| "What's Your Name" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byUsher featuringwill.i.am | ||||
| from the albumHere I Stand | ||||
| Released | August 18, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | Ethernet Studios(Los Angeles, California), Patchwerk Studios(Atlanta, Georgia), Triangle Sound Studios(Atlanta, Georgia) | |||
| Length | 3:58 | |||
| Label | LaFace | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | will.i.am | |||
| Usher singles chronology | ||||
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| will.i.am singles chronology | ||||
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"What's Your Name" is a song by American recording artistUsher and featureswill.i.am. Written by Usher, will.i.am andRyan Toby and produced by will.i.am, it was sent to radio on August 18, 2008, as the fourth single from Usher's fifth studio album,Here I Stand (2008), and was later released as acompact disc single anddigital download. "What's Your Name" is amid-tempoelectro dance song, and is based onnew wave-influencedsynthriffs.
The song entered theAustralian Singles Chart and theCanadian Hot 100; it peaked at numbers ninety-one and eighty-four, respectively. Usher and will.i.am performed the song at the 2008National Football League Kickoff game concert, and it was also used in aSony Ericsson contest.
"What's Your Name" was written byUsher,will.i.am andRyan Toby, while it was produced by will.i.am and the vocals were produced byKuk Harrell. The song was recorded by Jeremy Stevenson at Patchwerk Studios and Triangle Sound Studios inAtlanta, Georgia, and by will.i.am and Padraic Kerin at Ethernet Studios,Los Angeles, California. Dylan Dresdow mixed the record at PaperVu Studios, Los Angeles.[1] Usher explained toMTV News that the "lighthearted" song was written for his "younger, up-and-coming fans".[2]
"What's Your Name" was sent to UScontemporary hit radio on August 18, 2008, and to USrhythmic contemporary radio on August 25.[3] The song was released as aCD single andmusic download in Australia and New Zealand on September 13, 2008.[4] it featured "What's Your Name" along with aninstrumental version of the track.[5][6][7] Usher and will.i.am performed the song at the warmup concert for the 2008National Football League Kickoff game on September 4.[8]Sony Ericsson used "What's Your Name" in a customer competition to meet Usher. Contestants entered by sending videos of themselves singing twenty to sixty seconds of Usher's parts of the song.[9]
"What's Your Name" is amidtempoelectro song,[10][11] and bases its melody on thrustingnew wave-influencedsynths.[12][13] It contains a "whimsical" beat that utilizessirens andwind instruments.[14] Greg Kot of theChicago Tribune compared the song's synthriff to the music that was popular during the 1980sMTV generation,[15] while John Soeder fromThe Plain Dealer noted its similarity to British duo theEurythmics.[16] Usher monotonously repeats thepick-up linehook, "What's your name?",[14] and thereby pays homage to his bachelor history.[13] The song's lyrics describe "the feeling you get when you run into a woman that makes you speak gibberish".[17]
Allmusic's Andy Kellman noted the song as a highlight ofHere I Stand, and compared it to "Yeah!" (2004).[13] Chad Grischow fromIGN also chose the song as one of the album's best tracks, and called it appropriate for "a windows-down spring car ride".[18]Digital Spy's Nick Levine called the song "rubbery" and danceable and compared it toTimbaland's work.[11]The Washington Post's Serena Kim praised will.i.am's production and vocal appearance on "What's Your Name".[12] Sara Berry called it "a sleek, edgy dance hit".[19]In his mixed review of the song, Waleed Hafeez fromThe National wrote, "'What's Your Name', produced by will.i.am, provides listeners with another club track, albeit an average one".[20] Dan Gennoe fromYahoo! Music called the song "disjointed and ultimately missable", noting that will.i.am may have lost hisMidas touch.[21] A writer forStuff called "What's Your Name" the worst song fromHere I Stand, describing it as "downright awful".[22] "What's Your Name" entered theCanadian Hot 100 at number eighty-four on June 14, 2008, but fell off the chart the following week, and made no reappearance.[23] "What's Your Name" debuted on theAustralian Singles Chart at number ninety-one on September 22, 2008.[24] The following week it moved to number one hundred, before slipping out of the chart.[25] It peaked at number fifty-one on theAustralian Physical Singles Chart and lasted nineteen weeks in the chart.[26]
All tracks written by Usher,will.i.am, andRyan Toby.[27]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What's Your Name" (album version) | 3:58 |
| 2. | "What's Your Name" (instrumental) | 3:58 |
Credits lifted from the liner notes ofHere I Stand.[1]
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| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[24] | 91 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[28] | 84 |
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