"Beautiful Girls" is the debut single by

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-influenced musician

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is an American-Jamaican singer and rapper. He is known for his hit songs " Beautiful Girls", "Fire Burning", " Take You There", and his collaboration wit ...

from his

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous

debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...

; it was first released in 2007, when Kingston was 17. The song samples

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...

's classic " Stand by Me". The song is about a boy who feels “

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

” (or "in denial" in the edited version) over being unable to be with a "beautiful girl". It is Kingston's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

. Rapper

Lil Mama Niatia Jessica Kirkland (born October 4, 1989), better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American rapper, singer, actress and television presenter from Brooklyn, New York and Harlem, New York. She experienced top 10 ''Billboard'' placeme ...

and actors Kenny Vibert and

Lil' JJ James Charles Lewis, III (born October 31, 1990), known professionally as Lil' JJ and Big JJ, is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his role as Jordan on the Nickelodeon television series ''Just Jordan'' and doing Vital Info ...

are featured in the music video directed by

Marcus Raboy Marcus Raboy (born November 30, 1965) is an American film and music video director. Since the early 1990s, Raboy has amassed a large number music video credits directing music videos for Mary J. Blige, Dixie Chicks, Rihanna, Luther Vandros ...

, which hit 1 billion Youtube views on September 8th, 2022.

Lyrics controversy

Due to the lyrics containing references to

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, the track was removed from various radio playlists including

FM104 FM104 is an independent local radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited (unconnected with, and not to be confused with, Capital Radio plc), and is a sub ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, where complaints were phoned in on a late night chat show, ''The Adrian Kennedy Phoneshow'', and ''Wild 102'' in

Roseau, Minnesota Roseau () (pronounced row - so) is a city in, and the county seat of, Roseau County, Minnesota. Its population was 2,744 at the time of the 2020 census. History A post office called Roseau has been in operation since 1895. The city took its nam ...

. It was allegedly pulled from 2FM although a spokesperson said the song was not on its playlist at the time but did not confirm if it had been prior. FM104 replaced "suicidal" with "in denial", a change Sean Kingston made for the radio station. The edited version also changed the line "Damn all these beautiful girls" to "Man, all these beautiful girls", and "When I went away for doing my first crime" became "When I'd rush back just to see you in time".

Track listing

US promo CD #"Beautiful Girls" (main version) – 3:45 #"Beautiful Girls" (instrumental) – 3:45 #"Beautiful Girls" (a cappella) – 3:45 UK CD single #"Beautiful Girls" (album version) – 4:02 #"Beautiful Girls" (a cappella) – 3:41 #"Beautiful Girls" (instrumental) – 3:40 #"Beautiful Girls" (remix) – 3:27 #"Beautiful Girls" (video)

Official remixes

#Official remix featuring

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

and

Lil' Boosie Torence Ivy Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Boosie BadAzz or simply Boosie (formerly Lil Boosie), is an American rapper. Hatch began rapping in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop collective Concentration Camp, ev ...

– (3:28) #Official remix featuring AC – (4:12) #Official remix featuring

– (3:50)

Official versions

* Main version, radio edit – 3:43 * Album version, LP version – 4:02 * Extended version, video version – 4:17

Chart performance

The song benefited from extensive airplay before its digital release, reaching as high as number 17 on the Hot 100. On July 24, "Beautiful Girls" was accidentally leaked onto the US

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

, two days before the planned release date. The week after the song's digital release it hit number one on ''Billboard''s

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally start ...

, debuting with 260,000 downloads in its first week (the second highest digital sales for a new song of 2007, only behind

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

's "

Umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...

"). Kingston became the first artist born within the 1990s to top the Hot 100, beating rapper

Soulja Boy Tell 'Em DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peake ...

to it by six weeks. It has also gone on to occupy the top spot on the US

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

and the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. It remained on top of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for four weeks before being knocked off by the

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

' first single from their fifth studio album ''

Change Change or Changing may refer to: Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period * Metamorphosis, or change, ...

'', "

About You Now "About You Now" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their fifth studio album, ''Change'' (2007). Written and produced by Dr. Luke along with Cathy Dennis and Steven Wolf, it was released on 24 September 2007 by Island Records as the ...

". The song ended 2007 as the year's 15th biggest-selling single in the UK. On the official

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

charts in Australia, it debuted at number one but fell to number two the following week when Delta Goodrem's comeback single took the top spot. "Beautiful Girls" returned the next week and remained for a month before being replaced by

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

's "

The Way I Are "The Way I Are" is a song by American producer Timbaland, released as the second single from his second studio album ''Shock Value'' (2007). The song features vocals by singer Keri Hilson, and is included on international editions on her debut a ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

A few months after "Beautiful Girls" was released in 2007, a new online video service called Votigo began a cover contest in which fans could submit covers of the song for a chance to get a call from Sean Kingston. After an online vote user Mallory Robbins won with an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

version of the song. Top honors also went to a rock cover of the song performed by the Ailan Christopher Project. Shortly afterwards, singer

JoJo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians *JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwri ...

released a cover response version of the track which was released on Myspace, however was not featured on her upcoming album.

Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he has presented ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 20 ...

also released a parody cover, however it was about the song describing how bad it was in his opinion. The lead singer of

Sublime with Rome Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson (bassist), Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime (band), Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name is not only a reference to the singe ...

, Rome, sang the acoustic version of "Beautiful Girls" on RAWsession on October 20, 2008. The

Plain White T's Plain White T's are an American Rock music, rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground music, ...

, whose song was knocked out of the charts by this one, did a cover version for Yahoo Music. Lead vocalist Tom Higgenson says that the group "started covering it as a joke almost. We started learning it because we were number one for a few weeks and then we got knocked out of the number one spot by Sean Kingston, by this song. It's kind of like an ode to Sean." To close out the song guitarist Mike Retondo breaks into the chorus of " Stand by Me", which is also done in the cover version by

Boyce Avenue Boyce Avenue is an American cover band formed in Sarasota, Florida, by brothers Alejandro Luis Manzano, Daniel Enrique Manzano, and Fabian Rafael Manzano. The brothers attended Pine View School in Osprey, Florida. The band is named after a co ...

, a nod to the fact that that song's bassline is used in "Beautiful Girls".

Maverick Sabre Michael Stafford (born 12 July 1990), better known as Maverick Sabre, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and rapper. Early life Sabre was born in Hackney, London. At age four, he moved with his family to New Ross, County Wexford, where he grew ...

did the same at

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

Teddy Geiger Teresa Geiger (born September 16, 1988) also known by her stage name Teddy Geiger, is an American artist, songwriter and record producer. Early life Geiger was born on September 16, 1988, to Lorilyn Rizzo-Bridges and John Theodore Geiger, I. Sh ...

covered the song on her 2007 tour, due to popularity a recorded version of the song will be featured as a bonus track on the iTunes version of her upcoming CD ''The March''.

Lil' Brianna Brianna Perry (born January 11, 1992), also known as Lil' Brianna, is an American rapper and actress from Miami-Dade County, Florida. She was the youngest act signed to Missy Elliott's label The Goldmind Inc.. Perry made her debut on Trina's a ...

remixed the song and featured Kingston's vocals on her second mixtape, ''Princess of Miami''.

Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama ''All My Children'' as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo mus ...

covered "Beautiful Girls" during his

Right Where You Want Me "Right Where You Want Me" was the lead single released in the U.S. from Jesse McCartney's second album of the same name. It was used as the title song for the Disney Channel Original Movie '' Return to Halloweentown'', and is also featured in t ...

tour.

David Archuleta David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he becam ...

briefly sang the chorus of the song at the end of his May 6, 2008 performance on the American TV show ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. He was singing

's original "Stand by Me" song. Deer Tick recorded a cover of "Beautiful Girls", which can be found on Myspace.

Casey Crescenzo Casey Crescenzo (born December 19, 1983) is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist most notable for being the singer for the bands The Dear Hunter and The Receiving End of Sirens. He is also a producer who has worked with many other b ...

The Dear Hunter The Dear Hunter is an American progressive rock band originating in Providence, Rhode Island. It began as a side project of Casey Crescenzo when he was a member of the Receiving End of Sirens, before becoming his main band in 2006. The band's s ...

recorded a cover of this song and has occasionally performed it live. Boyband

JLS JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production company Ne ...

performed a mashup of "Beautiful Girls" and "Stand by Me" as their bottom two performance on the fifth series of the UK TV show ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. A year later on '' series six'' of the show,

Lloyd Daniels Lloyd Daniels (born September 4, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played parts of five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life The shooting guard was one of the most sought-after recruits ...

sang the chorus and last verse of the song in his November 30, 2008 performance, also singing King's original "Stand by Me". Bayside covers the song on '' Punk Goes Pop Volume Two''. BAMF! recorded a version entitled "Bootyfull Girl".

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

Kevin Durand Kevin Serge Durand (born January 14, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for portraying Vasiliy Fet in ''The Strain'', Joshua in '' Dark Angel'', Martin Keamy in ''Lost'', Fred J. Dukes / The Blob in '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', Barry ...

Scott Grimes Scott Christopher Grimes (born July 9, 1971) is an American actor and singer. Some of his most prominent roles include appearances in the 1984 cult classic ''The Night They Saved Christmas'', '' ER'' as Dr. Archie Morris, ''Party of Five'' as Wil ...

, and

Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Roman Cath ...

performed a cover version during the press tour for ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

'' and at several benefit shows afterwards.

Beautiful Girls Reply

"Beautiful Girls" (also known as "Beautiful Girls Reply") is a song by American singer

. It was released digitally on July 20, 2007, as a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

response to "Beautiful Girls" by

. The song samples

's classic " Stand by Me" and uses digital pitch correction technology on the vocals. Whereas Kingston's version is about a boy who is suicidal over the failure of his relationship with a "beautiful girl", JoJo speaks from a girl's perspective.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 39 on the ''Billboard''

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

chart one month after its release.

Parodies

and

Comedy Dave David Lloyd Vitty (born 24 April 1974) is a radio presenter working in the UK. He worked alongside Chris Moyles at BBC Radio 1, having originally been a broadcast assistant on Moyles' early morning show. He became the show's head writer and ' ...

from

have produced a popular parody, Sean Krapston – A Suicidal song.Download of Sean Krapston – A Suicidal song
/ref> *

Kel Mitchell Kel Johari Rice Mitchell (born August 25, 1978) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He was an original cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''All That'' for its first five seasons (1994–1999), where he was often paired a ...

has produced a song on his Myspace called "Scariest Girl". *Panamanian reggae group Comando Tiburón made a parody of the song in Spanish, called "No Llores Más" ("Don't Cry No More").

Use in media

This song is featured in the 2008 monster film ''

Cloverfield ''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams, and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman ...

'', the 2019 crime drama '' Hustlers'', and on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

''. The "suicidal" version of the song, which ends differently from the single mix is also featured in the video game '' SingStar Hottest Hits''.

References

{{authority control 2007 debut singles Sean Kingston songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles Music videos directed by Marcus Raboy Number-one singles in Australia European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by J. R. Rotem Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Songs written by J. R. Rotem Songs written by Sean Kingston Doo-wop songs Songs about suicide 2007 songs Epic Records singles Music controversies

Lyrics controversy

Track listing

Official remixes

Official versions

Chart performance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

Beautiful Girls Reply

Chart performance

Parodies

Use in media

See also

References