Let It Rock (Kevin Rudolf song)
Encyclopedia
"Let It Rock" is the debut single of Kevin Rudolf
from his debut album In the City
. It features rapper Lil Wayne
. The track was produced and written by Rudolf.
In the U.S. and Canada, the song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
, number #6 on the Pop 100
and #2 on the Canadian Hot 100
. The first week, the song debuted at number 45 on the Australian Singles Chart and reached number 3. In the United Kingdom, the song climbed to number forty on physical release but due to an increase in airplay, due to BBC Radio 1
adding it to their A-list, the song climbed thirty places to number 10 in the song's second week on the chart; then it rose to number 5 the following week. "Let It Rock" was number 28 on Rolling Stone
"Let It Rock" was certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA on May 5, 2009.
As of July 2011, the song has sold 4,000,000 digital downloads
, making it Lil Wayne's third 4-million-seller.
, the NBA on TNT, Dancing with the Stars
, Arizona Wildcats
basketball, and it became the official song ("Let Philly Rock") of the Philadelphia Phillies
World Series winning playoff run in 2008. Also, it was used in the third season
of America's Best Dance Crew by Quest Crew
in week 2. It was also the theme song for the WWE's Royal Rumble 2009
pay per view. Swedish software company MindArk
has licensed "Let It Rock" as the theme song for their upcoming release update of the MMORPG
Entropia Universe
. It has recently been used for a 24
season 7 promo. The song was also remixed as a Super Bowl
song ("Steelers Rock"). It is also used to promote the 2009 NBA All-Star Game
, where Rudolf performed the song between the Foot Locker
Three-point shootout and the Sprite
Slam dunk contest
. Rudolf also performed the song during the swim wear portion of the 2009 Miss USA Pageant
. It is also played at Seattle Mariners
and New York Mets
home games with clips of the players before the game. In addition to this, it is played before home games for the Cleveland Cavaliers
. Macy's has made the song its official theme song for morning rally videos for employees. It was also featured in Nickelodeon for an AD for World Wide Day of Play, A Nickelodeon event encouraging children to turn off devices such as the television, mp3 players, or video games, to go play outside. the song was used for a top 8 group jazz routine on the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance
choreographed by Travis Wall
. Was danced by Julianne Hough
, Derek Hough
, Chelsie Hightower
, Lacey Schwimmer
, and Artem Chigvintsev in a Dancing with the Stars
Season 8 result show. British county cricket club Leicestershire CCC used the song for their Twenty20 campaign in 2009, replacing Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". Part of the song was played during a break in play of the 2010 Olympic men's hockey gold medal game. The song is featured in the soundtrack to Madden NFL 11
.
The song's chorus is sampled in the Iyaz
song, "Damn They", which features Rudolf himself. The song however didn't make it into Iyaz
's debut album, Replay
. The song is also sampled and incorporated into Natasha Bedingfield's song "All I Need" from her album Strip Me; this song also features Kevin Rudolf.
The song is featured in the Rhapsody
Commercial. It was also used by Microsoft
during the CES 2009 opening keynote during a demonstration of new Windows devices.
U.S. CD single
UK CD single
featuring the players competing in the event.
Kevin Rudolf
Kevin Rudolf is an American singer-songwriter and record producer signed to Cash Money Records. Rudolf is mostly known for singing and producing rock/pop music...
from his debut album In the City
In the City (Kevin Rudolf album)
-Chart performance:...
. It features rapper Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
. The track was produced and written by Rudolf.
In the U.S. and Canada, the song reached #5 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...
, number #6 on 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...
and #2 on the 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...
. The first week, the song debuted at number 45 on the Australian Singles Chart and reached number 3. In the United Kingdom, the song climbed to number forty on physical release but due to an increase in airplay, due to 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...
adding it to their A-list, the song climbed thirty places to number 10 in the song's second week on the chart; then it rose to number 5 the following week. "Let It Rock" was number 28 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
"Let It Rock" was certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA on May 5, 2009.
As of July 2011, the song has sold 4,000,000 digital downloads
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...
, making it Lil Wayne's third 4-million-seller.
Song background
"Let It Rock" was picked up by the NFL NetworkNFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
, the NBA on TNT, Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 35 countries...
, Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats
-Athletic program:The University of Arizona participates in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Pacific-12 Conference Arizona participates in the conference's South Division, along with Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, and Utah...
basketball, and it became the official song ("Let Philly Rock") of the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
World Series winning playoff run in 2008. Also, it was used in the third season
America's Best Dance Crew (Season 3)
The third season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on January 15, 2009. It was hosted by Mario Lopez and featured Layla Kayleigh as the backstage correspondent. The judges included rapper Lil Mama, former *NSYNC singer JC Chasez, and hip-hop choreographer Shane Sparks...
of America's Best Dance Crew by Quest Crew
Quest Crew
Quest Crew is an American hip-hop dance crew from Los Angeles, California who were declared winners of the third season of America's Best Dance Crew...
in week 2. It was also the theme song for the WWE's Royal Rumble 2009
Royal Rumble (2009)
Royal Rumble was the twenty-second annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 25, 2009 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands...
pay per view. Swedish software company MindArk
MindArk
MindArk is a Swedish software company. It created Entropia Universe , a popular MMORPG-style online virtual universe. In partnership with American companies Nextpert and Neverdie Studios, it will launch the next generation 3D virtual world, Next Island in 2010...
has licensed "Let It Rock" as the theme song for their upcoming release update of the MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Entropia Universe
Entropia Universe
Entropia Universe is a massively multiplayer online virtual universe designed by the Swedish software company MindArk, based in Gothenburg. Entropia uses a micropayment business model, in which players may buy in-game currency with real money that can be redeemed back into real world funds at a...
. It has recently been used for a 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
season 7 promo. The song was also remixed as a Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
song ("Steelers Rock"). It is also used to promote the 2009 NBA All-Star Game
2009 NBA All-Star Game
The 2009 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 15, 2009 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Phoenix Suns. The game was the 58th edition of the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and was played during the 2008–09 NBA season...
, where Rudolf performed the song between the Foot Locker
Foot Locker
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in approximately 20 countries worldwide. Formerly known as Venator Group, Inc., it is the successor corporation to the F.W. Woolworth Company , and many of...
Three-point shootout and the Sprite
Sprite (soft drink)
Sprite is a transparent, lemon-lime flavored , caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in 1961. This was Coke's response to the popularity of 7 Up, which had begun as "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" in 1929...
Slam dunk contest
Slam Dunk Contest
The Slam Dunk Contest is an annual National Basketball Association competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was inaugurated by the American Basketball Association at its All-Star Game in 1976 in Denver, the same year the slam dunk was legalized in the NCAA...
. Rudolf also performed the song during the swim wear portion of the 2009 Miss USA Pageant
Miss USA 2009
Miss USA 2009, the 58th Miss USA pageant was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009...
. It is also played at Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
and New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
home games with clips of the players before the game. In addition to this, it is played before home games for the Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
. Macy's has made the song its official theme song for morning rally videos for employees. It was also featured in Nickelodeon for an AD for World Wide Day of Play, A Nickelodeon event encouraging children to turn off devices such as the television, mp3 players, or video games, to go play outside. the song was used for a top 8 group jazz routine on the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance
So You Think You Can Dance (U.S. TV series)
So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance competition and reality show that airs on Fox in the United States.The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, and was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions...
choreographed by Travis Wall
Travis Wall
Travis Michael Wall , an American dancer and dance instructor specializing in contemporary dance and jazz dance. He is best known for his 2006 appearance as a competitor on the second season of the television show So You Think You Can Dance, which airs on the Fox Network. As of 2009, he is...
. Was danced by Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography...
, Derek Hough
Derek Hough
Derek Hough is an American dancer, choreographer, musician and actor. A world champion in Latin American Dance, Hough has appeared since September 2007 on the hit U.S...
, Chelsie Hightower
Chelsie Hightower
Chelsie Hightower is a Latin ballroom dancer, who is best known for being a regular dance partner, trainer, and choreographer on the ABC competition show Dancing with the Stars.-Biography:...
, Lacey Schwimmer
Lacey Schwimmer
Lacey-Mae Schwimmer is an American competitive ballroom dancer, singer, and the winner of multiple youth championships. She is best known as the fourth place finalist of the third season of So You Think You Can Dance...
, and Artem Chigvintsev in a Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 35 countries...
Season 8 result show. British county cricket club Leicestershire CCC used the song for their Twenty20 campaign in 2009, replacing Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". Part of the song was played during a break in play of the 2010 Olympic men's hockey gold medal game. The song is featured in the soundtrack to Madden NFL 11
Madden NFL 11
Madden NFL 11 is an American football video game based on the National Football League published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 22nd annual installment in the bestselling Madden NFL video game franchise. It was released on August 10, 2010 in North America, and on August 13 in...
.
The song's chorus is sampled in the Iyaz
Iyaz
Keidran Jones , better known by his stage name Iyaz, is a singer signed with the record label Beluga Heights Records from the British Virgin Islands. His debut single "Replay", was released in 2009 and reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, number-one in the UK, Australia and the top ten...
song, "Damn They", which features Rudolf himself. The song however didn't make it into Iyaz
Iyaz
Keidran Jones , better known by his stage name Iyaz, is a singer signed with the record label Beluga Heights Records from the British Virgin Islands. His debut single "Replay", was released in 2009 and reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, number-one in the UK, Australia and the top ten...
's debut album, Replay
Replay (Iyaz album)
- Charts :- Release history :...
. The song is also sampled and incorporated into Natasha Bedingfield's song "All I Need" from her album Strip Me; this song also features Kevin Rudolf.
Single record
The single was certified platinum in the U.S. on 15 December 2008.The song is featured in the Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
Commercial. It was also used by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
during the CES 2009 opening keynote during a demonstration of new Windows devices.
Track listing
Digital download- "Let It Rock" (featuring Lil WayneLil WayneDwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
) - 3:56
U.S. CD single
- "Let It Rock" (clean) (featuring Lil WayneLil WayneDwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
) - 3:56 - "Let It Rock" (explicit) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:56
- "Let It Rock" (instrumental) - 3:50
- "Let It Rock" (explicit a cappella) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:50
UK CD single
- "Let It Rock" (album version) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:56
- "Let It Rock" (Filthy Dukes remix) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 6:35
- "Let It Rock" (Cahill remix) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 6:11
- "Let It Rock" (radio edit) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:54
- "Let It Rock" (without rap) - 2:48
Music video
The music video for "Let It Rock" features Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne performing in front of both a crowd and a dark background, sometimes lit with various effects such as strobe and laser lights. The NBA on TNT features a version of the music video to promote the 2009 NBA All-Star Game2009 NBA All-Star Game
The 2009 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 15, 2009 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Phoenix Suns. The game was the 58th edition of the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and was played during the 2008–09 NBA season...
featuring the players competing in the event.
Chart positions
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
3 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
15 |
| German Singles Chart | 10 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
10 |
| Irish Singles Chart 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... |
4 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Hit parade A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined by sales and/or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936... |
56 |
| 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... |
2 |
| Turkey Top 20 Chart | 11 |
| 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 ... |
5 |
| U.S. 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... |
5 |
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles | 22 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
15 |
| U.S. Billboard 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... |
6 |
Year-end charts
| End of year chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 44 |
| 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 ... |
75 |
| U.S. 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... |
32 |