"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" is a song by American rapper and singer Pitbull released as the second single from his fourth album, Pitbull Starring in Rebelution. The song samples "75, Brazil Street" by Nicola Fasano and Pat Rich, which itself samples the opening horns riff from "Street Player" by Chicago. The core is from a song by Dominican rappers El Cata and Omega.[3] The title is a reference to Calle Ocho, a street in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood.
"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" is an uptempo syncopated hip hop groove with clear vocals on the chorus and a pop hook, within a tribal house-oriented beat. The song is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 128 beats per minute and is written in the key of D minor. Pitbull's vocal range spans from C4 to Bb4. The song is a vocal mix of "75, Brazil Street" by Nicola Fasano Vs Pat-Rich, which itself samples "Street Player" by Chicago.
Critical reception
The song received mixed reviews with Billboard.com editor Michael Menachem giving the single a favorable review:
"Pitbull delivers some Little Havana to the club scene with "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)." The clever meshing of reggaetón with Euro dance music signals what looks like a multiformat smash. At the core is an acoustic guitar and a sizzling rhythm, with hot horns in the form of a sample that just keeps on giving: Chicago's "Street Player," which appeared in the '90s techno hit "The Bomb" by the Bucketheads. Mainstream radio missed out on Pitbull's previous single "Krazy," featuring Lil Jon, but "Calle Ocho" is already on the top half of the Billboard Hot 100, and the temperature on the street and in the clubs is rising".[6]
Fraser McAlpine of the BBC also favored it. He said it was meant to be sexy given how Pitbull performed the verses, but is fun and 'more gigglesome than wrigglesome', and wondered if its effect would vary between listeners of different genders:
"I don't know if it has a different effect on The Ladies, but I'm basically fine with a pumped up dance version of a very familiar piece of music, with a funny man on the top shouting about how aroused he is and occasionally counting on his fingers."[7]
Chart performance
"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" is Pitbull's first single to become an international hit. The single peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for one week, on the week of June 20, 2009. The song was Pitbull's highest-peaking single until "Give Me Everything" hit number one; it also became his third top-ten hit. The song also reached number one on the French Singles Chart and number four on the US Mainstream Top 40 radio. On November 11, 2009, the single was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over two million digital copies.[8] As of June 2011, the song has sold 3.2 million digital copies in the United States.[9]
In the United Kingdom, the single debuted at number 53 then raising to number 28 the following week; in the third week it reached number 13 and in the fourth week, it reached number nine giving Pitbull his first top-ten single in the UK. The following week it moved up again to number seven, peaking at number four a week later. In Australia, the song peaked at number six on the Australian Singles Chart, making it his first song to hit the top 10 there, while in Spain the song reached number one and has been certified triple platinum with sales of over 120,000 units. In New Zealand, the song peaked at number three and was certified platinum, selling over 15,000 copies.[10]
Music video
The music video was first released to YouTube on March 9, 2009 by Ultra Music and was directed by David Rousseau and produced by Alexandra Sdoucos. It features Pitbull, Nayer (wearing a peaked cap), and models Sagia Castañeda, Maria Milian, and Angelica Casañas. It has received over 286 million views[11] even though this particular upload is not available for worldwide viewership due to licensing restrictions in certain countries.
"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" was the number one most viewed music video on YouTube in 2009. The video received 82 million views, easily beating out the second and third most viewed videos both by Disney star Miley Cyrus, "The Climb" (64 million views) and "Party in the U.S.A." (54 million views).[12]
The official music video version (without Ultra Music identifiers) was released onto Pitbull's official Vevo channel on May 25, 2011. It received over 3 million views[13] even though this particular upload was not available for worldwide viewership, again due to licensing restrictions in certain countries. The video has since been removed from YouTube.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 39. týden 2009 in the date selector. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
↑ "Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. September 7, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2018. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
↑ "Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. October 5, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2018. Note: Select 'Songs – TV'. Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
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