Chillin (Wale song)
Encyclopedia
"Chillin" is a song by American rapper Wale
. The song features singer Lady Gaga
and serves as the lead single from his debut album, Attention: Deficit
. It was officially released on June 12, 2009. A remix of the song is present on Wale's Back to the Feature mixtape, under the name "Chillin (Catch vs 9th)".
The song received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. "Chillin" reached the lower regions of the official charts of some of the nations. Its highest peak was twelve at United Kingdom. In the U.S. it peaked at ninety-nine on the Billboard Hot 100
. The accompanying music video for the single features both Wale and Gaga in various locations in or near Washington D.C. and Boston, MA. Wale performed the song live on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
" on July 14 and at a number of shows leading up to the album's release date. This song appears in DJ Hero
under the name "Lookin' at Me" and Lady Gaga is not listed in the game.
Upon hearing that some were surprised by the collaboration, Wale went on to say, "If Jay-Z can work with Coldplay, then Wale should be able to work with Gaga." Wale's mentor, Mark Ronson sent the track to Gaga. She commented that her portion of the song, which includes lyrics such as "Lookin' at, lookin' at, lookin' at me/ Eyes all stickin' like honey on bees", is narcissistic, but in a positive way. On incorporating this hook
in the song, Gaga said:
The lyrics capture the life and image of Wale's home areas Maryland
and District of Columbia. It has reference to go-go
with influence of 90s style rapping.
. New York Post
critic Ryan Brockington felt that, while liking the song, M.I.A. was "one thing Lady Gaga is not" and questioned why Gaga chose to emulate her. Later, this, among other things, was criticized by M.I.A. herself. The Greyhound gave the song a negative review and said, "...with a lackluster hook and the repetition of the name 'Wale,' the airplay and sales of this single will depend greatly upon the vocals of Lady Gaga." Jason Lipshutz from Billboard
praised the "club-ready single" for its "bouncy hook and slick verses" and called the song "the perfect precursor to Wale's long-awaited debut."
at position ninety-nine but fell off the next week. It reached a peak of thirty-two on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. The song has sold 354,000 units in the US. In Canada the song reached a peak of seventy-three. "Chillin" charted for one week in Australia where it reached twenty-nine. The song performed moderately well in the United Kingdom and Ireland where it reached twelve and nineteen respectively. It also charted on Billboards European Hot 100 Singles, peaking at forty-two.
. A thirty-second look at the video was posted on the official MTV Samedi website, while a behind the scenes look at the video was given to Elite DC. The full video was posted on Interscope's YouTube channel on the June 12, 2009. Young Chris
, Tre
, Pusha T
, Anwan Glover
and Bun B. all appear in the music video. It features Wale and Gaga at the District of Columbia's Cardozo Senior High School and Wale in various venues and streets in the District. This includes one scene in the famous hidden clothing store Bodega in Boston
where Wale tries on various clothes. One of Gaga's trademark Great Danes also appears in the video in Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Several posters of Barack Obama
appear in the video. The music video was added to BET
's rotation.
Wale (rapper)
Wale Victor Folarin , better known by his stage name Wale , is an American rapper from Washington, D.C. Wale was born to Nigerian parents. He rose to prominence in 2006, when his song "Dig Dug " became popular in his hometown. Wale became locally recognized and continued recording music for the...
. The song features singer Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
and serves as the lead single from his debut album, Attention: Deficit
Attention: Deficit
Attention Deficit is the debut album of American rapper Wale, released November 10, 2009 on Allido Records and Interscope Records in the United States. Due to Wale's decision to tour with Jay-Z, N.E.R.D., and J. Cole, the album's original scheduled release for September 22, 2009 was pushed back to...
. It was officially released on June 12, 2009. A remix of the song is present on Wale's Back to the Feature mixtape, under the name "Chillin (Catch vs 9th)".
The song received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. "Chillin" reached the lower regions of the official charts of some of the nations. Its highest peak was twelve at United Kingdom. In the U.S. it peaked at ninety-nine 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...
. The accompanying music video for the single features both Wale and Gaga in various locations in or near Washington D.C. and Boston, MA. Wale performed the song live on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
" on July 14 and at a number of shows leading up to the album's release date. This song appears in DJ Hero
DJ Hero
DJ Hero is a music video game, developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision as a rhythm game spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise. It was released on October 27, 2009 in North America and on October 29, 2009 in Europe...
under the name "Lookin' at Me" and Lady Gaga is not listed in the game.
Background
Wale wanted Gaga to collaborate with him on the track since January 2009, because he believed that she embodied the party-record feel of the song. He said of the collaboration,
"If music was a high school, I feel like I'll be the dude on the football team, and it would be like, 'OK, Gaga's having a party!' And you know all the bad girls are going to be out there."
Upon hearing that some were surprised by the collaboration, Wale went on to say, "If Jay-Z can work with Coldplay, then Wale should be able to work with Gaga." Wale's mentor, Mark Ronson sent the track to Gaga. She commented that her portion of the song, which includes lyrics such as "Lookin' at, lookin' at, lookin' at me/ Eyes all stickin' like honey on bees", is narcissistic, but in a positive way. On incorporating this 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...
in the song, Gaga said:
"I really wanted to sit down with Wale before I wrote the hook, because to me, it's really lame when people send you tracks, and they're like, 'All right, Gaga, throw your vocals on it.' This is Wale's record. It's not my record. It's one of those songs, one of those tracks and one of those videos that you can't stop listening to."
The lyrics capture the life and image of Wale's home areas Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and District of Columbia. It has reference to go-go
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
with influence of 90s style rapping.
Critical reception
Critical reception of the song has been mixed. Steve Roberts from MTV praised Gaga's verse as employing a similar singing style to M.I.A.M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
. New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
critic Ryan Brockington felt that, while liking the song, M.I.A. was "one thing Lady Gaga is not" and questioned why Gaga chose to emulate her. Later, this, among other things, was criticized by M.I.A. herself. The Greyhound gave the song a negative review and said, "...with a lackluster hook and the repetition of the name 'Wale,' the airplay and sales of this single will depend greatly upon the vocals of Lady Gaga." Jason Lipshutz from 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...
praised the "club-ready single" for its "bouncy hook and slick verses" and called the song "the perfect precursor to Wale's long-awaited debut."
Chart performance
The song performed moderately on the charts. In the United States, the song debuted for one week 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...
at position ninety-nine but fell off the next week. It reached a peak of thirty-two on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. The song has sold 354,000 units in the US. In Canada the song reached a peak of seventy-three. "Chillin" charted for one week in Australia where it reached twenty-nine. The song performed moderately well in the United Kingdom and Ireland where it reached twelve and nineteen respectively. It also charted on Billboards European Hot 100 Singles, peaking at forty-two.
Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Chris RobinsonChris Robinson (director)
Chris Robinson is an American film director working mostly with music videos and commercials. He has directed commercials for brands such as iPod, Coca Cola and Verizon and music videos for songs like "Fallin'" and "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys, "Roc Boys" by Jay-Z, the grammy nominated...
. A thirty-second look at the video was posted on the official MTV Samedi website, while a behind the scenes look at the video was given to Elite DC. The full video was posted on Interscope's YouTube channel on the June 12, 2009. Young Chris
Young Chris
Young Chris is a Grammy nominated American rapper and songwriter. A member of Philadelphia rap trio Young Gunz, formerly signed to Roc-A-Fella records through Beanie Sigel’s State Property collective, early success included the hit single "Can't Stop, Won't Stop"...
, Tre
TRE
TRE might stand for:*3 , a mobile operator in Sweden*Tampere, a city in Finland*Telecommunications Research Establishment, British radar research organization...
, Pusha T
Pusha T
Terrence Thornton better known by his stage name Pusha T is an American recording artist, occasional actor and one half of the critically acclaimed hip hop duo Clipse. He is also the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Re-Up Records along with his brother Gene 'Malice' Thornton...
, Anwan Glover
Anwan Glover
Ralph Anwan Glover is an American actor and musician. He is one of the founding members of the Backyard Band, a go-go band, as well as appearing as gang member Slim Charles in the HBO series The Wire. He has also appeared in music videos, such as Boyz n da Hood's "Dem Boyz" among others, and has a...
and Bun B. all appear in the music video. It features Wale and Gaga at the District of Columbia's Cardozo Senior High School and Wale in various venues and streets in the District. This includes one scene in the famous hidden clothing store Bodega in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
where Wale tries on various clothes. One of Gaga's trademark Great Danes also appears in the video in Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Several posters of 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...
appear in the video. The music video was added to BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
's rotation.
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (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... ) |
73 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 42 |
| Ireland (IRMI Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... ) |
19 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company 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 ... ) |
12 |
| US 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 |
99 |
| US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles | 25 |
External links
- Wale : News : Check out Wale's new video "Chillin" featuring Lady Gaga Interscope RecordsInterscope RecordsInterscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...