"Fire Burning" is a song by Jamaican-American singer-songwriter

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is an American-Jamaican singer and rapper. He is known for his hit songs " Beautiful Girls", "Fire Burning", " Take You There", and his collaboration wit ...

. It is released as the lead single from his second

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 ...

'' Tomorrow''. Unlike many of his previous singles, which are all produced by J.R. Rotem, the song is produced by

RedOne Nadir Khayat ( ar, نادر الخياط; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. As a record producer and songwriter, he has worked with many high-profi ...

. The song was used for the opening number of the

Miss Universe 2009 Miss Universe 2009 was the 58th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Imperial Ballroom in Atlantis Paradise Island, Nassau, The Bahamas on August 23, 2009. At the end of the event, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela crowned Stefanía Fernández of Vene ...

live at the

Atlantis Paradise Island Atlantis Paradise Island is an ocean-themed resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It is built around Aquaventure, a waterscape. Property history The property was originally part of the Paradise Island Hotel and Casino, which opene ...

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. It was also used in Fred: The Movie where it shows

Fred Figglehorn Fred Figglehorn (stylized as FЯED) was the central character in an Internet video series created by then-teenager Lucas Cruikshank in 2006. It yielded other spin-off series and a relationship with Nickelodeon, including three movies and a telev ...

standing up on his bed, singing the song.

Composition

"Fire Burning" is written by

Nadir Khayat Nadir Khayat ( ar, نادر الخياط; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. As a record producer and songwriter, he has worked with many high-profi ...

Bilal Hajji Bilal Hajji, sometimes also known as The Chef (at times Bilal "The Chef" or Bilal "The Chef" Hajji) is a Moroccan-Swedish songwriter and record producer. Based in Sweden, of Moroccan origin, he has worked with many worldwide artists and celebriti ...

, and Kisean Anderson. The song is set in

common time 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 ...

with a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 123

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

and is written in the key of Db major.

Release

Kingston had released the song on his MySpace webpage to promote his song. The song was released to radio stations and for digital download April 24, 2009. To date the song has been played more than 13 million times on his MySpace page. As of July 22, 2012, the song has sold over 3 million downloads. Sean Kingston performed the song for the first time live at the Teen Choice Awards 2009.

Music video

The music video premiered on MTV on June 15, 2009.

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

makes a cameo appearance in the video along with fellow island singer

Iyaz Keidran Jones (born 15 April 1987), better known by his stage name Iyaz, is a British Virgin Islands singer and songwriter, formerly signed with the record label Beluga Heights Records. He is known for his singles " Replay", "Solo" and " Pretty ...

. The video was directed by Gil Green. The video also shows Kingston's

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in the video.

Remixes

*"Fire Burning" (Remix) (featuring

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 ...

) *"Fire Burning" (Remix) (featuring Adrian Banton & Pitbull) *"Fire Burning" (Jody den Broeder Remix) *"Fire Burning" (Jody den Broeder Radio Edit) *"Fire Burning" (

Dave Audé Dave Audé (born Oct 12, 1969) is an American Disc jockey, DJ, Record producer, producer and remixer. He operates his own label Audacious Records, and is known for having more number ones than any other producer on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club S ...

Club Mix) *"Fire Burning" (Dave Audé Radio Mix)

Critical reception

Michael Menachem of ''

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 ...

'' reviewed the song as "the most danceable single yet" and commented on the fast

and Kingston's well-projected vocal "that allows producer RedOne to blend the infectious hook with heavy synthesizers and a variety of percussive sounds that made

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

's " Poker Face" so striking". He also comments that "the chorus is repetitive, it sounds just like '

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' by

Kat Deluna Kathleen Emperatriz DeLuna (born November 26, 1987) is an American singer. DeLuna began pursuing a career as a singer when she was a teenager and later signed with Epic Records. Her debut single, " Whine Up", released in 2007, went on to become ...

, but this song is often what makes for a sizzling club hit". Alex Fletcher of ''

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, ...

'' said that 'Fire Burning' has all the makings of a classic summer anthem with its swathes of GaGa-esque synths, infectious chorus hook and fuzzy bassline but he wasn't in favor of Kingston's reggae-tinged vocals.

Formats and track listings

;Digital download # "Fire Burning" (Album version) ( Kisean Anderson, Bilal Hajji,

) – 4:03 ;CD-Single (Germany) # "Fire Burning" – 4:00 # "War" – 2:59

Chart performance

"Fire Burning" debuted at #29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it Kingston's highest debut on the chart. Since then it has entered the top ten peaking at #5. It also peaked at number two 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 ...

for eight consecutive weeks. It became a #1 Record in South Africa and holding off strong competition from

's "LoveGame". Prior to this "Fire Burning" was ranked 36th on

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

's Year-End-Chart.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Sean Kingston MySpace

Official website

Official UK website

Sean Kingston interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' August 2009
{{authority control 2009 singles Music videos directed by Gil Green Sean Kingston songs Song recordings produced by RedOne Songs written by RedOne Songs written by Sean Kingston Songs written by Bilal Hajji 2009 songs Epic Records singles MNRK Music Group singles