"Don't Matter" is a

reggae fusion Reggae fusion is a genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic and latin. Origin Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as ...

– R&B song by American singer

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P ...

from his second studio album, ''

Konvicted ''Konvicted'' is the second studio album by American singer Akon. It was released on November 14, 2006. The album features collaborations with rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Styles P and T-Pain. Background ''Konvicted'' is Akon's most successful ...

'' (2006). The song was released as the album's third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in January 2007. In April of that year, it became Akon's first solo U.S. number-one single and second number-one overall. The chorus interpolates the 1979 song "Zimbabwe" by

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

and borrows the melody of " Ignition (Remix)" by

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwi ...

in its verse. "Don't Matter" was ranked number 31 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. This song was also ranked number 81 on ''

MTV Asia MTV was a pan-Asian music pay-television channel which launched on 3 May 1995 as a standalone pay television channel. It was owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History MTV Asia was officially launched on 3 May 1995 as a 24-hour English-languag ...

''s list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.

Chart performance

"Don't Matter" was released in the United States in mid-January 2007. The song made its debut at number seventy-nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached number one after ten weeks on the chart, in large part due to its substantial airplay, the song topping the Hot 100 Airplay chart for two weeks. In the United Kingdom, it debuted on the singles chart at number forty-five, based solely upon downloads, and late peaking at number three following a physical release. Following the song's debut inside the top ten on the singles chart in Canada, it peaked at number one for a period of three weeks. As of January 2008, the song has been certified 3 times platinum for 3,000,000 digital sales. Bizzy Bone made a remix with this song, so did Candace Jones, Jadiel and

Nivea Nivea (, stylized as NIVEA) is a German personal care brand that specializes in skin and body care. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG. The company was founded on 28 March 1882, by Paul Carl Beiersdorf. In 1890, it w ...

. As of 2011, the song has sold 5,600,000 copies both in the United States and internationally.

Music video

The video was directed by Gil Green and starts with Akon picking up his date which happens to be his cousin ( Klari Aniz) at a location. As he leaves with this date, an old man (presumably a relative of the date) is shown both reading a magazine about Akon partying at local clubs and staring at the two with an angry look. The video continues with Akon singing "Don't Matter" throughout the course of his date. It is set in a Caribbean beach style community at social places such as the beach, village market, and a dance. Notably, in the video's final scene, the music becomes much more lively, with a Caribbean style rhythm playing under the song's chorus. It has a cameo appearance by

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...

rapper

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

Track listing

UK CD single and European CD single 1 # "Don't Matter" - 4:09 # "Shake Down" (Remix) (Feat. Red Cafe) - 4:28 European CD single 2 # "Don't Matter" (Konvict Remix) - 5:46 # "Don't Matter" (Calypso Remix) - 5:38 # "Don't Matter" (Original Radio Edit) - 4:09 # "Don't Matter" (Video) - 4:15 Australian CD single # "Don't Matter" (Radio Edit) - 3:02 # "Shake Down" (Remix) (Feat. Red Cafe) - 4:28 # "Easy Road" - 3:59 # "Don't Matter" (Video) - 4:15

Release history

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers and sampling

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

performed a cover of "Don't Matter" for their live album, '' **** Live in Phoenix''. They also performed the song at their June 12, 2007, concert, the night after their bassist

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lea ...

got in a fight with a fan. Canadian singer

Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian singer-son ...

often covered the song for her live shows. Brazilian singer

Claudia Leitte Cláudia Cristina Leite Inácio (; born 10 July 1980) is a Brazilian singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2002 as the lead vocalist of the Axé music group Babado Novo. The group achieved a string of consecutive diamond- ...

did a cover of "Don't Matter" live in ''Festival de Verão Salvador'' with Akon in January 2010. Brazilian band Bonde do Maluco also did a cover version of "Don't Matter" which has the chorus used by Claudia Leitte on her live version with Akon.

Lauv Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit "I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album ''I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', whi ...

covered the song on his 2017 release ''Spotify Singles''.

D'Prince Charles Enebeli (born 23 October 1986), better known by his stage name D'Prince, is a Nigerian Afropop singer. He is the founder and the CEO of Jonzing World, an entertainment company he founded in 2019. Early life Charles Enebeli was born in ...

and

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish (born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Kehlani is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen group Poplyfe in 2011. In 2014, Kehlani released the ...

interpolate In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

"Don't Matter" in their songs "Bestie" (2015) and "

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

" (2017), respectively.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Matter 2007 singles Akon songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Canadian Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Romania Reggae fusion songs Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Akon Song recordings produced by Akon Music videos directed by Gil Green 2006 songs Songs written by R. Kelly Songs written by Bob Marley 2000s ballads Konvict Muzik singles