The song received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised its catchiness but criticized the sample use, Auto-Tune and lyrics. It peaked at number four on theBillboard Hot 100 in the US, becoming the group's sixth consecutive top ten hit (following the five singles from their previous album,The E.N.D.), and ninth overall. It topped the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, while also charting inside the top ten of the charts in most European countries. Worldwide, it was the eighth best-selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 7.3 million copies.[1]
Afterwill.i.am tweeted: "Who wants me to drop the new Black Eyed Peas single fromThe Beginning earlier than we should???", he posted the song onDipdive.[2][3] Group memberFergie noted the song's coincidental relation toDirty Dancing actressJennifer Grey's appearance onDancing with the Stars: "... that song reminds me of [Grey] andDirty Dancing and that whole time".[4]
The chorus of "The Time (Dirty Bit)" interpolates "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", originally performed byBill Medley andJennifer Warnes in the 1987 filmDirty Dancing.[5] In the chorus, the line "Yes I swear it's the truth" was changed to "And I swear this is true".Billboard described the song as continuing the group's "evolution from hip-pop to dance heavyweights as will.i.am and Fergie sing and rap over a beat tailored to global dancefloors."[4][6][7]
Simon Vozick-Levinson ofEntertainment Weekly praised the song's catchiness, but felt it failed to meet the standards of previous singles "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling".[8]Franke Previte, who won anAcademy Award for co-writing "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", complimented the Black Eyed Peas' sample usage, saying, "It just reconfirms to me that the song is cross-generational. The song has now crossed over to the next generation in a huge way."[9] Willa Paskin ofNew York, however, criticized the choice of sample and was disappointed with the chorus, feeling it was "shoehorned into the rest of the song".[7] Todd Martens of theLos Angeles Times called "The Time (Dirty Bit)" "the most assertive party song of the year".[10]Digital Spy's Nick Levine gave a review of three stars out of five, disliking the many elements that constituted the song.[11]The Independent's Simon Price also criticized the sampling on the track, calling it a low quality attempt to satisfy listeners.[12]
After receiving Twitter messages about the song's similarity to his own work, Canadian record producerDeadmau5 compared the song to the remix of "You and I" byMedina, a song he produced.[13] The record producer spoke of the similarities through his official Facebook account. "I so know thathi-hat... and thepattern it was in... so I went to my masters folder, cracked open my instrumental mix of 'You and I' remix thing I did for Medina... and there it was again, staring me in the face". The producer stated he welcomed the usage of sampling inelectronic music, "This isn't calling the Black Eyed Peas out at all. This is just another interesting factoid I keep finding about sampling and electronic music".[13]
"The Time (The Dirty Bit)" debuted on theCanadian Hot 100 at number 87 the week of November 5, 2010.[14] The song also debuted at number 40 on theBillboardMainstream Top 40 chart the next week and has currently peaked at number 19.[15] Two weeks later, the song climbed to number one in Canada, the third time the group has achieved this, selling 31,000 downloads that week.[16] The song also peaked at number one for two weeks in a row in New Zealand, becoming their sixth number one and 12th top 10 single in the country.[17] While the song debuted at number ten in Australia, it reached number one in its second week.[18] On the singles chart for Ireland and the Netherlands the song has peaked at number two.[19]
In the United Kingdom, "The Time (Dirty Bit)" climbed five places on theUK Singles Chart from its previous highest peak of number six to number one on December 12, 2010 ― for the week ending date December 18, 2010 ― beating "Whip My Hair" byWillow Smith to the summit of the chart. The song became the group's fifth chart-topping song in Britain, following 2003's "Where Is the Love?" and 2009's "Boom Boom Pow", "I Gotta Feeling", and "Meet Me Halfway". It also debuted at number one on theUK Dance Chart.[20][21]
In Germany, the song debuted at number seven on theGerman Singles Chart and reached number two in its third week, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks. In its sixth week on that chart, it finally reached number one, breaking the 12-week run ofIsrael Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World".[22][23] In February 2011, the single was certificated Platinum in Germany for 300,000 copies sold, making it their third single to do so (following "Shut Up" and "I Gotta Feeling").[24] After 4 weeks at the top, the song went down to No. 4, making it the biggest fall from the pole position sinceMehrzad Marashi did so with his single "Don't Believe" in May 2010.[22][25]
As of July 2011, the single has sold 3 million copies in the US, making it the group's fourth to do so.[26]
A cubic projection of Fergie materializing in place of will.i.am's head in the music video for "The Time (Dirty Bit)".
The music video for "The Time (Dirty Bit)" was released on October 11, 2010, and was directed byRich Lee, who earlier directed the video for "Imma Be"/"Rock That Body",Pasha Shapiro, and Ernst Weber. It opens with a zoom-in to a city street where, as will.i.am sings the beginning, his headvoxelizes and transforms into a television screen where Fergie is projected during her solo. The video then cuts to sweaty dancers at an underground nightclub, who, along with the Peas, also variously become voxelized throughout the song. The avatars seen on the cover of the new albumThe Beginning appear as posters, and theBlackBerry PlayBook also appears as pre-releaseproduct placement, seen animating them in anaugmented reality application and making special effects. The animated versions of the band members are in this order: will.i.am, Fergie,apl.de.ap, andTaboo.[27][28] As of August 2020, the video has received over 485 million views on YouTube.
The Black Eyed Peas performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)" at theAmerican Music Awards of 2010 on November 21. Each member wore a futuristic outfit and started off enclosed in a glow-in-the-dark yellow box chamber similar to anelevator, accompanied by dancers with boxes as heads.[10][29] Martens gave it grade of C+, calling it the "oddest set of the night".[10] During the performance, Fergie experienced some trouble when the door to her box remained stuck for a moment.[30] On December 5, the group performed the single live during the semi-final results of season 7 of the British TV singing competitionThe X Factor. They also performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)" in theSuper Bowl XLV halftime show, and then again at the "i.am.FIRST" performance at theFIRST Robotics Competition World Championship on April 29, 2011.
For the first time in over 9 years, the Black Eyed Peas performed this song once again during the latter part of theclosing ceremony of the2019 Southeast Asian Games, with recent memberJ. Rey Soul in place of Fergie.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
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