"I Could Be the One" is a song by Swedish DJ

Avicii Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...

and Dutch DJ

Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born January 6, 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...

, which features uncredited vocals from Swedish singer

Noonie Bao Jonnali Mikaela Parmenius (born 9 August 1987), better known by the stage name Noonie Bao, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and record producer. She has written songs for artists such as Don Diablo, Ava Max, Katy Perry, Zara Larsson, Charli XCX, ...

. The song was released as a digital download in Sweden and the Netherlands on December 26, 2012. It peaked at number three on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

. Internationally, the single topped the charts in Hungary and the United Kingdom, peaked within the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and the Republic of Ireland and the top 20 of the charts in Austria and New Zealand.

Background and release

Before its official release, the track had been undergoing various name changes. Initially without a title, it was first played by Avicii at the Super Glow event in DC Armory, Washington, USA on November 18, 2011. It was later given the working title "Nicktim", which is a combination of both producers' first names (''Nick'' Rotteveel and ''Tim'' Bergling). The instrumental track contained a sample from "

D.A.N.C.E. "D.A.N.C.E." is the second single by Justice and the first from their album ''†''. It includes edited and extended versions of "D.A.N.C.E", a rougher mix in the style of their earlier releases, "B.E.A.T", and the track "Phantom" which was pre ...

" by

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, which was later removed in the final version. A year later, a vocal version of the track was premiered on November 4, 2012 through Avicii's "LE7ELS" podcast, as well as on Nicky Romero's podcast "Protocol Radio" a week later. After fully mastering the track, they settled on using the track name "I Could Be the One (Nicktim)" while the artists are stated as Avicii vs Nicky Romero. In 2017, the track's vocalist and songwriter

revealed to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

that despite working on the track, as well as another one on his 2013 album ''

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * Tr ...

'', she had never actually met Avicii until a number of years later.

Critical reception

Robert Copsey 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, ...

'' gave the song a mixed-to-positive review, stating:

The person in question is Dutch house producer Nicky Romero, a man who is slightly better acquainted with the current crop of mainstream club poppers, including
Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...
,
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
and Bingo Players. As such, "I Could Be the One" is a battle between Balearic-style EDM and squiggly, chart-friendly breakdowns that hit all the right places. The result, predictably, is a peaceful truce. .

Commercial performance

"I Could Be the One" peaked at number three on the

. The single also saw massive success worldwide, particularly in the United Kingdom, where the single entered 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 February 17, 2013 ― for the week ending dated February 23, 2013 ― becoming both Avicii and Nicky Romero's first chart-topping single in Britain. On the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...

, "I Could Be the One" debuted at number one ahead of

Baauer Harry Bauer Rodrigues (born April 30, 1989), known professionally as Baauer, is an American record producer and DJ, best known for his double platinum song "Harlem Shake (song), Harlem Shake". He has produced varied dance music from the age of 13 ...

's " Harlem Shake", which entered the chart at number three.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "I Could Be the One" was first released onto

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 ...

on December 24, 2012 at a total length of 4 minutes and 46 seconds. It was directed by Peter Huang and won first prize for non-European music video at the Young Director Award 2013 in Cannes. The video stars Inessa FrantowskiAvicii vs Nicky Romero – I Could Be The One (Music Video Review): BlissEnt.com
/ref> as a woman who works in an office.

Simu Liu Simu Liu ( ; ; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Shang-Chi in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings''. He also played Jung Kim in the CBC Television sitcom ''Kim's ...

also appears as one of her coworkers. She clearly hates her job, her morning routine and her colleagues' attitudes. Next, she is seen waking up in a room next to a used condom and a man in bed with her. When she opens the doors in her room, it reveals a balcony with a view of a beautiful beach. She finds a "To-Do List" in the room, with the only 'job' being to "not give a fuck". Then there are several shots of her enjoying herself: walking down a beach destroying a little girl's sandcastle (while giving her the finger), eating a selection of foods in a restaurant before kissing the waiter and dancing in a club with a man before having sex with him on a yacht. She then wakes up in her own apartment, and all is revealed to be a dream. She sees a therapist, who does nothing but prescribes her "more pills". Back in her office, she sits at her desk listening to her colleagues' mundane conversations. Finally, she loses it and begins to wreck the office, throwing her paperwork around, destroying a fax machine, insulting and assaulting some of her colleagues before fleeing the office. Bursting out the office door, the final scene shows her on her phone, booking a one-way ticket to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. As she runs across the road to her car, she is hit by a delivery van which is labelled 2Late. It is unknown whether she survives.

Track listings

Credits and personnel

* Producers – Avicii, Nicky Romero, Ash Pournouri * Lyrics – Linus Wiklund,

, Måns Wredenberg * Vocals –

* Label – Universal Music Group

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2012 singles 2012 songs Avicii songs Nicky Romero songs Universal Music Group singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Poland Number-one singles in Scotland Song recordings produced by Avicii Songs written by Nicky Romero Songs written by Arash Pournouri Songs written by Noonie Bao Songs written by Linus Wiklund Songs written by Avicii