"Break Up" is the first single from

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

's fourth studio album '' D.N.A.''. It features and was co-written by

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

and

Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler, known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is responsible for a series of chart-topping compositions, most notably Usher's " Yeah!" which ranks second on the ''Billboa ...

with production and additional writing from Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford. The single was first premiered on the radio station V-103 at March 30, 2009 with Greg Street.

Background and composition

According to Mario, "it's a little bit of everything on this record. That's why I love it. Sean is like a brother to me. He knows me. So, when he did this record, he was definitely thinking about me. It’s a club record and every man has experienced this situation before. It's like why would you want to break up with me when you gon' get the same thing with the next man. But, he ain't gon do it as fly as I can. I can't wait to perform it. It's going to be a movie. Look for the movie! We're not calling this a single or a video, we're calling it a movie." The song, mixed by Fabian, was composed using a loop from

Image-Line Image-Line Software (commonly known as simply Image-Line) is a Belgian software company best known for its digital audio workstation program FL Studio and related audio plugins such as Sytrus and Harmor. Image-Line was founded in 1994. In 2007, ...

's FL Studio software named "flute riff". The drums are simplistic and resemble Bangladesh's previous productions such as Beyoncé's "

Diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...

" and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

's " A Milli". Some vocals in the chorus sample Surf Club's "I Can't Miss".

Critical reception

Burmy from DjBooth.net speaks that "While Gucci Mane's guest verse (no, this is not some late April Fools' joke) might seem unnecessary to some, Sean Garrett's writing and background vocals, together with Bangladesh's repetitive, percussion-heavy beat (similar to his work on A Milli and Diva) add up to what could be one of the most widely-spun singles of spring/summer '09!".

Other versions

Various unofficial remixes were made with Mario, Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett still included: one with Bow Wow, another with

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

and the last featuring Rick Ross and Young Breed. American rapper

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

made a freestyle of the song. R&B singer

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...

released a version called "Wake Up" with changed lyrics.

also did a remix on his ''

No Ceilings ''No Ceilings'' is a mixtape by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was scheduled to be released on October 31, 2009, but was leaked before the official date. ''No Ceilings'' was officially released on October 31, 2009, with 4 additional tracks. The mi ...

'' mixtape.

Music video

The music video for "Break Up" was shot in the second week of June, as Sean Garrett stated, most of the video was filmed in a new complex, which boasted top-of-the-line architecture, was on the harbor, and had a view of the city of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

with director Chris Robinson. The scenes shot in the bedroom were in Mario's bedroom; he stated he felt a little feeling of invasion of privacy because he is not used to being with a girl in bed while having cameras around. Audra Simmons of

RichGirl RichGirl was an American R&B vocal girl group consisting of four members: Audra Simmons, Christina "Brave" Williams, Kristal Lyndriette Smith (then known as Lyndriette and now known as Kristal, a member of June's Diary) and Amber Streeter (n ...

plays the role of Mario's girlfriend who wants to break up with him. In the video it is shown that they argue and he is not a trustworthy boyfriend, as he is seen flirting with another girl in a club. He still tries to look for her, however, remarking in the song that although he cheats he loves her. Brave (Christina Williams), from RichGirl, also makes a short appearance in which she and Audra are shown catching Mario in the act with another girl. In Sean Garrett's part, model

Rosa Acosta Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places * 223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, ...

makes an appearance. In May, Mario stated that the video was coming soon. On July 2, Mario announced on his Twitter that he would be on

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

to premiere the music video, although the video did not premiered and was set to premier on the following week. On July 7, was announced on his website that the music video premiered on 9 of July exclusively on

WorldStarHipHop WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fro ...

. The song quickly rose on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

video countdown show ''106 & Park'' it debuted at number 10, moving to number 7. On July 22 the video moved up to number 3 on the countdown. By the end of the week, the video went to number 1 on the countdown. Due its success, it was placed at number 7 on BET's ''Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009'' countdown.

Chart performance

Mario asked to all his fans to request "Break Up". He said that he needed 2000 more spins before going for ads in three weeks. The song first appeared on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart at number 11, peaking at 10 the following week. It later entered on the

Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, peaking at number 86. Initially, the song charted on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 at number 17. On the chart week of July 4, 2009, the song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 98 and peaked at number 14, becoming the highest-charting single to date for Sean Garrett. It has also become Mario's third highest-charting single in the US after " Let Me Love You" and "

Just a Friend 2002 "Just a Friend 2002" is a song by American R&B singer Mario, written by Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, Harold Lilly, John Smith, and Biz Markie. It is a loose cover of Markie's hit "Just a Friend" and was the first single released from Mario's se ...

". It got the position of number 7 on BET's ''Notarized''.

Credits and personnel

*Songwriting – Radric Davis,

, Shondrae Crawford *Production – Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford, Sean "The Pen" Garrett *Vocal production – Sean Garrett *Recording – Miles Walker, assisted by D.P. Samuels, Kory Aaron *Mixing – Fabian Marasciullo, assisted by Edward Lidow *Featuring vocals – Gucci Mane, Sean Garrett

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Break Up (Song) 2009 singles 2009 songs Mario (singer) songs Gucci Mane songs Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director) Song recordings produced by Bangladesh (record producer) Songs written by Sean Garrett Songs written by Gucci Mane Songs written by Bangladesh (record producer)