"Earthquake" is a song by British musician

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

which features long-time collaborator

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

. The track was released on 23 October 2011 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as the second single from the artist's debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Electronic Earth ''Electronic Earth'' is the debut studio album by English recording artist Labrinth released 2 April 2012, via Syco Music. The album peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. Background The album was released on 2 April 2012, by Simon Cowell' ...

'' (2012). It debuted at number two 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 ...

, having sold 115,530 copies and setting the second-highest one-week sales at number 2 of the year, behind

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...

Background

Labrinth first revealed the radio-edit of "Earthquake" on his official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel, on 16 September 2011. Remixes by

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career ...

Noisia Noisia (stylised as NOISIΛ; "VISION" turned upside down) was a Dutch electronic music trio consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, Netherlands. They produce a wide variety of music including dr ...

, Eyes, Gareth Wyn and Street Policy were uploaded to Labrinth's

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

account on the same day. Labrinth explained the song's meaning to MTV UK: "For me, the track is about making an earthquake and having people look my way because of how much noise I'm making. Sometimes, the one that shouts the loudest is the one that gets heard so, earthquake is shouting as high as it can." Both the royal trumpets and the operatic monk chorus part were last minute additions to the record. Labrinth inserted the bridge after a friend dared him to put it in. The full explicit version of "Earthquake" was uploaded to Labrinth's

account on 23 September 2011. Labrinth and Tinie Tempah performed an acoustic version of "Earthquake" with an orchestra and choir in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge on 20 October 2011. On 1 January 2012, "Earthquake" was used for the

New Year's Eve in London London's New Year's Eve festivities have regularly consisted of a midnight fireworks show; the focal point of the festivities are the South Bank, where the chimes of Big Ben at midnight signify the arrival of the new year, and pyrotechnics ...

celebrations, during the fireworks display at the

London Eye The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United ...

. The "All-Stars" remix featuring rappers

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The M ...

and

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

and new verses by Labrinth and Tinie Tempah was included on the bonus edition of his debut album. The official remix with only the Busta Rhymes verse was also released as a single in the US through iTunes on 21 February 2012 and was included on '' Now That's What I Call Music! 42'' as a "Now What's Next" bonus track. The song is 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: : Cha ...

Music video

The HD video of the song was uploaded to Labrinth's official Vevo/YouTube channel on 11 October 2011. As of 26 May 2020, the song has received over 96 million views. The video was directed by US Studio
Syndrome Studios
edited by Aleks Colic. This song also featured in the trailer for the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

'' DiRT:Showdown''.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Labrinth songs Tinie Tempah songs 2011 singles Song recordings produced by Labrinth Syco Music singles 2011 songs Songs about London Songs written by Labrinth