"Stereo Hearts" | ||||
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Single by Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine | ||||
from the album The Papercut Chronicles II | ||||
Released | June 14, 2011 | |||
Recorded | 2011 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:31 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | ||||
Gym Class Heroes singles chronology | ||||
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Adam Levine singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Stereo Hearts" on YouTube |
"Stereo Hearts" is a song by American rap rock group Gym Class Heroes featuring Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. The song was released on June 14,2011,as the lead single from the group's fifth studio album The Papercut Chronicles II (2011). [2] The song topped the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 and also reached number four on the Hot 100.
Produced by Benny Blanco and Robopop,"Stereo Hearts" begins with Adam Levine singing the hook. "My heart's a stereo / It beats for you,so listen close / Hear my thoughts in every note. / Make me your radio / Turn me up when you feel low / This melody was meant for you / So sing along to my stereo." [3] Sheet music for this song shows the key of F♯ minor. McCoy then raps about serenading his ideal girl and picking love over animosity,all the while relaying the message using music-based metaphors. [4] [5] Additional Fender Rhodes was played by Austin Bis at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles. [6]
Gym Class Heroes drummer Matt McGinley explained that the song's music video "basically plays on the idea that we're sort of just being casual,hanging out,being ourselves and our shadows get wild and get loose. The video shows the band playing in the city of New York and their shadows are playing on the ground." [7]
The video (directed by Hiro Murai) has the feel of a 1980s setting,with a breakdancer and several payphones seen,though the actual setting is modern as evidenced by the Mini Cooper in one scene. It prominently features a pawn shop with a stack of old-fashioned boomboxes and TV sets,on which Adam Levine appears when he is singing the chorus.
As of October 2024,the video has hit 875 million views making it the fourth-most viewed video on Fueled By Ramen.[ citation needed ]
A lyric video for the song received millions of views in the first month of its release. This is one of the first lyric videos to incorporate a live action story line,showing a man and a woman in split-screen as they get dressed for the day and go outdoors carrying boom-boxes,until they finally meet in a park. The video stars actress Breana McDow and was directed by music video director Djay Brawner. [8]
The song received positive reviews. MTV's Jenna Hally Rubenstein complimented the band's new direction on "Stereo Hearts",writing that it is "a little more slickly produced than we're used to,but,we're still solidly behind the experimental new song." [9] MTV's James Montgomery described it as a "prime-time slab of genre-mashing,sweat-inducing pop,the kind of song that may very well push GCH to summertime superstardom." [7] Becky Bain of Idolator called it a "head-nodding jam" and "an instantly memorable signal that Gym Class is back in session." [10]
Travie McCoy joined Maroon 5 onstage to perform "Stereo Hearts" on Saturday Night Live on November 5,2011. Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine performed the song at the 2011 American Music Awards,along with Christina Aguilera for the Maroon 5 song "Moves like Jagger" on November 20,2011. [11] The duo continued with the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 23,2011,and Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam,a pre-show of the Super Bowl XLVI on February 2,2012. [12]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [71] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [72] | 3× Platinum | 240,000* |
Italy (FIMI) [73] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Mexico (AMPROFON) [74] | Gold | 30,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [75] | 4× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [76] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF) [77] | 2× Platinum | 80,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [78] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [79] | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000‡ |
Streaming | ||
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [80] | Platinum | 100,000† |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |