"Pretender" | ||||
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Single by Steve Aoki featuring Lil Yachty and AJR | ||||
from the album Neon Future III | ||||
Released | May 18, 2018 | |||
Recorded | 2017–2018 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:08 | |||
Label | Ultra | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Steve Aoki singles chronology | ||||
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Lil Yachty singles chronology | ||||
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AJR singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Pretender" on YouTube |
"Pretender" is a song by American musician and DJ Steve Aoki featuring fellow American musicians Lil Yachty and AJR. It was released on May 18,2018 via Ultra Records as the fifth single from Aoki's fifth studio album Neon Future III .
While AJR wrote their second studio album The Click ,they wrote five additional songs that weren't released on the standard edition. After the album's release on June 9,2017,Steve Aoki reached out to the band asking if they had any unfinished material,to which AJR sent "Pretender". [1] Aoki then added additional production to the song,and contacted Lil Yachty,who wrote a new second verse for the track. [2] The song was teased on social media on April 23 and officially released on May 18,2018. [3]
On July 13,2018,several remixes of "Pretender" were released. Remixes were provided by Matoma,Blanke,Max Styler,and Aoki. [4] An acoustic version of the song performed by AJR was eventually included on the deluxe edition of The Click. [5]
The official video directed by Tyler Yee was released on August 27,2018. [6] The video starts with Aoki sending a picture taken from a bedroom window disguised as the outdoors,and receiving thousands of likes. [7] A majority of the video features more scenes of "pretenders" taking misleading photos,including Lil Yachty and AJR each singing in front of green screens. [8]
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
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US Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (Billboard) [10] | 8 |
US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs ( Billboard ) [11] | 24 |
A pretender is a claimant to an abolished throne or to a throne already occupied by somebody else.
Steven Hiroyuki Aoki is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as one of the Most Impactful Asians.
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"Lonely" is a song by Norwegian DJ Matoma featuring American singer Max, released on 23 March 2018 as the second single from Matoma's second album One in a Million. It was produced by Matoma in collaboration with the UK songwriting collective The Six, and the English DJ Digital Farm Animals. The track reached the top 50 of the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart and the Swedish Heatseeker chart published by Sverigetopplistan.
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