"About Damn Time" | ||||
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Single by Lizzo | ||||
from the album Special | ||||
Released | April 14, 2022 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:11 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | ||||
Lizzo singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"About Damn Time" on YouTube |
"About Damn Time" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, released on April 14, 2022, by Nice Life Recordings and Atlantic Records as the lead single from her fourth studio album Special (2022). The song reached number one in the United States, becoming her second number one single there, while reaching the top three in ten additional countries, as well as number six on the Billboard Global 200 chart. The song was nominated at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards for Song of the Year, Best Pop Video, and Song of Summer. The song won Record of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards making her the first female rapper to win the award, also receiving nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Additionally, Purple Disco Machine's remix won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording. [2]
"About Damn Time" was the final song created for Special . [3] Prior to the song's creation, Lizzo felt the album was not yet complete, so she wanted to write a song that had the same uplifting emotional impact as "Good as Hell." [4]
Blake Slatkin, a co-writer and co-producer of the song, explained in a 2022 Billboard interview that he and Ricky Reed began creating the song in January of that year. According to Slatkin, the song began with four piano chords which Reed used as a basis for a bassline. At that point, the two played Lizzo the instrumental, motivating her to travel to the studio to contribute to the track. Slatkin credits Lizzo with crafting the hook and melodies. The song required approximately thirty additional studio sessions to finish, spanning four months. At one point, the song featured an entirely different chorus from the one included in the final release. [3]
About the song's thematic content, Lizzo stated, "I think life had thrown some major traumas and hard experiences at us, especially globally these last few years. And I wanted to write a song that allowed us to take a moment and celebrate our survival, and celebrate how far we’ve come." [4]
Billboard's Rania Aniftos said "About Damn Time" has a "feel-good" chorus, [5] and Rachel Brodsky of Stereogum described the song as "a funk-pop cut with tons of instant-classic Lizzo-isms". [6] Similarly, Alex Gallagher of NME called the song "a funk-tinged, classically Lizzo cut that comes replete with a groove-heavy bassline, an instantly memorable flute melody and lyrical gems". [7] Nardine Saad from the Los Angeles Times said the song has an "affirmative, instantly uplifting disco beat", [8] Ree Hines from Today labeled the record as "a uplifting disco bop". [9]
The song's chorus features a piano motif interpolated from the 1984's tune "Hey DJ" by The World's Famous Supreme Team. [10]
For the week dated April 30, 2022, "About Damn Time" debuted at number 50 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 7,000 digital downloads and 6.5 million U.S. streams. [11] On the week dated May 14, 2022, the song jumped from number 60 to number 19, becoming her fourth top 20 hit. [11] One week later, the song rose to number nine becoming her fourth top 10 hit. [12] The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its 14th week, becoming her second number one on the chart after "Truth Hurts". [13] "About Damn Time" held at number one on the Hot 100 for 2 consecutive weeks.
Lizzo previewed the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden in March 2022. [14] She first performed the song in full on Saturday Night Live on April 16, 2022, where she pulled double duty as both host and musical guest. [15]
During the months following the song's release, Lizzo promoted "About Damn Time" heavily through TikTok, including a video celebrating the appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. TikTok personality Jaeden Gomez choreographed an easily replicable dance for the song that became a viral phenomenon on the platform, which included celebrities, influencers, and musicians like Meredith Brooks, Sofia Carson, Jenna Dewan, Joe Jonas, Colleen Ballinger, Blake Shelton and many others; Lizzo spotlighted Gomez's choreography in multiple performance and tutorial videos. [16]
On June 26, 2022, Lizzo performed "About Damn Time" at the 22nd BET Awards; during the song, Lizzo stated, "It’s about damn time we stand in our power. Black people, my people." [17] On June 27, The Late Late Show with James Corden premiered a Carpool Karaoke segment with Lizzo, which culminated in Corden and Lizzo performing the song's TikTok choreography with a troupe of dancers. Jaeden Gomez appeared as a cameo in the segment. [18] [19]
The song's music video was directed by Christian Breslauer. In the video, Lizzo runs out of a "Stressed & Sexy" support group meeting. While dancing in a school building, her outfit changes from a sweatsuit into a sequined jumpsuit that she wears for the remainder of the video. In further scenes, Lizzo dances down a hallway with an illuminated dance floor and plays a flute while walking atop the water in a swimming pool. [20] [21]
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [101] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [102] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [103] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [104] | 5× Platinum | 400,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [105] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [106] | Platinum | 200,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [107] | Platinum | 100,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [108] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [109] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [110] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [111] | Platinum | 10,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [112] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [113] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [114] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [115] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Version | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | April 14, 2022 | Original | [116] | ||
Italy | April 15, 2022 | Radio airplay | Warner | [117] | |
United States | April 18, 2022 | Adult contemporary radio | Atlantic | [118] | |
April 19, 2022 | Contemporary hit radio | [119] | |||
Rhythmic contemporary radio | [120] | ||||
Urban contemporary radio | [121] | ||||
Urban adult contemporary radio | [121] | ||||
Various | May 18, 2022 |
| Purple Disco Machine remix |
| [122] |
July 15, 2022 | CD single | Original | [123] | ||
Purple Disco Machine remix | [124] |
"About Damn Time" was used in the pre-game montage for the October 15, 2022 broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada on Canadian sports channel Sportsnet celebrating its 70th season on television. The montage began with host Ron MacLean summarizing events that occurred when the program went on the air in 1952 before cutting into the song beginning. The game the montage served as the intro for was the game between the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs, which was broadcast on all Sportsnet regional channels except Sportsnet East, which broadcast the game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals instead. "About Damn Time" is also included in Just Dance+.
The discography of Canadian singer Justin Bieber consists of six studio albums, three remix albums, three compilation albums, two extended plays, 76 singles, and 10 promotional singles. Bieber has attained eight number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 and eight number-one albums on the US Billboard 200 charts. As of June 2019, Bieber has sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), he has sold 24 million albums and 121 million digital singles units as a lead artist, in the United States. Bieber was named the "Greatest Pop Star of 2016" by Billboard. He was also named the Billboard Year-End Top Male Artist for 2016 and placed number seven on the magazine's Decade-End Top Artists Chart for the 2010s.
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"Juice" is a song recorded by American singer and rapper Lizzo. It was released on January 4, 2019, by Atlantic Records as the lead single from her third and debut major-label studio album, Cuz I Love You. The single was written by Lizzo, Theron Thomas, Sam Sumser, Sean Small and Ricky Reed; the latter also handled the song's production. Musically, it is a retro-inspired funk and funk-pop song that is based on a throwback groove. Lyrically, the song discusses self-love, and has been described as a self-esteem anthem.
American rapper and singer Lizzo has released four studio albums, two mixtapes, three extended plays, 23 singles, and three promotional singles. Before signing with Atlantic Records, she released two studio albums—Lizzobangers in 2013 and Big Grrrl Small World in 2015. In 2014, Time magazine named her one of 14 music artists to watch. Her first major-label extended play, Coconut Oil, was released in 2016.
"Good as Hell" is a song recorded by the American singer and rapper Lizzo. Written by Lizzo and producer Ricky Reed, it was released on March 8, 2016, by Atlantic Records and Nice Life Recording Company as the lead single from her first extended play, Coconut Oil, and subsequently was the namesake for her 2017 Good as Hell Tour. It was re-released in 2019 as a radio single, when it became a sleeper hit like her first hit, "Truth Hurts". The song was later included as a bonus track on the super deluxe edition of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You (2019), alongside its remix.
"Rockstar" is a song by American rapper DaBaby, featuring fellow American rapper Roddy Ricch. The song was released on April 17, 2020, as the second single from DaBaby's third studio album Blame It on Baby (2020). It was written by the two rappers. "Rockstar" spent seven non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "Rockstar" topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Its music video is set in a zombie apocalypse.
"Heat Waves" is a song by British indie rock band Glass Animals, released as a single from their third studio album Dreamland on 29 June 2020. A sleeper hit, it is the band's signature song and biggest hit single to date. In addition to reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart and being a top-five hit in several other European countries, it reached number one in Australia, Canada, Lithuania, Switzerland and the United States, where it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in early 2022 after a record-breaking 59-week climb to number one. At 91 weeks, it is the longest charting song on the Hot 100 of all time, surpassing "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd. By September 2022, the song had accumulated more than two billion streams on Spotify. At the 2022 Brit Awards, "Heat Waves" was nominated for Best British Single.
"Bad Habits" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 25 June 2021, through Asylum and Atlantic Records, as the lead single from his fourth studio album, = ("Equals"). The song marked his first solo release from an album in over four years. A limited edition CD and cassette single were also released. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, who compared its sound and style to the works of the Weeknd, as well as Bronski Beat.
Special is the fourth studio album by American rapper and singer Lizzo, released by Nice Life and Atlantic Records on July 15, 2022. It was preceded by the lead single "About Damn Time", released on April 14, 2022, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the top ten in twelve other countries.
"2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, from her fourth studio album Special (2022). It was released to Italian radio on July 18, 2022, as the album's second single, while in the United States, it impacted hot adult contemporary radio on August 1, 2022, as well as rhythmic contemporary radio and contemporary hit radio the following day. "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) is a "new wave-ish" pop song, inspired by 70's disco and 80's synth-pop, and has been compared to works by The Pointer Sisters and Hall & Oates.
It's always Lizzo Standard Time when this carefree nu-disco Hot 100 topper comes on.