Dance Wiv Me
Encyclopedia
Dance wiv Me is a single
by Ghanaian British rapper
Dizzee Rascal
, from his fourth studio album
Tongue n' Cheek
. It was released on 22 June 2008 and features guest vocals from Scottish
DJ
Calvin Harris
and English R&B
singer Chrome. The extended mix of the song also appears on Harris's second album, Ready for the Weekend.
"Dance wiv Me" mixes Rascal's usual grime
style with dance music
from Harris and R&B
from Chrome. Rascal and Harris recorded their parts separately, sending their parts back and forth over the phone, while Chrome recorded his vocals in the studio with Rascal. The song debuted in the UK at #1 and stayed there for four weeks - making it Rascal's first ever number one. It became the 12th-biggest selling single in the UK in 2008. Rascal, Chrome and Harris performed an impromptu
acoustic version of "Dance wiv Me" for the BBC
as part of the Glastonbury Festival 2008
coverage. This song was played in an episode the HBO series Entourage
.
, Rascal explained that the collaboration with Harris came after they had met during Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2007. Rascal told Harris that his single "Acceptable in the 80s
" had got him excited about music again and that he would love to make a track with him.
The song's lyrics were written and recorded by Rascal with extra vocals recorded by Chrome. Harris produced the music separately from Rascal and Chrome and later sent the track to Rascal's studio for completion.
roots to a more pop
-oriented sound. It was first released as a download single in the UK on 30 June 2008 and in physical format one week later. The song was Dizzee Rascal's first single on his own Dirtee Stank Recordings record label, released after he had split from his former label, XL Recordings
, who did not want to release the track themselves.
On its first week of release, "Dance wiv Me" reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart
and remained top of the chart for four consecutive weeks. The song was the UK's 12th highest-selling single of 2008.
The music video for "Dance Wiv Me" depicts Dizzee Rascal and Chrome in a night club with Calvin Harris as the bar man.
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
by Ghanaian British 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...
, from his fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
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"...
. It was released on 22 June 2008 and features guest vocals from Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris is a Scottish singer-songwriter, record producer and DJ. His gold-selling debut album, I Created Disco, was released in 2007 and contained the top ten singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls"...
and English R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singer Chrome. The extended mix of the song also appears on Harris's second album, Ready for the Weekend.
"Dance wiv Me" mixes Rascal's usual 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...
style with dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
from Harris and R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
from Chrome. Rascal and Harris recorded their parts separately, sending their parts back and forth over the phone, while Chrome recorded his vocals in the studio with Rascal. The song debuted in the UK at #1 and stayed there for four weeks - making it Rascal's first ever number one. It became the 12th-biggest selling single in the UK in 2008. Rascal, Chrome and Harris performed an impromptu
Impromptu
An impromptu is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ex tempore improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano...
acoustic version of "Dance wiv Me" for the 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...
as part of the Glastonbury Festival 2008
Glastonbury Festival 2008
The 2008 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 25 to 29 June 2008.-New features:* The John Peel stage doubled in size and had a screen outside it to watch bands.* There was a new 'Shangri-La' area that replaced Lost Vagueness...
coverage. This song was played in an episode the HBO series Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
.
Writing and recording
In an interview with Jo Wiley on BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, Rascal explained that the collaboration with Harris came after they had met during Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2007. Rascal told Harris that his single "Acceptable in the 80s
Acceptable in the 80s
"Acceptable in the 80s" is a 2007 song by electropop musician Calvin Harris, based on the melody from Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1980 song "Happy House"...
" had got him excited about music again and that he would love to make a track with him.
"Dizzee texted me, saying he'd done this a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
over someone else's music, but his verse was too good for their music, so could he do it with me instead? So I spent a long time on it, to make sure it lived up to his expectations. I sent him the track, and he called me at 2 in the morning to say it was amazing, so I knew it was good." – Calvin Harris on the press release for Ready for the Weekend.
The song's lyrics were written and recorded by Rascal with extra vocals recorded by Chrome. Harris produced the music separately from Rascal and Chrome and later sent the track to Rascal's studio for completion.
"Me and Calvin met and we exchanged numbers. We never actually met once to actually make the tune, we did it back and forth over the phone. It was good, we were just like over the phone, 'What about changing that hook a bit?' Chrome was the only one that came in the studio but it was good working with him because we've done a few things in the past." – Dizzee Rascal in an interview with BBC Newsnight.
Release and reception
"Dance wiv Me" represented a change for Rascal from his grimeGrime (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...
roots to a more pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-oriented sound. It was first released as a download single in the UK on 30 June 2008 and in physical format one week later. The song was Dizzee Rascal's first single on his own Dirtee Stank Recordings record label, released after he had split from his former label, XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
, who did not want to release the track themselves.
On its first week of release, "Dance wiv Me" reached #1 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 ...
and remained top of the chart for four consecutive weeks. The song was the UK's 12th highest-selling single of 2008.
"Experimenting with dance music is a good way for British rappers to get on the radio and into the charts. Some people might see this as me selling out but no way. Every track I write I try to make different from the last and as my profile has risen with all the festivals and live shows I've done, I've wanted to experiment more." – Dizzee Rascal in the Daily Star
The music video for "Dance Wiv Me" depicts Dizzee Rascal and Chrome in a night club with Calvin Harris as the bar man.
Track listings
-
- Download Single:
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Mix) – 3:25
-
- Maxi CD / 12" Single:
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Mix) – 3:25
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Extended Mix) – 4:22
- "Dance Wiv Me" (NiterydersAgent X (Music Producers)Agent X is a British record production, songwriting and DJ team, originally founded as a duo in London by Music College classmates Greg Bonnick and Leon Price, adding Hayden Chapman and Peter Renshaw to the collective in 2009...
Remix) – 5:12 - "Dance Wiv Me" (Agent XAgent X (Music Producers)Agent X is a British record production, songwriting and DJ team, originally founded as a duo in London by Music College classmates Greg Bonnick and Leon Price, adding Hayden Chapman and Peter Renshaw to the collective in 2009...
Remix) – 4:25
-
- Download Single (Live):
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Live at iTunes Festival) – 3:37
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Live at Glastonbury) – 4:10
-
- US Single 1:
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:25
- "Dance Wiv Me" (DJ Rap Remix) – 4:22
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Dirty Vegas Remix) – 5:12
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Jason Nevins Remix) – 4:25
-
- US Single 2:
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:25
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Extended Mix) – 4:22
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Shazam Remix) – 5:44
- "Dance Wiv Me" (The Aston Shuffle Remix) – 6:14
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Jason Nevins Extended Mix) – 6:47
-
- German Single:
- "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:25
- "Dance Wiv Me" (DJ Frizzo Remix) – 4:04
Versions and remixes
- Agent XAgent X (Music Producers)Agent X is a British record production, songwriting and DJ team, originally founded as a duo in London by Music College classmates Greg Bonnick and Leon Price, adding Hayden Chapman and Peter Renshaw to the collective in 2009...
Remix - The Aston Shuffle Remix
- Extended Mix
- Dirty Vegas Remix
- DJ Frizzo Remix
- DJ Teddy-O & Benny Blanco Remix
- DJ Rap Remix
- Funkpuss Edit
- Jason Nevins Extended Mix
- Jason Nevins Remix
- Live At Glastonbury
- Live At iTunes Festival
- Niteryders Remix
- Phatclick Swayze & Alec Cresp Remix
- Radio Edit
- Shazam Remix
Charts
| Chart (2008–2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK R&B Chart UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... |
1 |
| Chart (2000–2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| 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 ... |
79 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | ARIA 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... |
Gold | 35,000 |
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum | 600,000 |