"Low" | ||||
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Single by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain | ||||
from the album Mail on Sunday and Step Up 2: The Streets | ||||
B-side | "Birthday" | |||
Released | October 9, 2007 | |||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:50 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Flo Rida singles chronology | ||||
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T-Pain singles chronology | ||||
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"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.
The song was a massive success worldwide and was the longest-running number-one single of 2008 in the United States, spending ten consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. With over seven million digital downloads it has been certified Diamond by the RIAA, and was the most downloaded single of the 2000s decade, measured by paid digital downloads. [1] The song was named third on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. [2]
Several of T-Pain's stylistic effects are present in this song, including Auto-Tune and call and answer during the chorus. It is a crunk song that contains electronic elements such as 808-style handclaps and an arpeggiated ostinato note sequence instead of a chord progression. Flo Rida has sexually charged (but not explicit) lyrics, for example he refers to a woman's buttocks as "birthday cakes" which "stole the show". T-Pain also relies heavily on synthesizers. The song is written in the key of E♭ minor and at different times different instrumentation cycles, i.e., sometimes only the synthesizer plays, sometimes only the bass, sometimes only the vocals. Flo Rida uses a style that is common in 1990s hip-hop party music. "Low" is written in common time with a moderate tempo of 128 beats per minute while T-Pain's vocal range spans nearly two octaves from B♭2 to F♯4.
Thematically, the song describes a sexually desirable girl twerking in a club, and the singer's efforts to hook up with her, primarily by flaunting displays of cash. The girl is described in the chorus as wearing "Apple Bottom jeans" and "boots with the fur".
The music video of "Low" was directed by Bernard Gourley and contains certain clips from Step Up 2: The Streets . It also contains cameos from Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Cool & Dre, Briana Evigan, Torch and Gunplay of Triple C's and Jermaine Dupri. Also, T-Pain and Flo Rida are in a nightclub in a few scenes. The music video reached the number one spot on MTV Jams for five days and 22 days on TRL . The music video was also nominated at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video and Best Hip-Hop Video, but lost to Hurricane Chris' "Playas Rock" (Best Male Video) and Birdman's "Pop Bottles" (Best Hip-Hop Video) music videos.
European CD single
Europe maxi-CD
71 Digits x Flo Rida - Digital download
The song debuted at number 91 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for the week of November 6, 2007, and reached number one for the week of December 30, 2007. [3] The song generated the second greatest one-week digital sales in the history of Billboard 's Digital Songs chart (behind Flo Rida's "Right Round"), with 467,000 digital copies in one week. "Low" was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks and remained in the top ten of the chart for 23 weeks, [4] making it both T-Pain and Flo Rida's most successful single to date. The song stayed on the Hot 100 for 39 weeks, before dropping out in June 2008. [5]
As the first number one on the Hot 100 of 2008, "Low" held the top position longer than any song did in 2008 (see List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2008), and was the longest-running Hot 100 number one single since Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable". [6] The song is also the longest-running number one single in the history of the Billboard Digital Songs chart, topping the chart for 13 weeks, and also on the now-defunct Pop 100 chart, where it ruled for 12 weeks. [7] For the week of June 29, 2008, it became the first song ever to sell four million digital copies in the US, [8] and then for the week of June 21, 2009, the first to sell over five million copies. [9] It was best-selling digitally-downloaded song of all time until it was surpassed by The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" in May 2010. [10] The song sold over six million in digital sales by August 7, 2011, [11] and reached its seven millionth sales mark in sales in June 2014. [12]
The physical release of the single occurred in the UK for the week of March 24, 2008. For the week of July 20, 2008, the song moved up to number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, several months after its official release. Although it failed to reach number one in the UK, it amassed 53 weeks inside the UK top 75 (making it the joint 20th longest-runner of all-time), and 75 weeks inside the top 100. [13] As of January 2012, the song has sold 613,434 copies in the UK. [14]
The song was ranked at number 26 on Billboard's All Time Hot 100. [15] The song was also ranked the number-one song for 2008 in Billboard 's ranking of the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2008. For the week of December 28, 2008, it was listed at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart year-end countdown and was named the highest-selling single in Australia in 2008. The song became either a hit in most of European countries, reach the top ten like in Finland (no.9), in Denmark (no.9) or again in Belgium (Flanders charts) (no.7). The song reach the top twenty in Germany, in Hungary and Norway, the top forty in France and top sixty in Netherlands.
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [73] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [74] | 5× Platinum | 400,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [75] Ringtone | 5× Platinum | 200,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [76] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [77] | 5× Gold | 750,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [78] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Japan (RIAJ) [79] | Platinum | 250,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [80] | 2× Platinum | 30,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [81] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [82] | Platinum | 30,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [83] | 3× Platinum | 1,800,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [84] | Diamond | 10,000,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [85] Mastertone | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
The song was performed live with the band Simple Plan at the 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards. Albuquerque, New Mexico based crunkcore group Brokencyde released a cover of this song on "THA $C3N3 MiXTaPe" in 2008. Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker added a drum version cover of the song. On October 23, 2012, the cast of The Big Bang Theory made a flash mob during the live taping of an episode, which featured the song as well as others. [86] The song was featured in Suburgatory . [87] The song was also featured in Tropic Thunder , Rio 2 and Zookeeper .
In 2019, the viral video "Jessica" or "Jessica, did you sleep with your teacher?" used the song in the background that "Jessica" sung along with until her "Mom" confronted her about sleeping with her teacher. A year later, in 2020, the American grocery chain Kroger and their subsidiary stores began to use the song's chorus for a series of animated ads, appropriately highlighting coupons and low prices. At the start of 2021, the ads became a minor Internet meme with user-generated YouTube and TikTok remixes. [88] Also, a parody of the song highlighting price drop was used in the 2021 Lazada 11.11 TV commercial featuring K-Pop boy group Seventeen in the ASEAN region, where it was sung in Indonesian, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, and English. [89]
Another way the song is used in meme culture is in "fake covers," where the song is remixed and sung in the style of a different artist, under the title of "Apple Bottom Jeans". [90]
"Elevator" is Flo Rida's overall second single, and the first single from Flo Rida's debut album Mail on Sunday. It was produced by Timbaland, who also features on the track. The piano intro features a melody based on the Halloween theme by John Carpenter and the second verse imitates the chorus of "The Donque Song" by will.i.am featuring Snoop Dogg. The song features Timbaland's signature percussion and vocals, as well as former Beatclub recording artist Kiley Dean on the background vocals. The song is similar in structure, key, and rhythm to the Timbaland-produced "4 Minutes" by Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. The song was featured in the plot for the episode "Desperately Seeking Serena" of teen drama Gossip Girl.
"In the Ayer" is the third single from rapper Flo Rida's debut album Mail on Sunday. It was produced by and features will.i.am. Tiffany Villarreal performs background vocals on the song. It interpolates the 1984 song "Jam the Box" by Pretty Tony.
"Right Round" is a single performed by American rapper Flo Rida featuring guest vocals from American singer Kesha. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, R.O.O.T.S. (2009). It was released to radio on January 27, 2009, and was digitally released on February 10 by Poe Boy Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The song heavily interpolates the chorus of the 1980s Dead or Alive song "You Spin Me Round " in its hook. According to one of the song's writers, the chorus refers to a stripper. Kesha contributed guest vocals to the song, but was uncredited in the United States and Canada during its run atop the charts.
"Sugar" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida, featuring American singer-songwriter Wynter Gordon. The song's chorus interpolates the song "Blue " by Italian electronic music group Eiffel 65. The song was written by Flo Rida, The Jackie Boyz, Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina, and Massimo Gabutti, and was produced by DJ Montay for Flo Rida's second album, R.O.O.T.S.. The song was released as the album's third official single in March 2009 as a digital download.
American rapper Flo Rida has released four studio albums, four extended plays, 41 singles as a lead artist, twelve promotional singles, and 24 music videos. Growing up in Florida, the state from which his name was derived, he was involved in a hip hop group in his teenage years. A solo demo recording initially met rejection from several label companies, but was eventually accepted by Poe Boy Entertainment, with whom Flo Rida signed in 2006.
"Bad Boys" is a song by British recording artist Alexandra Burke. The song is her second single after winning the fifth series of The X Factor, and the lead single from her debut album, Overcome. The song features American rapper Flo Rida. It was written by busbee, Lauren Evans, Alex James, and was produced by The Phantom Boyz. It was first released for digital download on 12 October 2009. The song is an uptempo electro-R&B song, lyrically about becoming attracted to dangerous men.
"Club Can't Handle Me" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida featuring French DJ David Guetta. Carmen Key sings background vocals during the chorus. It was released as a digital download on iTunes on June 28, 2010, as the lead single of the Step Up 3D soundtrack album and is also included on Flo Rida's third studio album, Only One Flo .
"Where Them Girls At" is a song by French DJ and record producer David Guetta featuring American rapper Flo Rida and Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki Minaj. The track was released on 2 May 2011, via Virgin Records, serving as the lead single from Guetta's fifth studio album, Nothing but the Beat. The track was written by the artists alongside Jared Cotter, Play-N-Skillz, Giorgio Tuinfort, and Sandy Vee & Mike Caren, who produced the song with Guetta.
"Good Feeling" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida from his 2012 EP of the same name, also appearing on his fourth studio album, Wild Ones. It was released as the album's lead single on August 29, 2011, in the United States. The song was written by Flo Rida, Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Breyan Isaac, Arash Pournouri, Avicii, Etta James, Leroy Kirkland and Pearl Woods. It was also produced by Dr. Luke and Cirkut.
"Hangover" is a song by English singer Taio Cruz from his third studio album, TY.O. Released on 4 October 2011 in United States, 18 October 2011 in Germany and 4 March 2012 in the United Kingdom, the song serves as the album's international lead single, and follows "Troublemaker" as the album's second British single. American rapper Flo Rida contributes guest vocals. Another alternate version of the song, titled "Takeover", was leaked online via NewJams.net.
"Wild Ones" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida featuring Australian singer-songwriter Sia from his fourth studio album of the same name (2012). It was by written by the artists alongside Jacob Luttrell, Marcus Cooper, Niklaas Vogel-Kern, and producers soFLY & Nius and Axwell, while the engineering and recording of the record was handled by Skylar Mones. Lyrically, the song contracts themes including partying, love and dancing while the musical composition is an uptempo dance-pop song that is influenced by house music and electro house.
"Whistle" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida from his fourth album Wild Ones (2012). It was released on April 24, 2012, as the third single from the album. "Whistle" was written by Flo Rida, David Glass, Marcus Killian, Justin Franks, Breyan Isaac and Antonio Mobley while production was handled by DJ Frank E and Glass.
"I Cry" is a song by American hip hop artist Flo Rida. The track was first released on June 28, 2012, as the fourth single from his fourth studio album, Wild Ones. The song samples Bingo Players' "Cry ", which in turn interpolates lyrics from the song "Piano in the Dark" by Brenda Russell. "I Cry" was produced by the French production duo soFLY & Nius and the Futuristics, and it was written by Flo Rida, The Futuristics, Scott Cutler, Calvin Harris, Jeffrey Hull, Brenda Russell, and soFLY & Nius.
"Troublemaker" is a song by English recording artist Olly Murs, released as the lead single from his third studio album, Right Place Right Time (2012). It features American rapper Flo Rida. "Troublemaker" was co-written by Murs, Steve Robson, Claude Kelly and Flo Rida, and was produced by Robson. The song premiered on 8 October 2012, in the United Kingdom on the Capital FM radio station and was made available to download on 12 October in certain international territories.
"Can't Believe It" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida. The song features a rap verse from Cuban-American rapper Pitbull. The song samples "Infinity" by London-based duo Infinity Ink. The music video for "Can't Believe It" was directed by Geremey and Georgie Legs.
"G.D.F.R." is a song by American rapper Flo Rida featuring American rapper Sage the Gemini and American music producer and DJ Lookas from the former's EP My House (2015). It was released as the album's lead single on October 21, 2014, in the United States. The song was written by Flo Rida, Sage the Gemini and P-Lo and produced by DJ Frank E and Andrew Cedar with co-production from Lookas and Miles Beard.
"I Don't Like It, I Love It" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida from his fifth studio album My House. The song features American singer Robin Thicke and Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White. It was released as the album's third promotional single on March 31, 2015. The song was released as the album's second official single on June 19, 2015, in the Republic of Ireland and on June 21 in the United Kingdom. In the latter country, BBC Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw began playing an unofficial version of the song in which soundbites by Audrey Roberts from the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street were played over it. The song was heard in the climax of the 2016 comedy film Ride Along 2.
"My House" is a song by American rapper Flo Rida from his 2015 EP of the same name. The song was released as the album's third official single on September 24, 2015, in the US. The song samples the drum break from "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers.
"La cintura" is a song by Spanish-German singer-songwriter Álvaro Soler. It was released on 29 March 2018, as the lead single from his second studio album, Mar de colores (2018). A "Latin Remix" featuring Flo Rida and TINI is included in the album as a bonus track. The song was written by Soler, Jakob Erixson, Nadir Khayat, Simon Triebel, and Ali Zuckowski, and produced by T.I. Jakke, RedOne, Zuckowski, and Rune Westberg, all of whom had previously worked on his number-one hit single "Sofia" (2016). The song became a European success, reaching the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland.
"In My Mind" is a 2012 song by Australian house music producer Ivan Gough and house music duo Feenixpawl, featuring the vocals of indie pop musician Georgi Kay.