Bonkers (song)
Encyclopedia
"Bonkers" is a song by British
rapper
Dizzee Rascal
and American
producer
Armand Van Helden
. It is the first single released from Rascal's fourth album, Tongue n' Cheek
. Rascal released the track under his own record label, Dirtee Stank Recordings on 17 May 2009 in the United Kingdom
; where it debuted at number-one; marking Dizzee's second number-one single; third Top 10 single and eleventh Top 40 hit. In October 2011, NME
placed it at number 59 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
newspaper that he is unashamed of the song's pop hooks, and despite initially having a strong dislike for house music
he has enjoyed making the song. He has also said that the album Tongue N' Cheek
will contain more pop songs, and that he has stopped making grime
music in the style of Boy in da Corner
in favour of more mainstream songs. On 5 May 2009 The King Blues
chose Bonkers as their cover when they were in the Live Lounge
with Jo Whiley
.
The song appeared on the Nintendo DS
and Wii
game Need for Speed: Nitro
, which takes place in Rio de Janerio, Cairo
, Madrid
, Singapore
, and Dubai
for the Wii version.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Armand Van Helden
Armand Van Helden
Armand Van Helden is a record producer, DJ and remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow" , which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1997, and his own track "U Don't Know Me ", which went to number 1...
. It is the first single released from Rascal's fourth album, Tongue n' Cheek
Tongue N' Cheek
Tongue n' Cheek is the fourth studio album by British rapper Dizzee Rascal. The album was released on 20 September 2009 and includes the number one singles, "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday" and "Dirtee Disco"...
. Rascal released the track under his own record label, Dirtee Stank Recordings on 17 May 2009 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
; where it debuted at number-one; marking Dizzee's second number-one single; third Top 10 single and eleventh Top 40 hit. In October 2011, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed it at number 59 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Background
Van Helden is the latest big name to collaborate with Dizzee Rascal, others have included Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, Calvin Harris, Chrome, and Basement Jaxx. The record has been placed straight onto the BBC Radio One playlist on the A list, as well as being selected as Jo Whiley's Pet Sound and Sara Cox's 'Weekend Anthem'. Dizzee Rascal has said in a recent interview with The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
newspaper that he is unashamed of the song's pop hooks, and despite initially having a strong dislike for house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
he has enjoyed making the song. He has also said that the album Tongue N' Cheek
Tongue N' Cheek
Tongue n' Cheek is the fourth studio album by British rapper Dizzee Rascal. The album was released on 20 September 2009 and includes the number one singles, "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday" and "Dirtee Disco"...
will contain more pop songs, and that he has stopped making grime
Grime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
music in the style of Boy in da Corner
Boy in Da Corner
Boy in da Corner is the debut album of British grime MC Dizzee Rascal, released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom and Matador Records in the United States...
in favour of more mainstream songs. On 5 May 2009 The King Blues
The King Blues
The King Blues are a punk band from London, England, credited for fusing ska and folk together with influences from punk rock and hardcore punk. Tariq Ali described the band's sounds as 'rough, radical music that should unsettle the rulers of this country. A new generation of musicians are...
chose Bonkers as their cover when they were in the Live Lounge
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...
with Jo Whiley
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley is a British radio disc jockey and television presenter. She was the host of the long running weekday Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1.-Early life and education:...
.
The song appeared on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
game Need for Speed: Nitro
Need for Speed: Nitro
Need for Speed: Nitro is a 14th installment in the long-running racing video game franchise Need for Speed. It was published by Electronic Arts for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms, It is also the only game to date in the franchise to not be made for PC. It was announced in January as part of a...
, which takes place in Rio de Janerio, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
for the Wii version.
Music Video
There is a music video for the song that shows Dizzee Rascal on an inflatable pickup.Track listings
- CD single / 12" vinyl
- "Bonkers" (Radio Edit) – 2:59
- "Bonkers" (Club Mix) – 5:12
- "Bonkers" (Club Dub) – 5:26
- "Butterfly" – 3:53
- Digital download
- "Bonkers" (Radio Edit) – 2:59
- "Bonkers" (Club Mix) – 5:18
- "Bonkers" (Club Dub) – 5:26
- "Butterfly" – 3:53
- "Bonkers" (Music Video) – 2:56
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Dance Chart UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Chart is a chart compiled by The Official Charts Company from sales in record stores and digital downloads. Although the chart does not currently receive any airplay on the radio or television, the chart can be viewed on the BBC Radio 1 and The Official Charts Company website.Digital... |
1 |
Year-end charts
| End of year chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 66 |
| 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 ... |
15 |
Sales and certifications
| Country | Certifications | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Platinum | 70,000+ |
| UK | Gold | 400,000+ |
Chart procession and succession
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 17 May 2009 | CD Single CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s... |
| Digital download 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... |
||
| Australia | 22 May 2009 | Digital download 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... |