"Chillin' It" is the debut single by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Cole Swindell Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American rock music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashvil ...

. Swindell co-wrote the song with

Shane Minor Shane Allen Minor (born May 3, 1968) is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Nashville Records in 1999, Minor released his self-titled album that year, and it produced three hit singles on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & ...

. Swindell released the song independently in March 2013 as a digital download. In July 2013, Swindell signed a record deal with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Warner Bros. assumed promotion of the single and released it to country radio in August 2013. It is included on Swindell's self-titled debut album, which was released on February 18, 2014.

History

The song was produced by Jody Stevens, the son of songwriter and producer Jeff Stevens, and formerly one-half of the duo

Fast Ryde Fast Ryde was an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters James Harrison and Jody Stevens, both of whom sing and play guitar. The duo was signed to Republic Records Nashville and has released three singles: "That Thang", which ch ...

. According to ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...

'', the recording was a demo made by Jody Stevens, with him playing all of the instruments.

Content

The song is in the key of

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

with a moderate tempo in 4/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, and a main chord pattern of D-A-E-F7.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' gave the song three and a half stars out of five, writing that it "isn't about the words or the musicianship. It's about the vibe and the sweet groove this Georgia-raised singer lays down patiently." Dukes also wrote that "the verses are pleasantly effective in telling a vivid (if overtold) story of a guy, a girl and the open road" and described it a "decaf version" of

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

's "

Cruise A cruise is any travel on a cruise ship. Cruise or Cruises may also refer to: Tourism * Booze cruise * Music cruise * River cruise Aeronautics and aircraft * Cruise (aeronautics), a distinct stage of an aircraft's flight * Aviasouz Cruise, a R ...

". In 2017, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in ...

put "Chillin' It" at number six on his top 10 list of Swindell's best songs.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Monaco and

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, ...

and premiered in November 2013.

Chart performance

"Chillin' It" debuted at number 42 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of June 15, 2013. It also debuted at number 52 on the U.S. ''

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 of August 10, 2013. It also debuted at number 98 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart for the week of November 2, 2013. The song reach its 1 million sales mark in the US by March 2014. On March 24, 2014, the single was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for sales of over a million digital copies in the United States. As of April 2014, the song has sold 1,075,000 copies in the United States. The song also debuted at number 100 on 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 ...

chart for the week of January 11, 2014.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2013 debut singles 2013 songs Cole Swindell songs Warner Records singles Songs written by Shane Minor Songs written by Cole Swindell Music videos directed by Shaun Silva