Best Friend's Brother
Encyclopedia
"Best Friend's Brother" is a song performed by American pop recording artist Victoria Justice
, billed as Cast of Victorious
featuring Victoria Justice. It was produced by Allan Grigg
, who also co-wrote the song with Savan Kotecha
and Victoria Justice
, for Victorious
(2011), the soundtrack to the Nickeloden television series, Victorious
. It was released as the album's fourth single on May 20, 2011 through Columbia Records
in association with Nickelodeon
. Musically, the song runs through an electropop oriented dance
beat with teen pop
lyrics, and the lyrics speak of a girl's crush on her best friend's brother.
The song was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with the majority of them praising its message and aggressive sound. "Best Friend's Brother" has currently charted on the Billboard
Hot 100 at number eighty-six, remaining as the third highest peaking song from the soundtrack. The accompanying music video portrays Justice dreaming of attracting her best friend's brother while her best friend remains oblivious to the attraction.
(2011), for the television series of the same name on Nickelodeon. It was first heard on the series's second season episode ,"Prom Wrecker", which premiered on May 21, 2011 in North America, a day after the single's release. At the Avalon
concert night (where she also performed the song), Justice stated that the song was one of her favorites. The song was performed by Justice with backup vocals from Ariana Grande
and additional instruments by Leon Thomas III in the episode. The scene where the song was performed features Justice, Grande and Thomas performing at the prom. While on the stage at the end of the episode, rain starts pouring down on them and they continue performing.
The song was written by Allan Grigg
, Savan Kotecha
, and Victoria Justice
. Grigg also produced the track along with providing all the instruments and programming for it. The mixing for the song was provided by Greg Wells took place at Rocket Carousel in Los Angeles
, California
with the engineering provided by Mighty Mike Garity at Westlake Studios and Mound Studios, both of which are also in Los Angeles.
and dance-pop
. The song runs through a dance-oriented beat and features a rougher sound than the previous single, "Beggin' on Your Knees
". The theme of this song is center around exploring emotions and managing friendships. The lyrics are about a girl's crush on her best friend's brother resisting to pursue any further as for the sake of their friendship. While being interviewed by Neha Ghandi for Seventeen Magazine
, Justice discussed the background story for the song:
and Leon Thomas III, performed the song on a Victorious episode, "Prom Wrecker". She also performed the song at the Avalon
concert night.
film Risky Business
as she swings her hair, dances, and sings to the enthusiastic boy. In the second sequence we see Victoria parked outside of the house, text messaging her friend to tell her she has arrived. She then catches a glimpse of the boy's bandmates leaving his garage. The next moment, she has another dream in which she sings on top of the car on the street and he plays drums. The climax of the video takes place in a pizzeria, where Victoria dances to the chorus of the song and finally approaches and talks to her crush.
Credits are taken from Victorious liner notes
.
on the June 18, 2011 chart. The next week it climbed to #86.
Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...
, billed as Cast of Victorious
Victorious
Victorious is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around aspiring singer Tori Vega , a teenager who attends a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts High School, after taking her older sister Trina's place in a showcase while getting into...
featuring Victoria Justice. It was produced by Allan Grigg
Kool Kojak
Allan Grigg, also known as Kool Kojak, is a Brazilian-American songwriter, producer and artist notable for co-writing and co-producing Flo Rida’s #1 Billboard hit single “Right Round”...
, who also co-wrote the song with Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha is an American songwriter and vocal producer from Austin, Texas of Indian descent. Kotecha has sold over 60 million records with artists such as Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, One Direction and Celine Dion...
and Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...
, for Victorious
Victorious (soundtrack)
-Charts:-Personnel:*C.J. Abraham - Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals *Backhouse Mike - Additional Production, Drums, Engineer, Instrumentation, Keyboards, Producer, Programming*Rob Bacon - Guitar*Drake Bell - Composer...
(2011), the soundtrack to the Nickeloden television series, Victorious
Victorious
Victorious is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around aspiring singer Tori Vega , a teenager who attends a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts High School, after taking her older sister Trina's place in a showcase while getting into...
. It was released as the album's fourth single on May 20, 2011 through Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in association with Nickelodeon
Nick Records
Nick Records is a soundtrack arm formed to expand Nickelodeon's presence in the music business and create a major music brand for kids and preteens. Its former logo features a button trio consisting of stop, pause and play...
. Musically, the song runs through an electropop oriented dance
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
beat with teen pop
Teen pop
Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....
lyrics, and the lyrics speak of a girl's crush on her best friend's brother.
The song was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with the majority of them praising its message and aggressive sound. "Best Friend's Brother" has currently charted on the 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...
Hot 100 at number eighty-six, remaining as the third highest peaking song from the soundtrack. The accompanying music video portrays Justice dreaming of attracting her best friend's brother while her best friend remains oblivious to the attraction.
Background
"Best Friend's Brother" is the fourth single released from the soundtrack VictoriousVictorious (soundtrack)
-Charts:-Personnel:*C.J. Abraham - Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals *Backhouse Mike - Additional Production, Drums, Engineer, Instrumentation, Keyboards, Producer, Programming*Rob Bacon - Guitar*Drake Bell - Composer...
(2011), for the television series of the same name on Nickelodeon. It was first heard on the series's second season episode ,"Prom Wrecker", which premiered on May 21, 2011 in North America, a day after the single's release. At the Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
concert night (where she also performed the song), Justice stated that the song was one of her favorites. The song was performed by Justice with backup vocals from Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande
Ariana Joan Grande is an American actress and singer. She currently plays the role of Cat Valentine in the American sitcom Victorious.-Early life:Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida...
and additional instruments by Leon Thomas III in the episode. The scene where the song was performed features Justice, Grande and Thomas performing at the prom. While on the stage at the end of the episode, rain starts pouring down on them and they continue performing.
The song was written by Allan Grigg
Kool Kojak
Allan Grigg, also known as Kool Kojak, is a Brazilian-American songwriter, producer and artist notable for co-writing and co-producing Flo Rida’s #1 Billboard hit single “Right Round”...
, Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha is an American songwriter and vocal producer from Austin, Texas of Indian descent. Kotecha has sold over 60 million records with artists such as Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, One Direction and Celine Dion...
, and Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...
. Grigg also produced the track along with providing all the instruments and programming for it. The mixing for the song was provided by Greg Wells took place at Rocket Carousel in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with the engineering provided by Mighty Mike Garity at Westlake Studios and Mound Studios, both of which are also in Los Angeles.
Composition
"Best Friend's Brother" is an electropop song that contains influences of teen popTeen pop
Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....
and dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
. The song runs through a dance-oriented beat and features a rougher sound than the previous single, "Beggin' on Your Knees
Beggin' on Your Knees
"Beggin' on Your Knees" is a song performed by American pop recording artist Victoria Justice, billed on the song as Victorious cast featuring Victoria Justice. It was produced by Kristian Lundin and Shellback, who also co-wrote the song with Savan Kotecha, for Victorious , the soundtrack to the...
". The theme of this song is center around exploring emotions and managing friendships. The lyrics are about a girl's crush on her best friend's brother resisting to pursue any further as for the sake of their friendship. While being interviewed by Neha Ghandi for Seventeen Magazine
Seventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
, Justice discussed the background story for the song:
When I was around 14 years old, in 8th grade, I had this crush on my best friend’s brother. He was two years older than me. It was one of those things where I would go over her house and we would all play Halo 2 together and go swimming in the pool and stuff. I think we both had little crushes on each other, but it never went anywhere. If it had, it would have been really weird. I wouldn’t have been willing to risk my friendship for dating her brother. Friendship is always more important.
Critical reception
Jessica Dawson of Commonsensemedia, the website that rates music for parents approval for children's listening, rated the song three out of five stars, praising its positive message, stating "Although she has a crush on her BF's brother, she doesn't act on it, for the sake of her friend. It's harmless flirting." Idolator praised the song, stating "Victoria might be perplexed about the awkward sitch with her bestie, but we’re banging our heads to this fist-pumping tune. It’s a little rougher and tougher than Victoria’s last jam, “Beggin’ On Your Knees”. In fact, it reminds us of something Pink might record if she was a lovelorn teen."Performances
Justice, alongside her co-stars, Ariana GrandeAriana Grande
Ariana Joan Grande is an American actress and singer. She currently plays the role of Cat Valentine in the American sitcom Victorious.-Early life:Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida...
and Leon Thomas III, performed the song on a Victorious episode, "Prom Wrecker". She also performed the song at the Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
concert night.
Music video
The music video for the song was released on May 28, 2011 and shows the story of a girl who is passionate about her best friend's brother, and who dreams of having a chance to be alone with him. As the song describes him, the boy is six foot and three inches tall, and is the drummer of a punk rock band. He is muscular, tan skinned, raven haired, and wears black leather vests over white t shirts. In the first part of the video, we see Victoria and her best friend apparently studying in her friend's bedroom. Victoria leaves to fetch a glass of water in the kitchen, passing her best friend's brother (played by Daniel Romer) who is sitting in the living room. Once in the kitchen, she begins to "daydream" and imagines herself sliding into the living room with her socks on the hardwood floor. Victoria is now wearing an oversized oxford shirt and hot pants in an homage to the Tom CruiseTom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
film Risky Business
Risky Business
Risky Business is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It stars Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The hit film launched Cruise to stardom.-Plot:...
as she swings her hair, dances, and sings to the enthusiastic boy. In the second sequence we see Victoria parked outside of the house, text messaging her friend to tell her she has arrived. She then catches a glimpse of the boy's bandmates leaving his garage. The next moment, she has another dream in which she sings on top of the car on the street and he plays drums. The climax of the video takes place in a pizzeria, where Victoria dances to the chorus of the song and finally approaches and talks to her crush.
Credits and personnel
- Victoria JusticeVictoria JusticeVictoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...
– vocals, songwriting - Allan GriggKool KojakAllan Grigg, also known as Kool Kojak, is a Brazilian-American songwriter, producer and artist notable for co-writing and co-producing Flo Rida’s #1 Billboard hit single “Right Round”...
- songwriting, production, programming, instrumentation - Savan KotechaSavan KotechaSavan Kotecha is an American songwriter and vocal producer from Austin, Texas of Indian descent. Kotecha has sold over 60 million records with artists such as Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, One Direction and Celine Dion...
- songwriting - Greg WellsGreg WellsGreg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
– mixing - Mighty Mike Garity – engineer
Credits are taken from Victorious liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
.
Chart performance
"Best Friend's Brother" debuted at #93 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...
on the June 18, 2011 chart. The next week it climbed to #86.
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. 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... |
86 |