"It's My Birthday" (originally "Birthday") is a song by American rapper

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

featuring American singer

Cody Wise Cody Wise (born December 29, 1995) is an American singer signed to Interscope Records through will.i.am's imprint. He is best known for featuring on " It's My Birthday" by will.i.am. The song, which was recorded in 2014 and released as a singl ...

. The song was recorded in 2014 and released as a single in Australia on May 27. The song is about celebrating every day as if it's your birthday. The song samples the Indian song " Urvasi Urvasi" from the soundtrack of the 1994 Indian film ''

Kadhalan ''Kadhalan'' ( ) is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film stars Prabhu Deva and Nagma (in her major Tamil cinema debut), while Vadivelu, Raghuvaran, ...

'', composed by the Academy award winner and Indian composer

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

. The song also includes samples of the Jamaican track "Fi Di Jockey" by

Aidonia Aidonia (born Sheldon Lawrence, 6 April 1981) is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae artist from Kingston, Jamaica. He became active in early 2004, and has released albums on the record labels, VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean ...

and

Bounty Killer Rodney Basil Price (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair f ...

. It received mixed to negative reviews from music critics, with some being negative towards will.i.am's lack of originality. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was released in May 2014 to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

and

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

respectively. "It's My Birthday" topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia. It was certified Platinum in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the former country, will.i.am and Wise performed the song on the eight season of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

'' in May 2014.

Background and composition

Wise was spotted by will.i.am after a performance of "

Who's Lovin' You "Who's Lovin' You" is a Motown soul song, written in 1960 by William "Smokey" Robinson. The song has been recorded by many different artists including The Miracles, who recorded the 1960 original version, The Temptations, The Supremes, Terenc ...

" by

the Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

at a concert when he was 13 years old. After will.i.am saw Wise's performance, he flew Wise out and the two met. Wise was signed to Interscope Records in early 2014 through the imprint of will.i.am and he recalled being offered a deal with the label a few days after singing for will.i.am and Interscope co-founder

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...

. After developing his musical skills with will.i.am as his protégé, the two recorded "It's My Birthday" in 2014; the song has subsequently become what Wise is best known for. "It's My Birthday" is a hip hop track that includes usage of

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

. will.i.am explained the meaning of it during a web exclusive for ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' on July 29, 2014 where he was joined by Wise, saying: "You get a license to do whatever you want on your birthday. I try to live in that celebrative, who-gives-a-f perspective and celebrate every day as if it was my birthday." The song uses a sample of composer

's track " Urvasi Urvasi", from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the 1994

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

film ''

'', for both its intro and outro. A. R. Rahman revealed on May 21 via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he was partnering with will.i.am to recreate an early track of his, with will.i.am tweeting out thanks to Rahman the next day. will.i.am spoke about the process of sampling "Urvasi Urvasi" as part of the web exclusive on July 29, saying "We took portions of that song and put it over today's thick, urban electronic-type beat." The song contains an additional sample of the Jamaican track "Fi Di Jockey" by

and

, with vocals from Aidonia sampled on the chorus and Bounty Killer's chanting of his "Big Ship Sailing" catchphrase also sampled in the song. "It's My Birthday" is written in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

and at a

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 (ofte ...

of 100 beats per minute (BPM).

Release and reception

The song was originally set to be titled "Birthday" when will.i.am announced on May 21, 2014 that he was planning to release it as a single with Wise on July 6. That same day, a snippet was shared of the song. "It's My Birthday" was released for digital download as a single in Australia and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on May 27 and May 29 respectively, marking will.i.am's first musical release since the album '' #willpower'' in 2013. The song was later serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations on June 24, 2014, and released as a single 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on July 6, as previously announced by will.i.am. "It's My Birthday" received mixed to negative reviews from music critics, with will.i.am's lack of originality being mostly panned. Lewis Corner of '' Digital Spy'' gave the song three out of five stars, stating: "The final result doesn't wander too far away from his recent successful offerings, but with a hint of the new here and there, will.i.am proves once again he can have his cake and eat it whether it's his birthday or not." Christina Lee of ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' wrote that "it's rather telling that not even the most bizarre parts of 'It's My Birthday' can distract from the cringeworthy lyrics ('Que bonita, que bonita / I can speak in Japanese / Kawaii, kawaii / Kawaii, I want your body')." '' RouteNote'' author RouteBot labelled the song as the worst of 2014, writing: "I actually thought that English was the performers second language, but then I realised it was Will.i.am! Terrible! What the hell has happened to pop music..." Trevor Smith of ''HotNewHipHop'' wrote in response to the song: "The rapper/producer channels

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

on his new cut, which is more a showcase of Cody Wise's vocals than Will's. It also features some instrumental breaks, placing it firmly in more of an

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

sphere."

Music video

The

was uploaded to

on May 28, 2014, shot in the square aspect ratio of software

and directed by Ben Mor. It was uploaded to Vine the next day as over 40 separate clips. The video, which utilizes

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

, features both will.i.am and Wise. Its scenes include a birthday party going wrong, twerking in a room decorated with pizzas and will.i.am posing as a priest and as

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. He can be seen at one point in the delivery room taking a selfie while a woman gives birth to a will.i.am lookalike. Popular Viners such as Giovanni Watson,

DeStorm Power DeStorm Power ( ) is an American Internet personality who began his career on the social media platform YouTube. Life and career The fourth of eight siblings, Power was born in Arlington County, Virginia and raised in Baltimore, Maryland by h ...

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

, Alpha Cat and Jerry Purdrank also appear.

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "It's My Birthday" peaked at the top of 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 July 13, 2014 – for the week ending date July 19, 2014 – becoming will.i.am's tenth chart-topping song in Britain. He scored five of these chart-toppers as a solo artist and five as a member of

the Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hi ...

respectively, with the first being "

Where Is the Love? "Where Is the Love?" is a song by American hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas. It was released on May 12, 2003, as the lead single from their third album, ''Elephunk''. The song was written by will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, Justin Timberlake, Prin ...

" in 2003. Liv Moss of the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

reported on July 9, 2014 that the song was on track to reach number one on the chart before its position was officially announced. The song's combined sales figure was 42,000 on the day of Moss' report, one percent of which was due to audio streams. "It's My Birthday" became Britain's 51st best-selling song of 2014. On September 17, 2021, it was certified Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

. In Australia, "It's My Birthday" peaked at number four on the ARIA Singles Chart and spending a total of 16 weeks on the chart. The song was certified Platinum in 2014 by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing ...

. It ranked at number 74 on the year-end ARIA Singles Chart for 2014. "It's My Birthday" also debuted within the top 40 of charts in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. On the German Top 100 Singles chart, the song peaked at number 41. It reached number 58 and number 71 on the

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Singles Digitál Top 100 and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Singles Digitál Top 100 respectively. It performed the worst in France, charting at number 168 on the SNEP chart.

Live performances

will.i.am and Wise performed the song in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2014, appearing on the fourth semi-final of the eight season of ''

'', with will.i.am dancing around in pink during the performance. This marked will.i.am's debut appearance on ''Britain's Got Talent''. On July 21, the duo performed "It's My Birthday" with virtual body doubles on ''The Voice'' Australia, which was said to be "one of the biggest performances of the whole night." On July 29, 2014, they performed the song on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', accompanied by the Roots, and again at the first ever

BBC Music Awards The BBC Music Awards were the BBC's annual pop music awards, held every December, as a celebration of the musical achievements over the past twelve months. The event was coordinated by the BBC's music division, BBC Music. Held between 2014 and ...

on December 11, 2014.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. * Main artist –

* Featured artist –

* Associated performer – Cody Wise, will.i.am * Vocals – Cody Wise, will.i.am * Producer – Damien LeRoy, will.i.am * Composer & lyricist –

, Cody Wise, Damien LeRoy, Keith Harris, will.i.am

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Interscope Records singles Song recordings produced by will.i.am Songs written by Damien LeRoy Songs written by Keith Harris (record producer) Songs written by will.i.am UK Singles Chart number-one singles Will.i.am songs Songs with music by A. R. Rahman Songs written by Cody Wise Songs about birthdays