| "It's My Birthday" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single bywill.i.am featuringCody Wise | ||||
| Released | May 27, 2014 | |||
| Recorded | 2014 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 4:14 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| will.i.am singles chronology | ||||
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| Cody Wise singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "It's My Birthday" onYouTube | ||||
"It's My Birthday" (originally "Birthday") is a song by American rapperwill.i.am featuring American singerCody Wise. The song was recorded in 2014 and released as a single inAustralia on May 27. The song is about celebrating every day as if it's your birthday. The songsamples the Indian song "Urvasi Urvasi" fromthe soundtrack of the 1994 Indian filmKadhalan, composed by the Academy award winner and Indian composerA. R. Rahman. The song also includes samples of the Jamaican track "Fi Di Jockey" byAidonia andBounty Killer. It received mixed to negative reviews from music critics, with some being negative towards will.i.am's lack of originality.
An accompanyingmusic video was released in May 2014 toYouTube andVine respectively. "It's My Birthday" topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia. It was certified Platinum in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the former country, will.i.am and Wise performed the song on theeight season ofBritain's Got Talent in May 2014.
Wise was spotted by will.i.am after a performance of "Who's Lovin' You" bythe Jackson 5 at a concert when he was 13 years old.[1] After will.i.am saw Wise's performance, he flew Wise out and the two met.[2] Wise was signed toInterscope Records in early 2014 through the imprint of will.i.am and he recalled being offered a deal with the label a few days after singing for will.i.am and Interscope co-founderJimmy Iovine.[2][3] After developing his musical skills with will.i.am as his protégé, the two recorded "It's My Birthday" in 2014; the song has subsequently become what Wise is best known for.[1][4]
"It's My Birthday" is ahip hop track that includes usage ofAuto-Tune.[5][6] will.i.am explained the meaning of it during a web exclusive forThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on July 29, 2014 where he was joined by Wise, saying: "You get a license to do whatever you want on your birthday. I try to live in that celebrative, who-gives-a-f perspective and celebrate every day as if it was my birthday."[7] The song uses asample of composerA. R. Rahman's track "Urvasi Urvasi", from thesoundtrack of the 1994Tamil filmKadhalan, for both its intro and outro.[7] A. R. Rahman revealed on May 21 viaTwitter that he was partnering with will.i.am to recreate an early track of his, with will.i.am tweeting out thanks to Rahman the next day.[8] will.i.am spoke about the process of sampling "Urvasi Urvasi" as part of the web exclusive on July 29, saying "We took portions of that song and put it over today's thick, urban electronic-type beat."[7] The song contains an additional sample of the Jamaican track "Fi Di Jockey" byAidonia andBounty Killer, with vocals from Aidonia sampled on the chorus and Bounty Killer's chanting of his "Big Ship Sailing" catchphrase also sampled in the song.[5]
"It's My Birthday" is written in the key ofF minor and at atempo of 100 beats per minute (BPM).[9]
The song was originally set to be titled "Birthday" when will.i.am announced on May 21, 2014 that he was planning to release it as a single with Wise on July 6.[10] That same day, a snippet was shared of the song.[10] "It's My Birthday" was released fordigital download as a single inAustralia and theUnited States on May 27 and May 29 respectively, marking will.i.am's first musical release since the album#willpower in 2013.[11][12][10] The song was later serviced to USrhythmic contemporary radio stations on June 24, 2014,[13] and released as a single in theUnited Kingdom on July 6, as previously announced by will.i.am.[14][10]
"It's My Birthday" received mixed to negative reviews from music critics, with will.i.am's lack of originality being mostly panned. Lewis Corner ofDigital Spy gave the song three out of five stars, stating: "The final result doesn't wander too far away from his recent successful offerings, but with a hint of the new here and there, will.i.am proves once again he can have his cake and eat it whether it's his birthday or not."[15] Christina Lee ofIdolator wrote that "it's rather telling that not even the most bizarre parts of 'It's My Birthday' can distract from the cringeworthy lyrics ('Que bonita, que bonita / I can speak in Japanese / Kawaii, kawaii / Kawaii, I want your body')."[16]RouteNote author RouteBot labelled the song as the worst of 2014, writing: "I actually thought that English was the performers second language, but then I realised it was Will.i.am! Terrible! What the hell has happened to pop music..."[17] Trevor Smith ofHotNewHipHop wrote in response to the song: "The rapper/producer channelsBollywood on his new cut, which is more a showcase of Cody Wise's vocals than Will's. It also features some instrumental breaks, placing it firmly in more of anEDM sphere."[18]
Themusic video was uploaded toYouTube on May 28, 2014, shot in the square aspect ratio of softwareVine and directed by Ben Mor.[19] It was uploaded to Vine the next day as over 40 separate clips.[19] The video, which utilizesclaymation, features both will.i.am and Wise.[6][20][16] Its scenes include a birthday party going wrong, twerking in a room decorated with pizzas and will.i.am posing as a priest and asJesus.[16] He can be seen at one point in the delivery room taking a selfie while a woman gives birth to a will.i.am lookalike.[16] Popular Viners such as Giovanni Watson,DeStorm Power,King Bach,Alpha Cat and Jerry Purdrank also appear.[21]
In the United Kingdom, "It's My Birthday" peaked at the top of theUK Singles Chart on July 13, 2014 – for the week ending date July 19, 2014 – becoming will.i.am's tenth chart-topping song in Britain.[22] He scored five of these chart-toppers as a solo artist and five as a member ofthe Black Eyed Peas respectively, with the first being "Where Is the Love?" in 2003.[23] Liv Moss of theOfficial Charts Company reported on July 9, 2014 that the song was on track to reach number one on the chart before its position was officially announced.[23] The song's combined sales figure was 42,000 on the day of Moss' report, one percent of which was due toaudio streams.[23] "It's My Birthday" became Britain's 51st best-selling song of 2014.[24] On September 17, 2021, it was certified Platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry.[25]
In Australia, "It's My Birthday" peaked at number four on theARIA Singles Chart and spending a total of 16 weeks on the chart.[26] The song was certified Platinum in 2014 by theAustralian Recording Industry Association.[27] It ranked at number 74 on the year-end ARIA Singles Chart for 2014.[28]
"It's My Birthday" also debuted within the top 40 of charts inNew Zealand,Ireland andBelgium.[26][29][30] On theGerman Top 100 Singles chart, the song peaked at number 41.[26] It reached number 58 and number 71 on theSlovakiaSingles Digitál Top 100 andCzech Republic Singles Digitál Top 100 respectively.[31][32] It performed the worst in France, charting at number 168 on theSNEP chart.[26]
will.i.am and Wise performed the song in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2014, appearing on the fourth semi-final of theeight season ofBritain's Got Talent, with will.i.am dancing around in pink during the performance.[33] This marked will.i.am's debut appearance onBritain's Got Talent.[34] On July 21, the duo performed "It's My Birthday" with virtual body doubles onThe Voice Australia, which was said to be "one of the biggest performances of the whole night."[35] On July 29, 2014, they performed the song onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, accompanied bythe Roots, and again at the first everBBC Music Awards on December 11, 2014.[7][36]
Credits adapted fromTidal.[37]
Weekly charts[edit]
Year-end charts[edit]
| Certifications[edit]
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| Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | May 27, 2014 | Digital download | Interscope Records | [11] |
| United States | May 29, 2014 | [12] | ||
| June 24, 2014 | Rhythmic contemporary radio | [13] | ||
| United Kingdom | July 6, 2014 | Digital download | [14] |
