"Holiday" is a song 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...

, released as the third single 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 produced by 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"...

, with chorus vocals by 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. Harris originally wrote the song for girl group

Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

, The Saturdays

The Saturdays

The Saturdays are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London, United Kingdom. The group consists of five members Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Vanessa White and Rochelle Wiseman. In 2007 the band were formed through Fascination Records which gave them an instant record deal with...

, but it was rejected. The song was released digitally on 23 August 2009, with a physical copy that followed on 31 August. The single debuted in the UK at number-one upon initial release, bringing Dizzee's total of number-one singles to three (four including charity singles), as well as marking the fourth Top 10 hit and twelfth Top 40 hit from the rapper.

Critical reception

Vicki of 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...

Chart Blog gave the song a positive review stating:

"'Holiday' is a totally cheesy but totally harmless, fun song. It's designed to give people that are on holiday a great excuse to dance madly and us folks back home in Britain who need that holiday an even greater one. This song hasn't got the explosive feel that 'Bonkers' has and thus it doesn't have the same sense of longevity, but what it does have is a very now feel (not least because this song wouldn't have worked so well in November...)

Looking out the window now as i reach the end of this review, I'm amazed to see it has stopped raining and that the sun is trying to peep through the clouds. But then, maybe I shouldn't be that surprised - after all, this has officially been Dizzee's summer and this song is a little ray of sunshine." The song was awarded a 4 star.

Track listing

• CD single

1. "Holiday" (Radio Edit) – 3:41
2. "Holiday" (Extended Mix) – 6:02
3. "Holiday" (R'n'B Mix) – 3:25
4. "Live, Large N' In Charge" – 3:51

• 12" single

1. "Holiday" (Radio Edit)
2. "Holiday" (R'n'B Mix)
3. "Live, Large N' In Charge"
4. "Holiday" (Acappella)
5. "Holiday" (Instrumental)

• iTunes Australian single

1. "Holiday" (Radio Edit)
2. "Holiday" (Extended Mix)
3. "Live Large 'N' In Charge"

• iTunes UK EP

1. "Holiday" (Radio Edit)
2. "Holiday" (Extended Mix)
3. "Holiday" (R'n'B Mix)
4. "Live Large 'N' In Charge"
5. "Holiday" (Music Video)

Credits and personnel

• Writers
  Lyricist
  A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
  
  : Dylan Mills
  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...
  
  , 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"...
  
  , Nick Detnon
• 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...
  
  : Calvin Harris
• Instruments
  Musical instrument
  A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
  
   performed and arranged
  Arrangement
  The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
  
   by Calvin Harris
• Mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  : Calvin Harris
• Lyrics
  Lyrics
  Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
  
   written and performed by Dizzee Rascal
• Chorus vocals performed by Chrome
• Vocals recorded
  Sound recording and reproduction
  Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
  
   and produced by Nick Cage

Charts

> > > > > > >

Chart (2009)	Peak position

End-of-year charts

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (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 ...

| style="text-align:center;"|57
|-
Sales and certifications
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Country
! Provider
! Certification
! Sales
|-
| 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...

| Silver
| 200,000+
|}

Chart procession and succession

Release history

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Region
! Date
! Format
! Label
|-
| rowspan=2|United Kingdom
| 23 August 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...

| rowspan=2|Dirtee Stank
|-
| 31 August 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...

|-
| Australia
| 28 August 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...

| Liberation Music
|}