4 Minutes (Madonna song)
Encyclopedia
"4 Minutes" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna
from her eleventh studio album Hard Candy
. It was released as the lead single from the album on March 17, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records
. The song's development was motivated by a sense of urgency to save the planet from destruction, and how people can enjoy themselves in the process. The writing was completed through discussions between Madonna and Justin Timberlake
about different situations, issues and relationships. According to Madonna, the song inspired her to produce the documentary I Am Because We Are
.
The song features vocals by American musicians Timberlake and Timbaland
. It was recorded at Sarm West Studios in London, while the mixing of the track was finished at The Hit Factory
studio in Miami. Sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellon first worked on the vocals of the track, by honing them according to his instincts, and then worked on the beats and the synths composed by Timbaland and Danja. An uptempo dance song with an urban, hip hop
style, "4 Minutes" also incorporates Timbaland's characteristic bhangra beats and the instrumentation used in the song includes brass
, foghorn
s and cow bell
s. The song's lyrics carry a message of social awareness, inspired by Madonna's visit to Africa
and the human suffering she witnessed there.
"4 Minutes" has been praised by many contemporary critics who called it a busy, dance track and complimented its music, which was compared to that of a marching band. Some however noted that Madonna, rather than Timberlake, appeared as more of a featured artist in the song. "4 Minutes" achieved worldwide success by reaching number one in twenty-one countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the United States, "4 Minutes" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100
, giving Madonna her 37th top-ten single, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley
as the artist with most top-ten hits. It is also her second multi-platinum certified single in that country, after "Vogue" from 1990.
In the song's accompanying music video
, Madonna and Timberlake sing and run away from a giant black screen that devours everything in its path. At the end of the video, Madonna and Timberlake are consumed by the screen. "4 Minutes" was performed by Madonna on the promotional tour for Hard Candy and the Sticky & Sweet Tour
. In the latter, the song served as the opener of the rave
segment, where Madonna wore a futuristic robotic dress. During performances of the song, Timberlake and Timbaland appeared on video screens and sang their lines. The song received two Grammy Award
nominations for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
" and "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
."
and Timbaland
. It was written and produced by all three of them, along with Nate "Danja" Hills. The song, initially named "4 Minutes to Save the World", was one of the last to be produced for Madonna's album Hard Candy. In an interview with MTV
, Madonna said that the concept of the song was developed through discussions with Timberlake. She further explained the meaning of the song:
Ingrid Sischy from Interview
magazine said that the song felt like a ballad for the world, containing "the sounds of a great big marching band. Its a giant dance song". Madonna agreed with Sischy and responded that the song was "a funny paradox" and was one of the inspirations behind her documentary I Am Because We Are
. The documentary dealt with the acute suffering and food shortage afflicting the African nation of Malawi
.
scratching tool. Mixing
and recording
engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellon recalled that he was not present for the first set of recording sessions because he was working on another project, but arrived for the second set of sessions. About 65 percent of the song was already done by the time Castellon arrived, including the drum sounds to the basic keyboard lines. He recorded the rest, and also did some programming, particularly in the intro and the end. At Sarm, Timbaland and Danja used Akai MPC3000 and Ensoniq ASR-10
sampling drum machines, Yamaha Motif
workstation and several soft synths to build the backing track for "4 Minutes". "I think the horn samples came from the Motif, but I'm not sure," explained Castellon. "There were dedicated analogue keyboards and the rest were soft synths. But we're always experimenting and we're always using whatever equipment we have in the studio we work in. We may have our preferences, but we're always into trying new things. That's why our stuff sounds different to that of everybody else." The backing track for "4 Minutes" consisted mainly of brass, synths, and percussion. Castellon asserted that the session was "actually much bigger than most people would think, because Tim and Danja take a lot of pride in designing their own sounds. Sometimes what sounds like one sound is eight different sounds layered on top of each other. A lot of the background parts can be stacked several times. The drums and percussion on '4 Minutes' are 23 stereo tracks, so 46 tracks in total, there were 16 stereo tracks of brass, and so on. The whole session panned out to about 100 tracks, and I took 80 outputs from Pro Tools
to the SSL, so there was some submixing in Pro Tools. But for the most part it was straight across the board."
Castellon did not want the SSL machines to mess with his blending of the music, hence he used the Pro Tools automation and did the level rides on his small Motormix controller
. He then ran everything through the SSL, while checking for the EQ
, compression and panning. The mixing of "4 Minutes" was done at The Hit Factory
studio in Miami, on a 96-channel SSL J-series desk. Given the massive amount of backing tracks and the fact that many of the parts sounded busy, one of the main challenges in mixing "4 Minutes" was making sure that the music did not overwhelm the vocals. Castellon explained that this led him to an unusual approach. "I started with the vocals, then I added in the music, and the drums were last. That's unusual for me, even though I don't really have a set way of mixing," he added. Few plug-ins were used for the mix of "4 Minutes", partly because Castellon preferred the sound of outboard gear
, and partly to ensure that the mix would be portable between studios because Madonna was on a time-constraint and wanted everything to be done by a deadline. So he gave up some of his ideas for mixing and tried to complete the song as soon as possible. The song took him a full day of work to mix, and after that he left it for two days, and then went back to it for some fine-tuning. He found that adding the effects in "4 Minutes" were easy, but the balancing was quite tough.
Castellon started working with the vocals in the order in which they appeared on the track, so he first began with Timbaland's intro vocals. Castellon tried to get the vocals as close as possible to the way he wanted them in the final mix. The vocal became his point of reference, and while working on it he occasionally put the kick drum or the horns or the synths next to them, to see how they sounded in context. On Timbaland's vocals, he used the EQ and clipped away the parts where his voice sounded too loud. For Madonna and Timberlake he used a little audio compression and an eighth-note delay from a PCM
42 to give their voice some space. Castellon commended Timbaland and Danja's drum programming, but felt that some of it did not sound okay with the song, hence had to leave it. Before sending the final version of the track, he added some Renaissance compression
to help achieve the beat level that he wanted. There was one particular kick sound
there that clashed with the other tracks, so Timbaland replaced it with another kick that had a very different note and sound. Using a Focusrite D2 EQ
, Castellon matched the sound of that new kick drum to the other kick drum sounds. Once the drums and percussion were added, the recording and mixing of "4 Minutes" was finally done. Castellon concluded, "Luckily everything came together in the end. I don't think the mix would have sounded the same if I had worked in the opposite way, starting with the drums and working up towards the vocals."
style. It incorporates the bass effect of a marching band, a clanging beat and instrumentation from a brass
that is played in a high riff
. Other musical instruments used are foghorn
s and cow bells. "4 Minutes" starts with Timbaland
's characteristic bhangra beats and he sings the first lines repeatedly eight times. After Timbaland's part is over, the song has Madonna and Timberlake singing and trading verses. The rhythm moves towards a hard clanging beat as Madonna sings the lines that the "road to hell is paved with good intentions." Madonna and Timberlake starts singing the chorus
with Timberlake singing the main line of "We’ve only got four minutes to save the world" in a Michael Jackson
inspired voice. "4 Minutes" continues in the same momentum in the second verse and second chorus whence the track ends after a brief breakdown where every other beat ceases except for the bhangra beats, the brass riffs and Madonna singing the words "tick-tock" repeatedly, after which it ends.
According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing
, the song is written in the key of G minor
and is set in time signature
of common time with a tempo
of 115 beats per minute
. Timbaland's bhangra beats are featured at the start and the end of the song. Madonna and Timberlake's vocal range spans two octaves, from F3 to Bb5. The song has a basic sequence of D–G–C–F–B–D in the verses and E5–D5–C5–D5 in the chorus, as its chord progression
. The lyrics of "4 Minutes" carry a message of social awareness, inspired by Madonna's visit to Africa
and the human suffering she witnessed. Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
stated that "[h]owever, the song sounds as if four minutes is the time taken for a song to be a guaranteed pop hit or the time required for a quicky; in reality it is the only song from Hard Candy album which contains a message of social awareness in it." The sound of a clock ticking away emphasizes this message further. Madonna explained in New York
magazine that the line "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" did not relate to her charity work. Instead it was her question to herself: "Do I understand this opinion that I’ve adopted or this Zeitgeist that I’ve allowed myself to be swept up in? Because you could have the best intentions but not have enough information and make huge mistakes." Regarding the line "Sometimes I feel what I need is a you intervention", Madonna explained, "[y]eah, meaning, sometimes I think you need to save me."
described the song as having "a marching band aesthetic as blasting brass play a scale-like riff
." She also called it "a loud, busy, energetic track," while comparing Timberlake's vocals with that of Michael Jackson
. Billboard
music reviewer and editor Chuck Taylor said that with the song, Madonna "is poised to score her first top 10 hit since 2005's 'Hung Up
'. [...] There's an awful lot going on in the busy dance track [...] but the trade-off chorus between Madge and Justin of 'We've only got four minutes to save the world' is hooky enough unto itself to sell the song." He added that "4 Minutes" qualifies as a record event "between superpowers [Madonna and Timberlake] who not only share equal billing, but sound gangbusters together." Mark Savage of BBC
described the sound as "so futuristic it could realistically have been beamed in from the end of the world." Andy Gill of The Independent
called "4 Minutes" one of Hard Candy
s saviors. He noted that "the Mardi Gras
marching-band bumping rumbustiously along," is one of the album's "most ambitious offerings." Joey Guerra
of Houston Chronicle
compared the track to the work of Nelly Furtado
and felt that the composition was "a bid for radio play
."
According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song is "a blatant advertisement for the rest of the album." Chris Williams
of Entertainment Weekly
called it a "flirty duet". Ben Thompson of The Guardian
said: "It has a hard to escape sense that all concerned are going through the motions [of life] – effortlessly, sometimes brilliantly." Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe
believed that the "song is a sure thing, a chart-topper for its sheer star power as well as instant musical allure, and on the eve of Madonna's 50th birthday [...] '4 Minutes' feels a lot like an icon's can't-miss gift to herself." However, he noticed that the "shift in the power structure [is nowhere] more blatant than on '4 Minutes', where Madonna sounds like a featured guest trying to keep pace with Timbaland's colossal beats and Timberlake's nimble melody." Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post
complimented the song for being busy and brassy. She commented: "[P]ropelled by a detonative marching-band beat [...] it's one of the most thrilling things Madonna has done in this decade." Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of Allmusic praised the melodic and rhythmic hook
, but was disappointed that Madonna's voice is "drowned out by Timbaland's farting four-note synth – which might not have been so bad if the tracks were fresher and if the whole enterprise didn't feel quite so joylessly mechanical." At the 51st Grammy Awards
, "4 Minutes" garnered Madonna, Timberlake and Timbaland a nomination in the "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
" category. Dutch musician Junkie XL
also earned a nomination in the "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
" category for his remixing of the song.
chart for the issue dated April 5, 2008, based solely on airplay
. Within a week, the song had jumped sixty-five places, reaching number three on the chart. This leap was spurred by first-week digital sales of 217,000, enabling the song to enter Billboards Digital chart
at number two, behind Mariah Carey
's single "Touch My Body
". The song became Madonna's first top-ten single since "Hung Up
" (2005), and was her thirty-seventh Hot 100 top-ten hit, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley
. "4 Minutes" was also her highest-charting single on the Hot 100 since "Music
" reached the top of the chart in 2000. For Timberlake, "4 Minutes" became his ninth top-ten hit. On the Pop 100
chart, the song reached a peak of two. "4 Minutes" was a success on Billboards dance charts, topping both the Hot Dance Club Play and the Hot Dance Airplay
charts. Four months after its release, "4 Minutes" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for sales of two million paid digital downloads
. It is her second single to achieve multi-platinum certification, after "Vogue" (1990), and it is one of her best-selling songs in the United States. As of September 2010, it had sold 2.8 million digital downloads in the United States. "4 Minutes" was the tenth most downloaded song in the United States in 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan
. In Canada, the song debuted at number twenty-seven and peaked on the chart the next week. The song spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.
"4 Minutes" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart
, and ascended to the number-one position two weeks later, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks. "4 Minutes" has been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) for the shipment of 70,000 copies. In New Zealand, "4 Minutes" made its debut at number fourteen on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and ascended to the top ten, finally peaking at number three. The song has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
(RIANZ) for the shipment of 7,500 copies.
In the United Kingdom, "4 Minutes" debuted on the UK Singles Chart
at number seven, based only on download sales. The song became Madonna's sixtieth top-ten single in Britain. It debuted on the airplay charts at number 19, with first week tallies of 564 plays and 27.10m listeners. The song rose to the top of the chart on April 20, 2008, with sales of 40,634 copies, thus giving Madonna her thirteenth British number-one single. With this feat, she retained her title of the most number-one singles in the British chart history by a female solo artist; Kylie Minogue
has the second most, with seven. According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 475,000 copies there. "4 Minutes" was also number one on Billboards European Hot 100 Singles for four weeks. Overall, "4 Minutes" reached number one in twenty-one countries worldwide and it was the 7th best selling song in 2008.
. It featured choreography by Jamie King
, who worked on Madonna’s Confessions
, Re-Invention and Drowned World
tours as well as her video for the single "Sorry
" (2006). Japanese hip hop dancing duo Hamutsun Serve
also made an appearance in the video. Before its release, Rolling Stone
said the video had Madonna and Timberlake playing superheroes while tackling physical obstacles. In the video, Madonna wore a cream colored corset, glistening black boots and styled her hair in platinum blond waves while Timberlake wore mainly denims and had a scarf wrapped around his neck. Regarding the idea behind the music video, Madonna said that "it was conceptualistic". She explained that the video was shot like a march past
; "It's a movement, and we want to take everybody with us." About the idea of a black screen devouring everything, Madonna said,
The video used soft focus
, gentle lighting
and airbrushing looks on Madonna. It starts with Timbaland chanting the opening line in front of a giant timer screen
that counts down from four minutes. As he sings, a black geometric patterned screen comes from behind and engulfs all of the musical devices present. Madonna and Timberlake enter a house but run away from it after finding the screen there, which starts eating the hands and legs of the inhabitants of the house, thus showing their insides. After a number of shots showing Madonna and Timberlake jumping on and over cars to escape from the screen, they finally move into a supermarket. The screen follows them, consuming the long lines of stalls and the people present there. As the second chorus starts, they arrive in front of the screen where Timbaland is singing. After choreographed dancing, Madonna performs a back arch
as the timer reaches zero time. The last "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound is heard, Madonna and Timberlake dance again on a long stage; the black screen approaches them from both sides. The video ends with both of them kissing, and the black screen devouring them. Timberlake's bones and ribs, and Madonna's cheeks are seen in the last shot.
Regarding the video, Madonna said it was like "[g]oody goody gum drops," referring to the candy
oriented theme of the album. The New York Times
called the video heart-pounding, and compared its momentum with the music video of "Thriller", "In the Air Tonight
" and "Shadows of the Night". However, they commented that the video did not yield a breakout Madonna look compared to her videos from the 1980s. Singer Miley Cyrus
created her own version of the video and posted it on her YouTube
channel. Madonna responded to it in her own video and said, "All you people out there who are making videos to my new single, '4 Minutes,' keep up the good work, nice job." She was portrayed cleaning the set
of the music video, of her follow up single "Give It 2 Me
". "4 Minutes" was nominated for an award at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
in the "Best Dancing in a Video" category, but lost to the Pussycat Dolls
single "When I Grow Up
".
(2008–09). At the promotional tour, "4 Minutes" was performed as the third song of the setlist. Madonna wore a shiny black dress with black tails, Adidas
track pants and high-heeled, lace-up boots for the performance. Justin Timberlake made an appearance alongside Madonna, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, to perform the song. As Timbaland appeared on the video screens, the beat of the song started. The four side-stage video screens began to glide across the stage, and swiveled around to reveal Timberlake behind one and Madonna behind the other. They performed the song in a similar choreography from the music video. When the song came to an end, Madonna pushed Timberlake against a wall.
On the Sticky & Sweet Tour, "4 Minutes" was performed as the opening song of the "Futuristic rave with Japanese influence" section. During this segment, Madonna wore a futuristic robotic dress designed by Heatherette
. She coupled it with metallic plates on her shoulder and a wig with long curled hair. Madonna and her dancers emerged from behind backdrops, on which Timbaland and Timberlake appeared, to perform their lines. An apparent duet between Madonna and Timberlake ensues, with Timberlake singing and dancing his part from the screens. He joined Madonna in person, for the show at Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium
on November 6, 2008, the same show in which Britney Spears
appeared alongside Madonna to perform "Human Nature
". They performed "4 Minutes" in similar fashion to the promotional tour choreography. Timbaland joined Madonna during the performance at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The song was also used as a mashup
during the introduction video called, "The Sweet Machine" and intermediate video "Get Stupid". The latter was a save-the-world video that portrayed people with good and bad intentions. It juxtaposed John McCain
with Hitler
and Barack Obama
with Mahatma Gandhi. "4 Minutes" was also used as mashups during the performance of songs like "Vogue" and "Hung Up
".
"4 Minutes" was one of the songs covered by the cast of Glee
during the April 20, 2010 episode "The Power of Madonna
". The fictional character Kurt Hummel
, portrayed by Chris Colfer
, sang Madonna's parts while Mercedes Jones
(Amber Riley
) sang Timberlake's. In the episode, the song is performed during a routine by the high-school cheering squad, accompanied by the school band. The version was released both as a digital downloadable
single and on the EP
, Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna
. "4 Minutes" cover charted on the Hot Digital Songs of Billboard at number 55 on May 8, 2010, while reaching number 89 and number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, respectively.
Credits and personnel adapted from Hard Candy album liner notes.
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
from her eleventh studio album Hard Candy
Hard Candy (Madonna album)
Hard Candy is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on April 19, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. It was her final studio album with the record company, marking the end of a 25 year recording history. Madonna started working on the album in 2007, and collaborated...
. It was released as the lead single from the album on March 17, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. The song's development was motivated by a sense of urgency to save the planet from destruction, and how people can enjoy themselves in the process. The writing was completed through discussions between Madonna and Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
about different situations, issues and relationships. According to Madonna, the song inspired her to produce the documentary I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written, narrated, and produced by Madonna.The film premiered at the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, on April 24, 2008 and at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 21, 2008...
.
The song features vocals by American musicians Timberlake and Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
. It was recorded at Sarm West Studios in London, while the mixing of the track was finished at The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele. It was officially closed for business April 1, 2005 whereas other Hit Factory studio locations remained open, such as in Miami, Florida.-History:...
studio in Miami. Sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellon first worked on the vocals of the track, by honing them according to his instincts, and then worked on the beats and the synths composed by Timbaland and Danja. An uptempo dance song with an urban, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
style, "4 Minutes" also incorporates Timbaland's characteristic bhangra beats and the instrumentation used in the song includes brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
, foghorn
Foghorn
A foghorn or fog signal or fog bell is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of hazards or boats of the presence of other vehicles in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport...
s and cow bell
Cow bell
A cowbell or cow bell is a bell worn by freely roaming livestock, so that they do not run away or wander off without being heard. While bells were used on various types of animals, they are typically referred to as "cowbells" due to their extensive use with cattle.A trychel is a large cow bell...
s. The song's lyrics carry a message of social awareness, inspired by Madonna's visit to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the human suffering she witnessed there.
"4 Minutes" has been praised by many contemporary critics who called it a busy, dance track and complimented its music, which was compared to that of a marching band. Some however noted that Madonna, rather than Timberlake, appeared as more of a featured artist in the song. "4 Minutes" achieved worldwide success by reaching number one in twenty-one countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the United States, "4 Minutes" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, giving Madonna her 37th top-ten single, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
as the artist with most top-ten hits. It is also her second multi-platinum certified single in that country, after "Vogue" from 1990.
In the song's accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, Madonna and Timberlake sing and run away from a giant black screen that devours everything in its path. At the end of the video, Madonna and Timberlake are consumed by the screen. "4 Minutes" was performed by Madonna on the promotional tour for Hard Candy and the Sticky & Sweet Tour
Sticky & Sweet Tour
The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...
. In the latter, the song served as the opener of the rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
segment, where Madonna wore a futuristic robotic dress. During performances of the song, Timberlake and Timbaland appeared on video screens and sang their lines. The song received two Grammy Award
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
nominations for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers collaborate...
" and "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical is an honor presented to producers for quality remixed recordings at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
."
Writing and inspiration
"4 Minutes" is a collaboration between Madonna, Justin TimberlakeJustin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
and Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
. It was written and produced by all three of them, along with Nate "Danja" Hills. The song, initially named "4 Minutes to Save the World", was one of the last to be produced for Madonna's album Hard Candy. In an interview with MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Madonna said that the concept of the song was developed through discussions with Timberlake. She further explained the meaning of the song:
Well I don't think it's important to take it too literally. I think the song more than anything is about having a sense of urgency; about how we are you know, living on borrowed time essentially and people are becoming much more aware of the environment and how we're destroying the planet. We can't just keep distracting ourselves we do have to educate ourselves and wake up and do something about it. You know at the same time we don't want to be boring and serious and not have fun so it's kind of like well if we're going to save the planet can we have a good time while we are doing it?
Ingrid Sischy from Interview
Interview (magazine)
Interview is an American magazine which has the nickname The Crystal Ball Of Pop. It was founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol. The magazine features intimate conversations between some of the world's biggest celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinkers...
magazine said that the song felt like a ballad for the world, containing "the sounds of a great big marching band. Its a giant dance song". Madonna agreed with Sischy and responded that the song was "a funny paradox" and was one of the inspirations behind her documentary I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are
I Am Because We Are is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written, narrated, and produced by Madonna.The film premiered at the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, on April 24, 2008 and at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 21, 2008...
. The documentary dealt with the acute suffering and food shortage afflicting the African nation of Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
.
Recording and mixing
The recording sessions for "4 Minutes" took place at Sarm West Studios in West London, on a 72-channel SSL 9080Scratch Live
Scratch Live is a vinyl emulation software application created by New Zealand based Serato Audio Research, distributed by and licensed exclusively to Rane Corporation...
scratching tool. Mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellon recalled that he was not present for the first set of recording sessions because he was working on another project, but arrived for the second set of sessions. About 65 percent of the song was already done by the time Castellon arrived, including the drum sounds to the basic keyboard lines. He recorded the rest, and also did some programming, particularly in the intro and the end. At Sarm, Timbaland and Danja used Akai MPC3000 and Ensoniq ASR-10
Ensoniq ASR-10
The Ensoniq ASR-10 was a sampling keyboard produced by Ensoniq between 1992 and 1994. It is the keyboard model of the ASR-10R rackmount module. It was a follow up product to the very popular Ensoniq EPS and Ensoniq EPS-16+ performance samplers, and was also available with a piano style weighted...
sampling drum machines, Yamaha Motif
Yamaha Motif
The Yamaha Motif is a series of music workstations, first released by Yamaha Corporation in August 2001. Other workstations in the same class are the Korg Triton, Roland Fantom-G and Alesis Fusion.-Motif Classic:...
workstation and several soft synths to build the backing track for "4 Minutes". "I think the horn samples came from the Motif, but I'm not sure," explained Castellon. "There were dedicated analogue keyboards and the rest were soft synths. But we're always experimenting and we're always using whatever equipment we have in the studio we work in. We may have our preferences, but we're always into trying new things. That's why our stuff sounds different to that of everybody else." The backing track for "4 Minutes" consisted mainly of brass, synths, and percussion. Castellon asserted that the session was "actually much bigger than most people would think, because Tim and Danja take a lot of pride in designing their own sounds. Sometimes what sounds like one sound is eight different sounds layered on top of each other. A lot of the background parts can be stacked several times. The drums and percussion on '4 Minutes' are 23 stereo tracks, so 46 tracks in total, there were 16 stereo tracks of brass, and so on. The whole session panned out to about 100 tracks, and I took 80 outputs from Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
to the SSL, so there was some submixing in Pro Tools. But for the most part it was straight across the board."
In the case of '4 Minutes', Tim had a vision from the beginning of how things should go, especially sonically. He's a real producer. He doesn't look only at the music, he looks at the sounds as well. He's also a great engineer and he has an incredible ear and he knows exactly how to piece things together in the stereo spectrum. When I opened up the session of '4 Minutes', there was so much going on that I knew right away that the hard part would be to make sure that the vocals would cut through and were right in the pocket. Beginning with working on the vocals was the only way to achieve this. After that I formed all the other parts around the vocals. The other challenge was to make sure that everything in the track sounded clear and that you could hear every instrument, every syllable, every breath. Also, I do almost always work linear in time on a track. It's easier, because when you're done, you're done. So I keep working on section after section, until I get to the end of the track and then I know the whole mix is pretty close.
Castellon did not want the SSL machines to mess with his blending of the music, hence he used the Pro Tools automation and did the level rides on his small Motormix controller
Cakewalk Sonar
Cakewalk SONAR is a digital audio workstation made by Cakewalk for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting audio. The latest versions of the software are SONAR Home Studio 7, SONAR Home Studio 7 XL, SONAR X1 Producer Edition, SONAR X1 Studio Edition, SONAR X1 Essential Edition, and...
. He then ran everything through the SSL, while checking for the EQ
Equalization
Equalization, is the process of adjusting the balance between frequency components within an electronic signal. The most well known use of equalization is in sound recording and reproduction but there are many other applications in electronics and telecommunications. The circuit or equipment used...
, compression and panning. The mixing of "4 Minutes" was done at The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele. It was officially closed for business April 1, 2005 whereas other Hit Factory studio locations remained open, such as in Miami, Florida.-History:...
studio in Miami, on a 96-channel SSL J-series desk. Given the massive amount of backing tracks and the fact that many of the parts sounded busy, one of the main challenges in mixing "4 Minutes" was making sure that the music did not overwhelm the vocals. Castellon explained that this led him to an unusual approach. "I started with the vocals, then I added in the music, and the drums were last. That's unusual for me, even though I don't really have a set way of mixing," he added. Few plug-ins were used for the mix of "4 Minutes", partly because Castellon preferred the sound of outboard gear
Outboard gear
Musical "outboard equipment" or "gear" alter how an musical instrument sounds. Outboard, can be used either during a live performance or in the recording studio. These are separate from the effects that may be applied by using a mixing console or a digital audio workstation...
, and partly to ensure that the mix would be portable between studios because Madonna was on a time-constraint and wanted everything to be done by a deadline. So he gave up some of his ideas for mixing and tried to complete the song as soon as possible. The song took him a full day of work to mix, and after that he left it for two days, and then went back to it for some fine-tuning. He found that adding the effects in "4 Minutes" were easy, but the balancing was quite tough.
Castellon started working with the vocals in the order in which they appeared on the track, so he first began with Timbaland's intro vocals. Castellon tried to get the vocals as close as possible to the way he wanted them in the final mix. The vocal became his point of reference, and while working on it he occasionally put the kick drum or the horns or the synths next to them, to see how they sounded in context. On Timbaland's vocals, he used the EQ and clipped away the parts where his voice sounded too loud. For Madonna and Timberlake he used a little audio compression and an eighth-note delay from a PCM
Pulse-code modulation
Pulse-code modulation is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form for digital audio in computers and various Blu-ray, Compact Disc and DVD formats, as well as other uses such as digital telephone systems...
42 to give their voice some space. Castellon commended Timbaland and Danja's drum programming, but felt that some of it did not sound okay with the song, hence had to leave it. Before sending the final version of the track, he added some Renaissance compression
Waves Audio
Waves Audio Ltd. is a developer and supplier of professional audio signal processing technologies and audio effects, used in recording, mixing, mastering, post production, surround, live, and broadcast sound...
to help achieve the beat level that he wanted. There was one particular kick sound
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
there that clashed with the other tracks, so Timbaland replaced it with another kick that had a very different note and sound. Using a Focusrite D2 EQ
Focusrite
Focusrite is a musical equipment manufacturer based in High Wycombe, England. Focusrite design and market audio interfaces, microphone preamps, consoles, analogue EQs and Channel strips, and digital audio processing hardware and software.-Early Years:...
, Castellon matched the sound of that new kick drum to the other kick drum sounds. Once the drums and percussion were added, the recording and mixing of "4 Minutes" was finally done. Castellon concluded, "Luckily everything came together in the end. I don't think the mix would have sounded the same if I had worked in the opposite way, starting with the drums and working up towards the vocals."
Composition
"4 Minutes" is an uptempo dance song, composed in an urban, hip hopHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
style. It incorporates the bass effect of a marching band, a clanging beat and instrumentation from a brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
that is played in a high riff
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
. Other musical instruments used are foghorn
Foghorn
A foghorn or fog signal or fog bell is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of hazards or boats of the presence of other vehicles in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport...
s and cow bells. "4 Minutes" starts with Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
's characteristic bhangra beats and he sings the first lines repeatedly eight times. After Timbaland's part is over, the song has Madonna and Timberlake singing and trading verses. The rhythm moves towards a hard clanging beat as Madonna sings the lines that the "road to hell is paved with good intentions." Madonna and Timberlake starts singing the chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
with Timberlake singing the main line of "We’ve only got four minutes to save the world" in a Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
inspired voice. "4 Minutes" continues in the same momentum in the second verse and second chorus whence the track ends after a brief breakdown where every other beat ceases except for the bhangra beats, the brass riffs and Madonna singing the words "tick-tock" repeatedly, after which it ends.
According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing
Alfred Publishing
Alfred Music Publishing is a family-owned and operated music publishing company, founded in 1922. Headquartered in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, it is the largest educational music publisher in the world.- Profile :...
, the song is written in the key of G minor
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
and is set in time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
of common time with a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 115 beats per minute
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
. Timbaland's bhangra beats are featured at the start and the end of the song. Madonna and Timberlake's vocal range spans two octaves, from F3 to Bb5. The song has a basic sequence of D–G–C–F–B–D in the verses and E5–D5–C5–D5 in the chorus, as its chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
. The lyrics of "4 Minutes" carry a message of social awareness, inspired by Madonna's visit to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the human suffering she witnessed. Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
stated that "[h]owever, the song sounds as if four minutes is the time taken for a song to be a guaranteed pop hit or the time required for a quicky; in reality it is the only song from Hard Candy album which contains a message of social awareness in it." The sound of a clock ticking away emphasizes this message further. Madonna explained in New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine that the line "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" did not relate to her charity work. Instead it was her question to herself: "Do I understand this opinion that I’ve adopted or this Zeitgeist that I’ve allowed myself to be swept up in? Because you could have the best intentions but not have enough information and make huge mistakes." Regarding the line "Sometimes I feel what I need is a you intervention", Madonna explained, "[y]eah, meaning, sometimes I think you need to save me."
Critical reception
Caryn Ganz of Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described the song as having "a marching band aesthetic as blasting brass play a scale-like riff
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
." She also called it "a loud, busy, energetic track," while comparing Timberlake's vocals with that of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
music reviewer and editor Chuck Taylor said that with the song, Madonna "is poised to score her first top 10 hit since 2005's 'Hung Up
Hung Up
"Hung Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was written and produced in collaboration with Stuart Price, and released as the first single from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Initially used in a number of television advertisements and serials, the song was...
'. [...] There's an awful lot going on in the busy dance track [...] but the trade-off chorus between Madge and Justin of 'We've only got four minutes to save the world' is hooky enough unto itself to sell the song." He added that "4 Minutes" qualifies as a record event "between superpowers [Madonna and Timberlake] who not only share equal billing, but sound gangbusters together." Mark Savage of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
described the sound as "so futuristic it could realistically have been beamed in from the end of the world." Andy Gill of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
called "4 Minutes" one of Hard Candy
Hard Candy (Madonna album)
Hard Candy is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on April 19, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. It was her final studio album with the record company, marking the end of a 25 year recording history. Madonna started working on the album in 2007, and collaborated...
s saviors. He noted that "the Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
marching-band bumping rumbustiously along," is one of the album's "most ambitious offerings." Joey Guerra
Joey Guerra
Joey Guerra is the pop music critic for the Houston Chronicle, one of the ten largest papers in the U.S. Born June 16, 1974 in Houston, Texas. He is a prolific writer, covering the major genres and the Houston/Texas music scene...
of Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
compared the track to the work of Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
and felt that the composition was "a bid for radio play
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
."
According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song is "a blatant advertisement for the rest of the album." Chris Williams
Chris Williams (journalist)
Chris Williams is a British journalist.A former editor of the Daily Express, he is currently editor of the Scottish Daily Mail-References:...
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called it a "flirty duet". Ben Thompson of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said: "It has a hard to escape sense that all concerned are going through the motions [of life] – effortlessly, sometimes brilliantly." Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
believed that the "song is a sure thing, a chart-topper for its sheer star power as well as instant musical allure, and on the eve of Madonna's 50th birthday [...] '4 Minutes' feels a lot like an icon's can't-miss gift to herself." However, he noticed that the "shift in the power structure [is nowhere] more blatant than on '4 Minutes', where Madonna sounds like a featured guest trying to keep pace with Timbaland's colossal beats and Timberlake's nimble melody." Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
complimented the song for being busy and brassy. She commented: "[P]ropelled by a detonative marching-band beat [...] it's one of the most thrilling things Madonna has done in this decade." Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic praised the melodic and rhythmic hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
, but was disappointed that Madonna's voice is "drowned out by Timbaland's farting four-note synth – which might not have been so bad if the tracks were fresher and if the whole enterprise didn't feel quite so joylessly mechanical." At the 51st Grammy Awards
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
, "4 Minutes" garnered Madonna, Timberlake and Timbaland a nomination in the "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers collaborate...
" category. Dutch musician Junkie XL
Junkie XL
Tom Holkenborg , better known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch musician. He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. XL is for "Xpanding Limits"....
also earned a nomination in the "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical is an honor presented to producers for quality remixed recordings at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
" category for his remixing of the song.
Chart performance
In the United States, "4 Minutes" debuted at number sixty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart for the issue dated April 5, 2008, based solely on airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
. Within a week, the song had jumped sixty-five places, reaching number three on the chart. This leap was spurred by first-week digital sales of 217,000, enabling the song to enter Billboards Digital chart
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
at number two, behind Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's single "Touch My Body
Touch My Body
"Touch My Body" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, taken from her eleventh studio album, E=MC² . It was written and produced by Carey, along with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Crystal "Cri$tyle" Johnson and Terius "The Dream" Nash, and was released as the album's lead single on...
". The song became Madonna's first top-ten single since "Hung Up
Hung Up
"Hung Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was written and produced in collaboration with Stuart Price, and released as the first single from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Initially used in a number of television advertisements and serials, the song was...
" (2005), and was her thirty-seventh Hot 100 top-ten hit, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. "4 Minutes" was also her highest-charting single on the Hot 100 since "Music
Music (Madonna song)
"Music" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 8th studio album Music and was released on August 21, 2000, by Maverick Records. It was also released on DVD single, a debut in this format by Madonna. It earned two Grammy Award nominations in 2001, for Record of the Year...
" reached the top of the chart in 2000. For Timberlake, "4 Minutes" became his ninth top-ten hit. On the Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
chart, the song reached a peak of two. "4 Minutes" was a success on Billboards dance charts, topping both the Hot Dance Club Play and the Hot Dance Airplay
Hot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it...
charts. Four months after its release, "4 Minutes" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for sales of two million paid digital downloads
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
. It is her second single to achieve multi-platinum certification, after "Vogue" (1990), and it is one of her best-selling songs in the United States. As of September 2010, it had sold 2.8 million digital downloads in the United States. "4 Minutes" was the tenth most downloaded song in the United States in 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
. In Canada, the song debuted at number twenty-seven and peaked on the chart the next week. The song spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.
"4 Minutes" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, and ascended to the number-one position two weeks later, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks. "4 Minutes" has been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) for the shipment of 70,000 copies. In New Zealand, "4 Minutes" made its debut at number fourteen on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and ascended to the top ten, finally peaking at number three. The song has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
(RIANZ) for the shipment of 7,500 copies.
In the United Kingdom, "4 Minutes" debuted on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at number seven, based only on download sales. The song became Madonna's sixtieth top-ten single in Britain. It debuted on the airplay charts at number 19, with first week tallies of 564 plays and 27.10m listeners. The song rose to the top of the chart on April 20, 2008, with sales of 40,634 copies, thus giving Madonna her thirteenth British number-one single. With this feat, she retained her title of the most number-one singles in the British chart history by a female solo artist; Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
has the second most, with seven. According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 475,000 copies there. "4 Minutes" was also number one on Billboards European Hot 100 Singles for four weeks. Overall, "4 Minutes" reached number one in twenty-one countries worldwide and it was the 7th best selling song in 2008.
Music video
The music video was directed by French duo Jonas & FrançoisJonas & François
Jonas & François , born in 1982, is a French directing team of music videos and commercials.- Videography :2006'2007*The Good Life, Kanye West feat. T-Pain...
. It featured choreography by Jamie King
Jamie King
Jamie King is a creative director and choreographer whose work directing concert tours for pop stars has grossed over two billion dollars...
, who worked on Madonna’s Confessions
Confessions Tour
Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It supported her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Madonna confirmed the possibility of going out on a tour as early as November 2005. Jamie King, Madonna's longtime collaborator, was then hired on...
, Re-Invention and Drowned World
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
tours as well as her video for the single "Sorry
Sorry (Madonna song)
"Sorry" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her tenth studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor. It was written and produced by Madonna and Stuart Price and released as the second single from the album on February 28, 2006. It later appeared on Celebration, her 2009 greatest hits...
" (2006). Japanese hip hop dancing duo Hamutsun Serve
Hamutsun serve
The Hamutsun Serve is a Japanese dance unit made up of 2 members, Rikiccho and Dah-yoshi.Formed in 1999 by students of University of Fukushima, they gained reputation as performers of 'Animation Dance' through TV appearances in Japan. They have appeared in "4 Minutes" video, as Madonna had...
also made an appearance in the video. Before its release, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said the video had Madonna and Timberlake playing superheroes while tackling physical obstacles. In the video, Madonna wore a cream colored corset, glistening black boots and styled her hair in platinum blond waves while Timberlake wore mainly denims and had a scarf wrapped around his neck. Regarding the idea behind the music video, Madonna said that "it was conceptualistic". She explained that the video was shot like a march past
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
; "It's a movement, and we want to take everybody with us." About the idea of a black screen devouring everything, Madonna said,
None of us did [understand the concept of the black screen]. It was just, you know, it's very conceptual. We basically gave the song to the two French directors [Jonas & Francois] and they came up with the only concept that I thought was interesting, with this black sort of amorphous graphic line slowly eating up the world. I just liked that as a concept.
The video used soft focus
Focus (optics)
In geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge. Although the focus is conceptually a point, physically the focus has a spatial extent, called the blur circle. This non-ideal focusing may be caused by...
, gentle lighting
Stage lighting
Modern stage lighting is a flexible tool in the production of theatre, dance, opera and other performance arts. Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in the pursuit of the various principles or goals of lighting. Stage lighting has grown considerably in recent years...
and airbrushing looks on Madonna. It starts with Timbaland chanting the opening line in front of a giant timer screen
Timer
A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass.Timers can be mechanical, electromechanical,...
that counts down from four minutes. As he sings, a black geometric patterned screen comes from behind and engulfs all of the musical devices present. Madonna and Timberlake enter a house but run away from it after finding the screen there, which starts eating the hands and legs of the inhabitants of the house, thus showing their insides. After a number of shots showing Madonna and Timberlake jumping on and over cars to escape from the screen, they finally move into a supermarket. The screen follows them, consuming the long lines of stalls and the people present there. As the second chorus starts, they arrive in front of the screen where Timbaland is singing. After choreographed dancing, Madonna performs a back arch
Asana
Asana is a body position, typically associated with the practice of Yoga, originally identified as a mastery of sitting still, with the spine as a conduit of biodynamic union...
as the timer reaches zero time. The last "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound is heard, Madonna and Timberlake dance again on a long stage; the black screen approaches them from both sides. The video ends with both of them kissing, and the black screen devouring them. Timberlake's bones and ribs, and Madonna's cheeks are seen in the last shot.
Regarding the video, Madonna said it was like "[g]oody goody gum drops," referring to the candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
oriented theme of the album. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the video heart-pounding, and compared its momentum with the music video of "Thriller", "In the Air Tonight
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...
" and "Shadows of the Night". However, they commented that the video did not yield a breakout Madonna look compared to her videos from the 1980s. Singer Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
created her own version of the video and posted it on her YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel. Madonna responded to it in her own video and said, "All you people out there who are making videos to my new single, '4 Minutes,' keep up the good work, nice job." She was portrayed cleaning the set
Set construction
Set construction is the process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of a production to create the set for a theatrical, film or television production...
of the music video, of her follow up single "Give It 2 Me
Give It 2 Me
"Give It 2 Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna, featured on her eleventh studio album Hard Candy. It was released on June 4, 2008 by Warner Bros. Records as the second single from the album...
". "4 Minutes" was nominated for an award at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
2008 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 7, 2008 live from Paramount Pictures Studios , honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Nominations for a majority of the categories were announced on the MTV program FNMTV after being selected through viewer online voting at...
in the "Best Dancing in a Video" category, but lost to the Pussycat Dolls
Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls are an American pop girl group and dance ensemble based in Los Angeles; currently consisting of Lauren Bennett, Vanessa Curry, Kristal "Lyndriette" Smith, Tiffany "Taz" Zavala, Kia Hampton and Paula Van Oppen. The Pussycat Dolls were founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995...
single "When I Grow Up
When I Grow Up (Pussycat Dolls song)
"When I Grow Up" is a song by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls, from their second studio album, Doll Domination . It was released on May 27, 2008 as the lead single from the album, and the first following the departure of the group's longest-standing member Carmit Bachar...
".
Live performances and covers
The song was performed during the promotional tour for Hard Candy and Sticky & Sweet TourSticky & Sweet Tour
The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...
(2008–09). At the promotional tour, "4 Minutes" was performed as the third song of the setlist. Madonna wore a shiny black dress with black tails, Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
track pants and high-heeled, lace-up boots for the performance. Justin Timberlake made an appearance alongside Madonna, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, to perform the song. As Timbaland appeared on the video screens, the beat of the song started. The four side-stage video screens began to glide across the stage, and swiveled around to reveal Timberlake behind one and Madonna behind the other. They performed the song in a similar choreography from the music video. When the song came to an end, Madonna pushed Timberlake against a wall.
On the Sticky & Sweet Tour, "4 Minutes" was performed as the opening song of the "Futuristic rave with Japanese influence" section. During this segment, Madonna wore a futuristic robotic dress designed by Heatherette
Heatherette
Heatherette is a fashion company and design house run by and former Club Kid Richie Rich, located in New York City. Heatherette came out with a bang in 1999 when they began collaborating on t-shirts and leather goods as a hobby on their living room floor...
. She coupled it with metallic plates on her shoulder and a wig with long curled hair. Madonna and her dancers emerged from behind backdrops, on which Timbaland and Timberlake appeared, to perform their lines. An apparent duet between Madonna and Timberlake ensues, with Timberlake singing and dancing his part from the screens. He joined Madonna in person, for the show at Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
on November 6, 2008, the same show in which Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
appeared alongside Madonna to perform "Human Nature
Human Nature (Madonna song)
"Human Nature" is the fourth and final single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories, released on June 6, 1995 by Maverick Records.-Song information:...
". They performed "4 Minutes" in similar fashion to the promotional tour choreography. Timbaland joined Madonna during the performance at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The song was also used as a mashup
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
during the introduction video called, "The Sweet Machine" and intermediate video "Get Stupid". The latter was a save-the-world video that portrayed people with good and bad intentions. It juxtaposed John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
with Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
with Mahatma Gandhi. "4 Minutes" was also used as mashups during the performance of songs like "Vogue" and "Hung Up
Hung Up
"Hung Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was written and produced in collaboration with Stuart Price, and released as the first single from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Initially used in a number of television advertisements and serials, the song was...
".
"4 Minutes" was one of the songs covered by the cast of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
during the April 20, 2010 episode "The Power of Madonna
The Power of Madonna
"The Power of Madonna" is the 15th episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on April 20, 2010...
". The fictional character Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel is a fictional character and one of the male leads in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school...
, portrayed by Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer
Christopher Paul "Chris" Colfer is an American actor and singer known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee, for which he won a 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated twice for an Emmy...
, sang Madonna's parts while Mercedes Jones
Mercedes Jones
Mercedes Jones is a fictional character from the Fox popular musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Amber Riley, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Mercedes was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and...
(Amber Riley
Amber Riley
Amber Patrice Riley is an American actress and singer best known for her role on the series Glee as Mercedes Jones.-Early life and career:...
) sang Timberlake's. In the episode, the song is performed during a routine by the high-school cheering squad, accompanied by the school band. The version was released both as a digital downloadable
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
single and on the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna
Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna
Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna is the first extended play by the cast of the musical television series Glee. It contains eight songs from the season one Glee episode, "The Power of Madonna", which was a tribute episode dedicated to American recording artist Madonna...
. "4 Minutes" cover charted on the Hot Digital Songs of Billboard at number 55 on May 8, 2010, while reaching number 89 and number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, respectively.
Track listings and formats
- UK CD 1
- "4 Minutes" (Album Version) – 4:04
- "4 Minutes" (Bob SinclarBob SinclarBob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
Space Funk Remix) – 5:39
- UK CD 2 / AUS CD Single
- "4 Minutes" (Album Version) – 4:04
- "4 Minutes" (Bob Sinclar Space Funk Remix) – 5:39
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XL Remix) – 6:16
- UK 12" Vinyl
- "4 Minutes" (Edit) – 3:10
- "4 Minutes" (Bob Sinclar Space Funk Edit) – 4:57
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XLJunkie XLTom Holkenborg , better known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch musician. He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. XL is for "Xpanding Limits"....
Remix Edit) – 4:39 - "4 Minutes" (Tracy Young House Radio) – 3:33
- US Digital Maxi Single
- "4 Minutes" (Edit) – 3:11
- "4 Minutes" (Peter Saves Paris Edit) – 4:49
- "4 Minutes" (Bob Sinclar Space Funk Edit) – 3:23
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XL Dirty Dub Edit) – 4:05
- EU / US Maxi CD Single
- "4 Minutes" (Bob Sinclar Space Funk Remix) – 5:39
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XL Remix) – 6:16
- "4 Minutes" (Tracy Young House Mix) – 7:55
- "4 Minutes" (Peter Saves Paris Remix) – 8:52
- "4 Minutes" (Rebirth Remix) – 7:57
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XL Dirty Dub) – 4:52
- US 2× 12" Vinyl
- "4 Minutes" (Bob Sinclar Space Funk Remix) – 5:39
- "4 Minutes" (Peter Saves Paris Remix) – 8:52
- "4 Minutes" (Tracy Young House Mix) – 7:55
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XL Dirty Dub) – 4:52
- "4 Minutes" (Album Version) – 4:05
- "4 Minutes" (Rebirth Remix) – 7:57
- "4 Minutes" (Junkie XL Remix) – 6:16
Credits and personnel
- MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
– writerSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, vocals, background vocals, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Justin TimberlakeJustin TimberlakeJustin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
– writer, vocals, producer - TimbalandTimbalandTimothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
– writer, vocals, producer, drum programming, recordingSound recording and reproductionSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording... - Danja – writer, producer, keyboard instrumentKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Demacio "Demo" Castellon – programming, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, scratchingScratchingScratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
and recording at Sarm West Studios (London) and The Hit FactoryThe Hit FactoryThe Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele. It was officially closed for business April 1, 2005 whereas other Hit Factory studio locations remained open, such as in Miami, Florida.-History:...
Studios (Miami) - Marcella AraicaMarcella AraicaMarcella Araica is an American recording and mixing engineer, who has recorded and mixed tracks for artists including Britney Spears, Madonna, Pink, Duran Duran and Keri Hilson.-Biography:...
– mixing, scratching - Ron Taylor – protoolsPro ToolsPro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
editing
Credits and personnel adapted from Hard Candy album liner notes.
Weekly charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
2 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Flanders Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... ) |
1 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... (Wallonia) |
1 |
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
1 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
1 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 1 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 1 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
2 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
1 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
1 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... |
1 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
1 |
| Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
6 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
3 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
1 |
| Romanian Airplay Chart Romanian Top 100 The Romanian Top 100 is the national airplay-based singles chart of Romania. It is weekly and it started running in 1996. It is recognized as an official chart by the European division of Billboard, Music & Media.... |
1 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
3 |
| US Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
| US Mainstream Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
5 |
| US Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
2 |
Year-end charts
| Charts (2008–09) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 15 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 11 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) | 3 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia) | 13 |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 11 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 11 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 5 |
| French Singles Chart | 14 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart (2008) | 13 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart (2009) | 138 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 11 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 31 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 18 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 6 |
| UK Singles Chart | 9 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 23 |
| US Mainstream Top 40 | 38 |
Decade-end charts
| Charts (2000–09) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 77 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
Platinum |
| Belgium | Gold |
| Brazil Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos The Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos is an official representative body of the record labels in the Brazilian phonographic market.- About :... |
Platinum |
| Denmark | 2× Platinum |
| Finland | Platinum |
| Germany Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises.... |
Platinum |
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Mexico | 2× Gold |
| New Zealand Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Gold |
| Norway | 3× Platinum |
| Spain | 2× Platinum |
| Sweden | Platinum |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
2× Platinum |
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | March 17, 2008 | Digital download |
| April 18, 2008 | Remixes digital download | |
| April 19, 2008 | CD single | |
| United Kingdom | March 17, 2008 | Digital download |
| April 21, 2008 | CD single | |
| June 2, 2008 | 12" Picture disc | |
| United States | March 25, 2008 | Digital download |
| April 15, 2008 | Remixes digital download | |
| April 29, 2008 | CD single | |
| Germany | April 11, 2008 | |
| France | April 14, 2008 | |
See also
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Australia)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Belgium Flanders)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Belgium Wallonia)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Canada)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Denmark)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Europe)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Finland)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Germany)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Ireland)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Italy)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Netherlands)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Norway)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Spain)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (Switzerland)
- List of number-one singles of 2008 (UK)
- List of number-one dance airplay singles of 2008 (US)
- List of number-one dance singles of 2008 (US)
- List of number-one digital songs of 2008 (US)
External links
- Madonna "4 Minutes" music video at MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.com