"Just Hold On" is a song by American DJ

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

and English singer and songwriter

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...

, released through

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

as the latter's debut solo single on 10 December 2016. The song was written by Aoki and Tomlinson alongside

Eric Rosse Eric Ivan Rosse is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and mixer. Rosse started playing piano at age 8, eventually studying orchestration and arranging with Joe Rotundi Sr., whose mentorship—along with influences of soul, rock ...

Sasha Sloan Alexandra Artourovna Yatchenko (russian: Александра Артуровна Ятченко; born March 11, 1995), known professionally as Sasha Alex Sloan (previously Sasha Sloan), is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''Only ...

and

Sir Nolan Nolan Lambroza (born July 25, 1990), better known as Sir Nolan, is an American record producer and songwriter based in Encino, Los Angeles, Encino, Los Angeles, California. He has worked with notable artists such as Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, Dem ...

, and was produced by Aoki, Sir Nolan and Jay Pryor. Aoki and Tomlinson performed the song for the first time on the 2016 series finale of ''The X Factor'' (UK). "Just Hold On" 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 ...

, and number 52 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it Aoki's highest-charting song in both countries. The song's music video was released on March 8, 2017. The song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales. The song is also included as a bonus track on the Japanese version of Tomlinson's debut album ''

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States *Walls, Mississippi, United States * Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...

''.

Background and release

"Just Hold On" is the first solo music project by Tomlinson after

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

began their first official break in December 2015. A preview of the song was released on December 9. Tomlinson's debut performance of "Just Hold On" on ''The X Factor'' (UK) came just days after it was announced that his mother, Johannah Deakin, died at the age of 42 after a battle with leukemia. The song was made available on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

and streaming services on December 10, 2016.

Composition

"Just Hold On" is written in the key of

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its ...

with 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 (often ...

of 115 beats per minute 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 ...

. The verses follow a chord progression of G–E–B–F, and Tomlinson's vocals span from F₃ to B₄.

Critical reception

In the website

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 ...

, Christina Lee wrote the song is an "uplifting EDM fare that comes standard with summer music festivals, though also a brand new direction for Louis after five One Direction albums." ''Time'' called it an "undeniably catchy track, a surprisingly gentle mix of Aoki’s EDM backing and Tomlinson’s melodic boy band vocals". Music website DirectLyrics stated: "Although Steve Aoki's electro-house beat flows well with the uplifting message of the song, I hope Louis releases an acoustic version of "Just Hold On" in the future". ''Express'' also called the track "fittingly uplifting". We Got This Covered described Aoki's production, stating: "Aoki layers in mid tempo four on the floor rhythms, injecting a tropical vibe moving into the chorus with exotic melodies and undeniable groove; it looks like Aoki is hoping to get in on the EDM-pop crossover trend...of 2016. Thankfully, he doesn’t go the future bass route, opting instead to craft a tropical pop production elevated by Louis Tomlinson’s smooth vocal approach. “Just Hold On” is definitely catchy enough to get some heavy radio play, and Tomlinson's presence on the song may just be enough to score Steve Aoki a full-fledged pop hit."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{authority control 2016 debut singles 2016 songs Louis Tomlinson songs Number-one singles in Scotland Steve Aoki songs Songs written by Louis Tomlinson Songs written by Steve Aoki Songs written by Eric Rosse Songs written by Sir Nolan Ultra Music singles Songs written by Sasha Alex Sloan