"Dynamite" is a song by British singer and songwriter
Taio Cruz
Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...
from the revised version of his second studio album, ''
Rokstarr'' (2010). Cruz co-wrote the song, along with
,
Bonnie McKee
Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Trouble'', was released in 2004 under Reprise Records. After underperforming, McKee was dropped by her label and took a musical hiatus before e ...
,
Benny Blanco
Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is al ...
, and
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...
; the latter two are also the producers. The song features additional instrumentation by Cruz himself. It was released internationally as the fourth single from ''Rokstarr''. In the UK, the song was released as the first single from Cruz's compilation album, ''
The Rokstarr Collection'' (2010). On 30 May 2010, it was released to US and Canadian radio stations as his second single and across Europe as his fourth single. An official remix was released featuring new label mate,
Jennifer Lopez.
"Dynamite" became Cruz's second number-one single on 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 ...
and the
Canadian Hot 100 as well topping charts in Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The song reached number two on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and by January 2012 it had sold over 5.7 million copies in the U.S. and Canada, becoming the second best-selling song by a British artist in the digital era there, behind
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
's "
Rolling in the Deep
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself des ...
".
Composition
The song "Dynamite" is written in the key of
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major.
The C natural minor scale is:
:
...
, with a tempo of 116 beats per minute. According to Cruz, "The song 'Dynamite' itself is about when you go to the club and when you go to a party and when you're just going out... you got to feel like, 'I'm just gonna explode.'"
[ ]Dr. Luke
Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...
and had written the melody, and asked Bonnie McKee
Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Trouble'', was released in 2004 under Reprise Records. After underperforming, McKee was dropped by her label and took a musical hiatus before e ...
to write lyrics. McKee only met Cruz months after the song's release,[Bonnie McKee]
/ref> and later said that "I thought Dynamite"was the dumbest song I had ever written and thought it was going nowhere. And I actually think it was biggest song I have written so far."
Release and reception
The song was released in the UK on 23 August 2010.[Dynamite hits the UK – Taio Cruz News](_blank)
Taio Cruz.com/ News Retrieved 5 July 2010. The song has met with mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics. While reviewing "Rokstarr", Jon Caramanica from ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave a mixed review, saying that the song has "vapid lyrics to navigate (e.g. "I hit the floor cause that's my plans, plans, plans, plans / I'm wearing all my favorite brands, brands, brands, brands") but they don't disrupt the mood, which is emphatic and rarely sensual".
Nick Levine from Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
rated the song 4 out of 5 stars and gave it a positive review, naming it "a suitably Eurohousey club pumper" and saying that it's "essentially a cheap, tasty, and entirely satisfying banger". The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
critic Sasha Frere-Jones named the song as his second favorite of 2010.
Chart performance
"Dynamite" debuted at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and at number 13 on the Digital Songs chart, selling 83,000 copies in its opening week. The single rose to number 14 on the week ending 10 July 2010 and on the week ending 21 August 2010, the single climbed to a peak of #2, giving Cruz his second Top 3 single in the US. The song kept this position for three consecutive weeks, blocked from the top position by Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
's " Love the Way You Lie" featuring 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 t ...
. It also became Cruz's second consecutive number one single on ''Billboard''s Hot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine.
History
The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic ...
chart in its 21 August 2010 issue. "Dynamite" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 47 weeks, making it the longest run for a single since Train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...
's "Hey, Soul Sister
"Hey, Soul Sister" is a song by American rock band Train. It was written by lead singer Pat Monahan, Amund Bjørklund, and Espen Lind. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, '' Save Me, San Francisco'' (2009).
...
", which stayed on that chart for 54 weeks. As of May 2012, it has sold over 6 million digital copies in the US alone. This marks the first song by a British act to reach this plateau, the twelfth song to do so, and only the second song to reach 6 million downloads without reaching number one (the first being Jason Mraz's " I'm Yours", which reached number six in September 2008).
The single debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number eight on the week ending 17 June 2010, marking Cruz's second Top 10 hit in the country. The following week the single fell to number nine, where it remained at for four consecutive weeks. On the week ending 18 September 2010, the song peaked at number one, becoming Cruz's second Canadian number one single, following " Break Your Heart"'s two-week stay at that position in May 2010. The song became the best-selling single in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
during 2010 with sales of 319,000 copies.
On the chart dated 16 August 2010, "Dynamite" topped the New Zealand Singles Chart
The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Mus ...
,[ and was certified gold, selling 7,500 copies. The song topped the ]Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are b ...
in its first week, becoming Cruz's first number one on that chart, following previous number two hit "Break Your Heart".
In Cruz's native United Kingdom, "Dynamite" charted at number one on 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 ...
on 29 August 2010. This became his second number-one single in UK after "Break Your Heart". It knocked " Green Light" by Roll Deep
Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel.
The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, " Good Times" and " Green L ...
off the summit, and was knocked off in turn by "Please Don't Let Me Go
"Please Don't Let Me Go" is a song by British singer Olly Murs. Written by Murs, Claude Kelly and Steve Robson, the song served as the lead single from the ''X Factor'' runner-up's eponymous debut album and it was his debut single. The song wa ...
" by Olly Murs
Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom ...
a week later.
Music video
The music video begins with a group of female mechanic
A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars.
Duties
Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and ...
s working on cars at a garage. Cruz, wearing a red helmet, rides a silver motorbike
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising, ...
towards the garage and stops by. As the music starts, he takes off his helmet and puts on his black sunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can ...
. He then kicks off a party, complete with a jacuzzi
Jacuzzi Brands LLC (; ), through its subsidiaries, is a global manufacturer and distributor of branded baths, hot tubs, pools, saunas and, formerly, aircraft. Founded in 1915 by the Italian family of the same name, Jacuzzi is a federally regist ...
and firework
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices i ...
s. As the sun goes down and night falls, Cruz gives an impromptu concert of sorts with the mechanics as his audience. An enormous, fiery explosion then goes off behind Cruz, before subsiding into a shower of sparks.
Cruz has said that this is the perfect backdrop for the subtext of his song and that his inspiration came from "wanting to do things on a bike" since his previous videos included cars and boats. "So you're gonna see me spin the tyres on this, which is pretty cool!" One of the vehicles brought for the video shoot was a "massive truck" which was used to film big screen project '' Universal Soldier''. Speaking of the shoot he said "I've never done a video that has this many props in it. We've got the most amazing, wrecked cars."[Taio premieres Explosive Music Video]
''MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
News''. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
An official remix video was created by G-Pain which was published on September 11, 2022.
Live performances
Taio performed "Dynamite" for the first time on ''Live with Regis & Kelly
''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...
'' on 9 June 2010. Later, he also performed on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's l ...
'', ''T4 on the Beach
T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...
'', ''America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...
'', GMTV
GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...
, ''Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...
'', and on 31 December 2010, he performed the song on ''Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' with Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...
. On 12 August 2012, Cruz performed "Dynamite" at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II. The c ...
. He also performed it at grand launching of NET.
NET (an initialism of News and Entertainment Television, stylized as NET.) is an Indonesian free-to-air television network that was launched on 26 May 2013. It replaced Spacetoon on terrestrial television. The channel's programming is focused ...
TV in 2013.
Track listing
*UK CD single and Digital download
#"Dynamite" (Original Mix) – 3:24
#"Dynamite" (Ralphi Rosario
Ralphi Rosario is an American house musician and founding member of the influential Chicago DJ group Hot Mix 5.
Biography
When Hot Mix 5 was formed in 1981 on radio station WBMX (now WVAZ), Rosario, the youngest member of the group, was still ...
Club Remix) – 8:03
#"Dynamite" (Mixin Marc Club Remix) – 5:34
#"Dynamite" ( StoneBridge Club Remix) – 7:20
*German CD single
#"Dynamite" – 3:24
#"Dynamite" (Mixin Marc Radio Mix) – 3:34
Personnel
*Songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
– Lukasz Gottwald, , Benjamin Levin, Bonnie McKee
Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Trouble'', was released in 2004 under Reprise Records. After underperforming, McKee was dropped by her label and took a musical hiatus before e ...
, Taio Cruz
Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...
*Production, drums, keyboards and programming – Dr. Luke
Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...
, Benny Blanco
Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is al ...
*Vocals and programming – Taio Cruz
*Engineering – Emily Wright
*Recording assistant – Tatiana Gottwald
*Production coordination – Irene Richter, Vanessa Silberman, Megan Dennis
* Mixing – Serban Ghenea
*Mix engineering – John Hanes
*Assistant mix engineering – Tim Roberts
* Mastering – Tom Coyne
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Rokstarr'' and Tidal.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications and sales
Radio and release history
Radio adds
Purchaseable release
China Anne McClain version
"Dynamite" was covered by singer and actress China Anne McClain
China Anne McClain (born August 25, 1998) is an American actress and singer. McClain's career began when she was seven years old, portraying Alexis in the film ''The Gospel'' (2005), and then China James in '' Daddy's Little Girls'' (2007). Sh ...
for the Disney Channel live-action series '' A.N.T. Farm''. It started playing on Radio Disney
Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California.
The network broadcast music programming ...
on 3 May 2011 and was released for digital download on iTunes and Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
on 26 July 2011 by Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by it ...
. It is the second track on the series soundtrack of the same name, from which it also served as the lead single. The video of the song was released the same day as a digital download and also received frequent airplay on Disney Channel at the time of its debut on the network. McClain performed it as her lead role, Chyna Parks, in the series' pilot episode '' TransplANTed''. McClain also had a live performance of this song live on 22 August 2011.
Music video
The music video for McClain's version of the song was aired on Disney Channel and uploaded on China Anne McClain's official VEVO channel on 3 May 2011. It shows McClain performing the song in an audition. It starts out slow and normal, which doesn't draw the judges' attention. However, afterward, she performs it with such passion and energy that it draws people into the auditorium, which was once empty aside from the panel of judges (composed of the other ''A.N.T. Farm'' cast members). The music video has over 90 million views on YouTube.
Charts
"TNT" by Jordan "CaptainSparklez" Maron
On February 26, 2011, CaptainSparklez published a "Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before bein ...
parody" of Dynamite, "TNT", with vocals from singer TryHardNinja, along with a music video. In late 2015, the video was made private at the request of Maron's network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics ...
and replaced by a new video with original music. In May 2018, the original video was made public again. As of 2022, the video is currently the fourth-most-viewed video on Maron's channel with over 115 million views, surpassing the number of views of the original song.
See also
*List of best-selling singles
This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...
*List of best-selling singles in the United States
This is a list of best-selling singles in the United States, some of which have been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record c ...
* List of number-one singles of 2010 (Australia)
* List of Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles of 2010
*List of number-one singles of 2010 (Ireland)
This is a list of the IRMA's Irish Singles Chart Top 50 number-ones of 2010.
See also
*2010 in music
* List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
*Irish Singles Chart
External linksCurrent Irish Singles Chart – Top 50 Positio ...
*List of number-one singles from the 2010s (New Zealand)
This is the Recorded Music NZ list of number-one singles in New Zealand during the 2010s decade, starting from Monday 4 January 2010. From 7 November 2014, the chart also included data from audio on demand streaming services.
Chart
Key
: – N ...
*List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2010s
The UK Singles Chart is a weekly record chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. As of 10 July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday with the chart-date given as the following Thu ...
*List of UK R&B Singles Chart number ones of 2010
This is a list of the Official Charts Company's UK R&B Chart number-one singles of 2010.
Number ones
Number-one artists
See also
*List of number-one singles of 2010 (UK)
*List of UK Dance Chart number-one singles of 2010
*List of UK Indi ...
* List of Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs number ones of 2010
*List of Billboard Mainstream Top 40 number-one songs of 2010
This is a list of songs which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Top 40 (or Pop Songs) chart in 2010.
During 2010, a total of 17 singles hit number-one on the charts.
Chart history
See also
*2010 in music
This topic cover ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dynamite (Taio Cruz Song)
2010 singles
2011 singles
Taio Cruz songs
China Anne McClain songs
Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles
Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Island Records singles
Number-one singles in Australia
Number-one singles in Scotland
Number-one singles in New Zealand
UK Singles Chart number-one singles
Songs written by Dr. Luke
Songs written by Benny Blanco
Songs written by Max Martin
Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke
Song recordings produced by Benny Blanco
Songs written by Taio Cruz
Songs written by Bonnie McKee
Walt Disney Records singles
2009 songs