd (2019). On October 19, 2020, the song surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.
"I Love It" is a song by American rappers Lil Pump and Kanye West, featuring guest vocals by American comedian Adele Givens, using snippets from her 1992 episode of Def Comedy Jam. The song was produced by West alongside DJ Clark Kent and frequent Lil Pump collaborator CBMix, with additional production by Ronny J. The song premiered at the 2018 Pornhub Awards. "I Love It" reached number one in Canada, Finland, New Zealand and Sweden, as well as the top 10 in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The song is the third single from Lil Pump's second studio album, Harverd Dropout (2019).
"Highest in the Room" is a song by American rapper Travis Scott. It was released as a single on October 4, 2019. It was released in a variety of formats, including on 7-inch vinyl, cassette and as a CD single. In its first week, it debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, for the chart dated October 19, 2019, becoming Scott's second US number-one single, following "Sicko Mode". A remix featuring Spanish singer Rosalía and American rapper Lil Baby was released on December 27, 2019, and featured on Scott and other Cactus Jack members' compilation album JackBoys (2019) on the same day, while the original release remains off the compilation. The remix version was released to Italian contemporary hit radio on January 7, 2020. The song received a nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.