"Dirty Work" is a song by American pop singer

Austin Mahone Austin Harris Mahone (; born April 4, 1996) is an American singer, songwriter and professional wrestler. Mahone gained popularity performing covers of pop songs on YouTube. He released three albums to date. Famous releases include " Say Somethi ...

. The song was released in the

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as a digital download on July 1, 2015. It was written and produced by

The Monsters and the Strangerz The Monsters & Strangerz are an American production and songwriting team from Miami, Florida. The team features The Monsters: Alexander "Eskeerdo" Izquierdo, Stefan Johnson, Jordan K. Johnson and Oliver "German" Peterhof and The Strangerz: Marcus ...

, with additional songwriting from Mahone, Sean Douglas and

Talay Riley Talay Riley is a British singer-songwriter. Career At the age of 18, Talay Riley signed his first major publishing deal with Global Publishing. His first appearance was in 2009, when he appeared on rapper Chipmunk's single which peaked at num ...

. From 2017, Japanese comedian Blouson Chiemi started to use the song as the background music in a popular comedy routine, which led to the song peaking on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

Chart at number 4. In October 2017, the song was certified Platinum in Japan.

Background and release

In late June, Austin revealed the "Dirty Work" single artwork on Twitter, and announced that it would be released to iTunes on July 10, 2015. It was premiered on radio the next day, and given an early iTunes release on July 1, 2015. On November 17, 2015, Mahone released a "Dirty Work" remix featuring T-Pain for free on his official

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page. In 2017, "Dirty Work" became a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

in Japan after comedienne Blouson Chiemi began using it in her "Career Woman" comedy routine. After seeing her comedy routine, Mahone offered to collaborate with her, and a "Dirty Work" remix featuring Blouson Chiemi was released on iTunes on June 8, 2017.

Composition

"Dirty Work" is a "bouncy, funky jam" that Mahone describes as having "a

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical s ...

/ "

Uptown Funk "Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson from his fourth studio album, ''Uptown Special'' (2015), featuring American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released as the album's lead single on 10 November 2014 via dow ...

" type of vibe."

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews. Jason Lipshutz of ''

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'' called it Mahone's "best and most ambitious single to date". Mike Wass of

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

called it a 'retro-leaning banger' and likened it to hits by

and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

, while

Fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...

's Jeff Benjamin wrote "At times the guitars sound a bit like the ones in

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's "

Black or White "Black or White" is a single by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 11, 1991, as the first single from Jackson's eighth studio album, '' Dangerous'' (1991). Jackson wrote, composed, and produced it w ...

Music video

The music video for "Dirty Work" was filmed in April, 2015. Mahone stated in an interview with WiLD 94.9 that the video would be in black and white. However, Mahone later re-shot the video with an entirely new concept, and this original version of the video was never released. In early July, Mahone filmed a second video for the song, inspired by the American TV version of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

''. This version of the video was released on July 27, 2015. In it, Mahone plays the office heart-throb, who is pursuing the sexy new girl. It includes a cast of fellow workers, who goof around and dance with Mahone throughout the video, with ''The Office'' style interviews to camera inter-cut throughout.

Track listing and formats

*Digital download and streaming # "Dirty Work" – 3:07 *Digital download and streaming (Blouson Chiemi Remix) # "Dirty Work" (Blouson Chiemi Remix) - 2:56 *Dirty Work (+Remix) # "Dirty Work" - 3:09 # "Dirty Work" (Bon Dance Remix) - 3:47 # "Dirty Work" (EDM Remix) - 3:52 # "Dirty Work" (Instrumental) - 3:08

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2015 songs Austin Mahone songs Cash Money Records singles Internet memes Internet memes introduced in 2015 Republic Records singles Song recordings produced by the Monsters & Strangerz Songs written by Austin Mahone Songs written by Eskeerdo Songs written by Jordan Johnson (songwriter) Songs written by Marcus Lomax Songs written by Sean Douglas (songwriter) Songs written by Stefan Johnson Songs written by Talay Riley