"Jimmy" is the second single from experimental electronica rap artist 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...

's second album Kala

Kala (album)

Kala is the second studio album by British musician M.I.A., released in August 2007. The album features musical styles ranging from dance music to alternative hip hop and makes extensive use of South Asian music such as that of the urumee, a drum used in gaana music native to Tamil Nadu, India. It...

(2007), and her first single from the album in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The song was written and produced by Maya Arulpragasam and Switch and released in late July, 2007.

While "Jimmy" is a cover of the song "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" sung by Parvati Khan

Parvati Khan

Parvati Khan is a pop singer who sang the song "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" in the Bollywood movie Disco Dancer, which won a Gold Disc award. Later she also sang "Khula Thala Chod Aayi" after having won a nationwide talent contest in Trinidad...

 in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 from the 1982 Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 movie Disco Dancer

Disco Dancer

Disco Dancer is a 1982 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by Babbar Subhash starring Mithun Chakraborty in lead role and Rajesh Khanna in a special appearance. The film tells the rags-to-riches story of a young street performer...

, written by Bappi Lahiri

Bappi Lahiri

Bappi Lahiri or Alokesh Lahiri , born 27 November 1952, is a music director in the Hindi film industry. He pioneered the use of disco music in Indian cinema and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s with films like Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal and Sharaabi among others.-Early...

 and influenced by Nazia Hassan's

Nazia Hassan

Nazia Hassan was an iconic Pakistani pop singer. Her song "Aap Jaisa Koi" from the Indian film Qurbani made her a legend and pop icon in Pakistan and all of South Asia in the 1980s, where she is admired and loved even today, years after her death...

 (Pakistani) album Disco Deewane (1981)

Disco Deewane

Disco Deewane is a Pakistani pop album, performed by Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan and produced by the famous Indian producer Biddu, that was released in 1981. It charted in fourteen countries worldwide and became the best-selling Asian pop record up until that time...

  . "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" itself sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 the French pop song "T'es OK!" (English version "You're OK") by Ottawan

Ottawan

Ottawan were a French eurodisco duo in the late 1970s and early 1980s.-Career:They were fronted by lead singer Jean Patrick and Annette , with Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger the main songwriters. They are best known for their two hit singles "D.I.S.C.O." and "Hands Up "...

, "Jimmy" features different orchestration and beats from the previous version, and original English lyrics written by Arulpragasam.

M.I.A. performed the track on BBC Radio 1

BBC 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...

's Big Weekend in 2007.

The single was released in the UK on November 10 in CD single, 7" and 12" formats.
In February 2008 the single began to gain traction on the US dance charts, peaking at #28 after five weeks on the chart.

Background

M.I.A. explained that "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" was a track she used to dance to when she was a child. "My mum used to hire me out when I was a kid as a party buffer. It was my track that I used to do my routine to. I had a little tape recorder

Tape recorder

An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...

, and a cloak and a cardboard cut out guitar, and that was my joint." Describing the recording and writing processes, she revealed that she had already recorded the strings and other parts of the song in India, but initially didn't attempt to do "Jimmy" when she was with co-producer Switch, explaining "I had to be drunk enough to be that disco. It all came together that week." Arulpragasam wrote the song about an invitation she received from the journalist Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson (journalist)

Ben Anderson is a television reporter and writer. He was born in Middlesbrough, and now lives in London.A veteran reporter and presenter, in 2005, Anderson reported for Frontline Football – four films for the BBC that followed national football teams beset by turmoil during the qualifying rounds of...

 while working in Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

, to meet him whilst covering a genocide tour.
The 70's disco-pop style of the song stands in marked contrast with other songs on Kala.

"Jimmy" has been covered by the indie pop band Of Montreal

Of Montreal

Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...

.

Music video

The music video for "Jimmy" was directed by childhood friend Nezar Khammal. It premiered in Japan in July, and was premiered elsewhere around the world in August, the month of her second album release Kala

Kala (album)

Kala is the second studio album by British musician M.I.A., released in August 2007. The album features musical styles ranging from dance music to alternative hip hop and makes extensive use of South Asian music such as that of the urumee, a drum used in gaana music native to Tamil Nadu, India. It...

. The music video features M.I.A. dancing with a golden crown on her head, with eleven dancers dressed in yellow in an Indian fashion, all dancing a variation of the Thousand Hand Bodhisattva. Occasionally the video cuts to show M.I.A. dancing by herself and two other girls in a different style of clothing against a white backdrop.

The video has received some airplay on MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 in Canada.

A slightly different version of the music video, using the Dan Carey Radio Mix of the song, was used to promote "Jimmy" in the UK and Italy.

Track listings and formats

UK CD single

1. "Jimmy"
2. "Jimmy (DJ Eli Remix)"

UK 12" vinyl

1. "Jimmy"
2. "Jimmy (Instrumental)"
3. "Jimmy (DJ Eli Remix)"

UK 7" vinyl

1. "Jimmy"
2. "What I Got (Ruff Ruff Version)"

iTunes Digital Single

1. "Jimmy"
2. "Jimmy (Dan Carey Radio Mix)"
3. "Jimmy (DJ Eli Remix)"

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak
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 ...	66
U.S. 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 Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	28