Sing Like Me
Encyclopedia
"Sing Like Me" is a song by American recording artist Chris Brown. It was released as a promotional single
from his third studio album, Graffiti
, on November 24, 2009, in the United States. The number was written by Brown, Big Makk, Keith Thomas
, Lorenza "Big Lo" Lennon and Atozzio Towns, and produced by Makk, Thomas and Lennon. A pop
and R&B
ballad
, the song contains lyrics about Brown leaving a nightclub
with several women. "Sing Like Me" received mixed response from critics, and charted for two weeks on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
in 2010, peaking at number eighty-four.
, Lorenza "Big Lo" Lennon and Teris Vinson, with Makk, Thomas and Lennon producing the track. It was recorded at The Compound—a recording studio in Orlando
, Florida
—and Tony Maserati
mixed
the tune at The Record Plant
—a studio in Los Angeles
, California
.
The cover art of the song's promotional release is styled similarly to the cover of Graffiti. It has a retro look, showing Brown wearing black clothes and a red cardigan and sunglasses. "Sing Like Me" was released via the iTunes Store
in the United States on November 24, 2009.
"Sing Like Me" is a slow jam
pop
and R&B
ballad
, featuring 808 drum
beats
and a string arrangement featuring Asian influences. Billboard
Sarah MacRory likened the tune's beat to R. Kelly
's "Feelin' on Yo Booty
" (2001). Lyrically, the track is about Brown leaving a nightclub
with several women, none of whom Brown wants to marry. The song's chorus
features the hook
"I gotta girl singin' like me". Yahoo! Music
's reviewer said that the song has lyrics where Brown "boasts about the girls who can't get enough of him", and described the lyrics as Brown raving about "his celebrity status and his skills with women". A writer for Rap-Up
wrote that on the song Brown "make[s] the ladies sing his praises."
critic. That Grape Juice's review called the song "ridiculously catchy", and appreciated the subtlety with which Brown gave the lyrics, comparing the technique to Janet Jackson
. The Associated Press
described it as "cocky but alluring". Time Out New York reviewer disliked the fact that "Sing Like Me" and "Crawl
" were placed adjacently on Graffiti, but called both tunes "otherwise strong songs". The Boston Globe
Sarah Rodman called the song "skeevy", and compared it to the "sex stuff and braggadocio" of R. Kelly
. Melinda Newman of HitFix noted its lack of creativity, while Nathan S. from the DJ Booth wrote that there is "nothing particularly remarkabl[e]" about "Sing Like Me" and Graffitis lead single, "I Can Transform Ya
". Roxana Hadadi of Express Night Out was unimpressed with the selfish adult lyrics on "Sing Like Me".
While it was not officially sent to radio, "Sing Like Me" entered the Billboard
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
at number ninety-six on March 6, 2010. The next week it rose to its peak position of number eighty-four, before falling off the chart the following week.
Promotional recording
A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
from his third studio album, Graffiti
Graffiti (Chris Brown album)
Graffiti is the third studio album by American R&B and pop recording artist Chris Brown. It is the follow-up to his successful second album Exclusive . The album was produced during 2008 to 2009 by several record producers, including Polow Da Don, Swizz Beatz, The Runners, and Brian Kennedy...
, on November 24, 2009, in the United States. The number was written by Brown, Big Makk, Keith Thomas
Keith Thomas (producer)
Keith Thomas, born and raised in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, is a Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter with 40 #1 Billboard hits...
, Lorenza "Big Lo" Lennon and Atozzio Towns, and produced by Makk, Thomas and Lennon. A 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...
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...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
, the song contains lyrics about Brown leaving a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
with several women. "Sing Like Me" received mixed response from critics, and charted for two weeks on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
in 2010, peaking at number eighty-four.
Background and composition
"Sing Like Me" was written by Chris Brown, Big Makk, Keith ThomasKeith Thomas (producer)
Keith Thomas, born and raised in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, is a Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter with 40 #1 Billboard hits...
, Lorenza "Big Lo" Lennon and Teris Vinson, with Makk, Thomas and Lennon producing the track. It was recorded at The Compound—a recording studio in Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
—and Tony Maserati
Tony Maserati
Tony Maserati is an American record producer and studio audio engineer who has worked with many mainstream artists including Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jason Mraz, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, R...
mixed
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...
the tune at The Record Plant
Record Plant Studios
The Record Plant was a series of three famous recording studios which were founded by Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone, beginning in New York City in 1968. The next year, Kellgren and Stone opened a second studio in Los Angeles. In 1972, the company expanded again with a third location in Sausalito,...
—a studio in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The cover art of the song's promotional release is styled similarly to the cover of Graffiti. It has a retro look, showing Brown wearing black clothes and a red cardigan and sunglasses. "Sing Like Me" was released via the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
in the United States on November 24, 2009.
"Sing Like Me" is a slow jam
Slow jam
A slow jam an umbrella term for music with R&B and Soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or down tempo songs. The term is most commonly reserved for soft-sounding songs with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. This definition has led to intense debate over whether...
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...
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...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
, featuring 808 drum
Roland TR-808
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real...
beats
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
and a string arrangement featuring Asian influences. 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...
Sarah MacRory likened the tune's beat to R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
's "Feelin' on Yo Booty
Feelin' on Yo Booty
"Feelin' on Yo Booty" is a single by R. Kelly from his fourth studio album TP-2.com....
" (2001). Lyrically, the track is about Brown leaving a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
with several women, none of whom Brown wants to marry. The song's chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
features the hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
"I gotta girl singin' like me". 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...
's reviewer said that the song has lyrics where Brown "boasts about the girls who can't get enough of him", and described the lyrics as Brown raving about "his celebrity status and his skills with women". A writer for Rap-Up
Rap-Up
Rap-Up is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the hip hop and R&B aspect of the music industry, and...
wrote that on the song Brown "make[s] the ladies sing his praises."
Reception
"Sing Like Me" was noted as one of the best tracks on Graffiti by a Yahoo! MusicYahoo! 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...
critic. That Grape Juice's review called the song "ridiculously catchy", and appreciated the subtlety with which Brown gave the lyrics, comparing the technique to Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
described it as "cocky but alluring". Time Out New York reviewer disliked the fact that "Sing Like Me" and "Crawl
Crawl (Chris Brown song)
"Crawl" is a song by American recording artist Chris Brown. It is the second single from his third studio album Graffiti, released as a digital download on November 24, 2009. The song was produced by The Messengers and was written by Nasri Atweh, Adam Messinger, Luke Boyd, and Brown...
" were placed adjacently on Graffiti, but called both tunes "otherwise strong songs". The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
Sarah Rodman called the song "skeevy", and compared it to the "sex stuff and braggadocio" of R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
. Melinda Newman of HitFix noted its lack of creativity, while Nathan S. from the DJ Booth wrote that there is "nothing particularly remarkabl[e]" about "Sing Like Me" and Graffitis lead single, "I Can Transform Ya
I Can Transform Ya
"I Can Transform Ya" is a song by American singer Chris Brown. The song features Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz. It was written by Brown, Wayne and Beatz, and produced by the latter. Originally known simply as "Transformer", the song was Brown's first official release since his altercation with former...
". Roxana Hadadi of Express Night Out was unimpressed with the selfish adult lyrics on "Sing Like Me".
While it was not officially sent to radio, "Sing Like Me" entered the 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 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
at number ninety-six on March 6, 2010. The next week it rose to its peak position of number eighty-four, before falling off the chart the following week.
Personnel
- Big Makk – writingSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Chris Brown – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, songwriting - Lorenza "Big Lo" Lennon – writing, production
- Tony MaseratiTony MaseratiTony Maserati is an American record producer and studio audio engineer who has worked with many mainstream artists including Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jason Mraz, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, R...
– mixingAudio 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... - Brian Springer – recording
- Keith ThomasKeith Thomas (producer)Keith Thomas, born and raised in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, is a Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter with 40 #1 Billboard hits...
– writing, production - Atozzio Towns – writing
- Source: