Fergalicious
Encyclopedia
"Fergalicious" is the second single from Fergie's debut solo album, The Dutchess
. It features The Black Eyed Peas
member will.i.am
, who also produced the track. "Fergalicious" was not officially released as the second single in the UK, although the video did receive airplay at the time. "Glamorous" was officially made the second single instead. However, "Fergalicious" still managed to chart at number 26 on the UK Official Download Chart
and was released as the fourth single there, over a year after the song's initial release, as a double A-side with "Clumsy
". This is possibly due to the huge success of "Big Girls Don't Cry
" in the UK which reached #2, saved the album, and even made it reach a new peak position at #18. As of August 2008, the single has sold 3,048,000 copies. Fergie released a shoe line based on the song which is Fergalicious by Fergie.
" by J.J. Fad and heavily samples "Give It All You Got" by Afro-Rican
. It also features elements from "Night Train
" by James Brown
and "It's More Fun to Compute" by Kraftwerk
(both sampled in "Give It All You Got"). The riff at the opening of the song and featured throughout is from Dominic Frontiere
's theme music for the 60's TV show The Rat Patrol
. will.i.am's opening line is an interpolation of the opening line of 2 Live Crew
's "Throw the D." The word "Fergalicious" is a portmanteau of the words 'Fergie' and 'delicious'. Spelling is a large part of the song's lyrics, with vocalists spelling Fergie's name, the word 'delicious', and the word 'tasty', albeit 'tastey'. Besides in the song Fergie uses three foreign words, such as "tres" (Spanish number translated as "three"), "uno" (Italian & Spanish number translated as "one") and "loco" (Spanish adjective translated as "crazy").
several months after its release. However, "Fergalicious" managed to top the Pop 100
chart and spent 14 weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100. "Fergalicious" was extremely successful as a digital song; in January 2007, it sold 295,000 downloads in a single week, holding the record for the most downloaded song in a single week (which has since been broken by Flo Rida
's "Low
", and songs by other artists including The Black Eyed Peas
). As of August 2008, "Fergalicious" has been downloaded for over 2,740,000 times in the U.S. alone.
(both of which are signed to labels in the Interscope-Geffen-A&M
division of Universal Music Group
). In the lyrics, Fergie wrote: "But I ain't promiscuous
", which Furtado thought had referred to her single
. Later, in the song "Give It to Me", Furtado wrote a verse, which she confirmed was directed at Fergie. In a possible response to Furtado, Fergie sings that if "You got a problem, come say in to my face", in the music video for the remix song "Impacto", by Daddy Yankee
.
In March 2009, former N.W.A member the Arabian Prince
sued Fergie's record label over unpaid royalties for including a sample of Supersonic
, a song he produced, for Fergalicious. The lawsuit was filed in the New York Supreme Court, claiming that Tamika Wright, Jerry Heller
and Ruthless Records owed him 20% of the royalties from the song. He also claims that the label refused him payment on numerous occasions.
The video premiered on MTV
on October 24, 2006 and premiered on Yahoo! Music
on October 31, 2006. The music video
was filmed in Hollywood
, and directed by Fatima Robinson
, who also directed the "My Humps
" music video. will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas also appears in the video, which features Fergie as Willy Wonka
in a candy factory called "Fergieland" (the factory was nameless in the original book and both film versions). The video starts with the Oompa Loompas packaging pink and purple boxes of "Fergalicious" candy. In the beginning of the video, Fergie sings in a field of candy canes with the Oompa Loompas. Throughout the video, she wears a tan and khaki girl scout outfit, sports a black one-piece swimsuit
while lying in a pile of candy, (often in a kaleidoscope
view) works out in a colorful gym flexing her biceps
, sings in a room filled with lollipops and other candies while dressed like Shirley Temple
, and pops out of a cake while wearing a tiny blue swimsuit with gems encrusted on the exterior. She then starts watching two women wrestle in cake before joining them at the end of the video. Towards the end of the video, Fergie opens and then plays a few notes on a Samsung K5 MP3 Player, giving it center focus in the screen; there then follow, interspersed in the remaining frames of the videos, shots of other characters in the video either listening to the player, presenting it to the camera with a big smile, or carefully handing the player to another extra. As of November 4, 2010 the music video for "Fergalicious" has been viewed over 20 million times on popular video-sharing website, YouTube.
UK CD Single (2007)
Australian CD Single & Europe CD1
Europe CD2
The Dutchess
The Dutchess is the debut and only studio album by American recording artist Fergie, who is a member of The Black Eyed Peas. The album was released on September 19, 2006. As of 2008, the album has sold more than six million copies worldwide...
. It features The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
member will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
, who also produced the track. "Fergalicious" was not officially released as the second single in the UK, although the video did receive airplay at the time. "Glamorous" was officially made the second single instead. However, "Fergalicious" still managed to chart at number 26 on the UK Official Download Chart
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...
and was released as the fourth single there, over a year after the song's initial release, as a double A-side with "Clumsy
Clumsy (Fergie song)
"Clumsy" is a song by American recording artist Fergie from her debut album, The Dutchess. The song was released as the album's fifth and final single on September 25, 2007. It was written by Fergie, Bobby Troup and will.i.am, who also produced the track. It was partially recorded in Los Angeles...
". This is possibly due to the huge success of "Big Girls Don't Cry
Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie song)
"Big Girls Don't Cry" is a song written by Fergie and Toby Gad for pop singer Fergie's debut solo album The Dutchess . The song was released as the album's fourth single in 2007 and topped the charts in several countries, most notably in Australia , and in...
" in the UK which reached #2, saved the album, and even made it reach a new peak position at #18. As of August 2008, the single has sold 3,048,000 copies. Fergie released a shoe line based on the song which is Fergalicious by Fergie.
Composition
The song contains an interpolation of "SupersonicSupersonic (album)
Supersonic is a 1987 hip-hop album by J. J. Fad, released on Ruthless Records. The album was produced by Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince. Executively produced by Eric Eazy-E Wright. The album was distributed by Atco Records, a division of Atlantic Records.The song was written by Dania Maria...
" by J.J. Fad and heavily samples "Give It All You Got" by Afro-Rican
Afro-Rican
Afro-Rican is a popular Miami Bass and Hip-Hop group, most famous for their genre shaping 1987 hit Give it All You Got , as well as their 1995 hit All of Puerto Rico. The group is the brainchild of Derrick Rahming, and the remainder of the lineup has changed over the years...
. It also features elements from "Night Train
Night Train (song)
"Night Train" is a twelve bar blues instrumental standard first recorded by Jimmy Forrest in 1951.-Origins and development:"Night Train" has a long and complicated history. The piece's opening riff was first recorded in 1940 by a small group led by Duke Ellington sideman Johnny Hodges under the...
" by James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and "It's More Fun to Compute" by Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
(both sampled in "Give It All You Got"). The riff at the opening of the song and featured throughout is from Dominic Frontiere
Dominic Frontiere
Dominic Frontiere is an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He is known for composing the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series The Outer Limits.-Early years:...
's theme music for the 60's TV show The Rat Patrol
The Rat Patrol
The Rat Patrol is an American television program that aired on ABC during the 1966–1968 seasons. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers who are part of a long-range desert patrol group in the North African campaign during World War II...
. will.i.am's opening line is an interpolation of the opening line of 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew was a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.- Early career :...
's "Throw the D." The word "Fergalicious" is a portmanteau of the words 'Fergie' and 'delicious'. Spelling is a large part of the song's lyrics, with vocalists spelling Fergie's name, the word 'delicious', and the word 'tasty', albeit 'tastey'. Besides in the song Fergie uses three foreign words, such as "tres" (Spanish number translated as "three"), "uno" (Italian & Spanish number translated as "one") and "loco" (Spanish adjective translated as "crazy").
Chart performance
The song peaked at #2 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...
several months after its release. However, "Fergalicious" managed to top 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 and spent 14 weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100. "Fergalicious" was extremely successful as a digital song; in January 2007, it sold 295,000 downloads in a single week, holding the record for the most downloaded song in a single week (which has since been broken by Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
's "Low
Low (Flo Rida song)
"Low" is the debut single by American rapper Flo Rida, featured on his debut album Mail On Sunday and also featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Step Up 2: The Streets. The song features T-Pain and was co-written with T-Pain. There is also a remix in which the hook is sung by Flo Rida rather...
", and songs by other artists including The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
). As of August 2008, "Fergalicious" has been downloaded for over 2,740,000 times in the U.S. alone.
Controversy
The song caused controversy between Fergie and Nelly FurtadoNelly 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...
(both of which are signed to labels in the Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an umbrella label, owned by Universal Music Group. The company was formed in 1999, when Geffen Records and A&M Records were merged into Interscope Records—the flagship imprint of the operation....
division of Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
). In the lyrics, Fergie wrote: "But I ain't promiscuous
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
", which Furtado thought had referred to her single
Promiscuous (song)
"Promiscuous" is a dance-pop/R&B song by Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado, from the album, Loose . It was written by Furtado, Timothy "Attitude" Clayton, Timbaland and Nate "Danja" Hills, with the latter pair handling production of the song...
. Later, in the song "Give It to Me", Furtado wrote a verse, which she confirmed was directed at Fergie. In a possible response to Furtado, Fergie sings that if "You got a problem, come say in to my face", in the music video for the remix song "Impacto", by Daddy Yankee
Daddy Yankee
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez , known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican Reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. In his youth he was interested in baseball,...
.
In March 2009, former N.W.A member the Arabian Prince
Arabian Prince
Arabian Prince is the stage name of Mik Lezan , a rapper and hip hop producer, best known for being an original member of the rap group, N.W.A.-Biography:...
sued Fergie's record label over unpaid royalties for including a sample of Supersonic
Supersonic (album)
Supersonic is a 1987 hip-hop album by J. J. Fad, released on Ruthless Records. The album was produced by Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince. Executively produced by Eric Eazy-E Wright. The album was distributed by Atco Records, a division of Atlantic Records.The song was written by Dania Maria...
, a song he produced, for Fergalicious. The lawsuit was filed in the New York Supreme Court, claiming that Tamika Wright, Jerry Heller
Jerry Heller
Jerry Heller is best known for managing West Coast rap group N.W.A. and rapper Eazy-E. He is co-founder and CEO of Ruthless Records. Heller managed War, Average White Band, Marvin Gaye, Michel'le, A.L.T...
and Ruthless Records owed him 20% of the royalties from the song. He also claims that the label refused him payment on numerous occasions.
Music video
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....
on October 24, 2006 and premiered on Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
on October 31, 2006. The 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...
was filmed in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, and directed by Fatima Robinson
Fatima Robinson
Fatima Robinson is a noted music video director and choreographer. Robinson's choreography résumé includes many Aaliyah's Videos, and Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair"...
, who also directed the "My Humps
My Humps
"My Humps" is the third single by The Black Eyed Peas from their fourth album, Monkey Business. It samples a section of the song "I Need a Freak" by Sexual Harassment, as well as the 1989 song "Wild Thing" by Tone Lōc and "It's Automatic" by Freestyle. Released in 2005, it reached number three in...
" music video. will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas also appears in the video, which features Fergie as Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka
This article is about the fictional character. For the candy company, see, The Willy Wonka Candy Company.Willy Wonka is a fictional character in the 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the film adaptations that followed. The book and the 1971 film adaption both vividly...
in a candy factory called "Fergieland" (the factory was nameless in the original book and both film versions). The video starts with the Oompa Loompas packaging pink and purple boxes of "Fergalicious" candy. In the beginning of the video, Fergie sings in a field of candy canes with the Oompa Loompas. Throughout the video, she wears a tan and khaki girl scout outfit, sports a black one-piece swimsuit
One-piece swimsuit
A one-piece swimsuit is a usually skin-tight one-piece swimsuit worn by women and girls when swimming in the sea or in a swimming pool, or for any activity in the sun, such as sun bathing. The one-piece swimsuit usually covers a female's torso...
while lying in a pile of candy, (often in a kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope is a circle of mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other end creates a colorful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors...
view) works out in a colorful gym flexing her biceps
Biceps brachii muscle
In human anatomy, the biceps brachii, or simply biceps in common parlance, is, as the name implies, a two-headed muscle located on the upper arm. Both heads arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle belly which is attached to the upper forearm...
, sings in a room filled with lollipops and other candies while dressed like Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
, and pops out of a cake while wearing a tiny blue swimsuit with gems encrusted on the exterior. She then starts watching two women wrestle in cake before joining them at the end of the video. Towards the end of the video, Fergie opens and then plays a few notes on a Samsung K5 MP3 Player, giving it center focus in the screen; there then follow, interspersed in the remaining frames of the videos, shots of other characters in the video either listening to the player, presenting it to the camera with a big smile, or carefully handing the player to another extra. As of November 4, 2010 the music video for "Fergalicious" has been viewed over 20 million times on popular video-sharing website, YouTube.
Track listing
UK Promotional CD Single (2006)- "Fergalicious" (Radio Edit) — 3:47
UK CD Single (2007)
- "Fergalicious" (Radio Edit) — 3:47
- "Clumsy" (Radio Edit) — 3:17
Australian CD Single & Europe CD1
- "Fergalicious" (Album Version) — 4:54
- "Paradise" — 4:07
Europe CD2
- "Fergalicious" (Album Version) — 4:52
- "Paradise" — 4:08
- "London BridgeLondon Bridge (Fergie song)"London Bridge" is a hip hop/R&B song co-written and performed by Fergie for her debut album, The Dutchess. It contains a sample taken from "Down to the Night Club" by Tower of Power. It was released as the lead single from the album on July 18, 2006, and was Fergie's first single as a solo artist...
" (Live) — 2:43 - "Fergalicious" (Music Video) — 3:52
Official versions
- "Fergalicious" (Album Version - Explicit) — 4:52
- "Fergalicious" (Album Version - Edited) — 4:52
- "Fergalicious" (Radio Edit) — 3:47
Charts
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|