"21" is a song recorded by American country music singer Hunter Hayes as the lead single for his third studio album ''

The 21 Project ''The 21 Project'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Hunter Hayes, released in physical format on November 6, 2015 through Atlantic Nashville. Hayes co-produced the collection with Dann Huff. The album includes five so ...

'' (2015). Written by Dallas Davidson,

Kelley Lovelace John Kelley Lovelace is an American songwriter known mainly for his work with country music artist Brad Paisley. He has written several of Paisley's singles, including the number 1 hits " He Didn't Have to Be" (Paisley's first number 1), " The W ...

, and

Ashley Gorley Ashley Glenn Gorley (born April 29, 1977) is an American songwriter, publisher, and producer from Danville, Kentucky, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Gorley has written 60 number 1 songs and has over 300 songs recorded by artists including ...

, the song is Hayes' first to not feature an official writing credit. It was released in the UK on May 21, 2015 before being released to digital retailers in North America on May 26, 2015. It is also included on his second extended play, '' 21'' (2015). "21" impacted country radio on June 8, 2015 and entered the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart at number 32.

Composition

"21" is a mid-tempo country pop and pop rock song about the "carefree" days of being a young adult. The staff at country music blog '' Taste of Country'' noted the song's lyrics as being more superficial and straightforward than those on his previous album, '' Storyline'' (2014). A chant of "nah nah nah" opens the song, over a guitar riff that Hayes added as part of his effort to personalize the song, and is repeated again at the end of each chorus. It has been described as a "party song" by critics including Brian Mansfield of '' USA Today''. The song was written by Dallas Davidson,

, and

, although Hayes made changes to the arrangement with Davidson's approval. ''Billboard'' credits him as a songwriter for his contributions. Hayes also co-produced the song with Dann Huff.

Background and release

On May 11, 2015, ''Country Aircheck'' published a full-page ad online with a black-and-green calendar bearing Hayes' official logo and highlighting the date May 21, leading to speculation that his then-upcoming single would be released on that date. Hayes continued promoting the single by posting twenty-one consecutive tweets containing only solid-black images, alluding to the song's title. He confirmed the title on May 18 and 19, by posting a black square with a green 2 on the left half and a green square with a 1 on the right half, respectively, on those dates. On May 21, 2015, the song was released to

streaming services An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of s ...

and to iTunes UK, and was made available to country radio. It was released to digital retailers in Canada and the United States on May 26, 2015. The song official impacted country radio on June 8, 2015.

Music video

The music video was directed by Kristin Barlowe and premiered in June 2015.

Chart performance

"21" debuted at number 32 on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week ending June 6, 2015. The song has sold 117,000 copies in the US as of December 2015.

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2015 songs 2015 singles Hunter Hayes songs Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Dallas Davidson Songs written by Kelley Lovelace Songs written by Ashley Gorley Song recordings produced by Dann Huff