"Lie About Us" is a song recorded by American singer

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

from his fourth

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 ...

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

'' (2006), featuring American singer

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

. The song was written by

Beau Dozier Beau Alexandrè Dozier (born November 26, 1979) is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and television producer. He has worked with chart-topping artists of all genres including Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Priscilla Ahn, B ...

and

Bruce Boniface Bruce Boniface, better known by his surname, Boniface (born 5 June 1981) is a singer-songwriter, vocal arranger and record producer best known for his Top 40 hit "Cheeky", which peaked at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. The track remained in ...

and its production was handled by Dozier and

Ron Fair Ronald Fair is an American A&R executive, record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several art ...

. The track was inspired by the time Dozier had a secret affair with singer

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

while being in a relationship. In the

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

song the lyrics chronicles the man's promise to the mistress and come clean about the relationship. It was released as the album's fourth single on July 31, 2006 to

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

stations in the United States. 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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released several days earlier and portrays the artists as love interests. Quentin B. Huff of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' complimented Scherzinger's vocals and highlighted as a standout from the album but Johnny Dee of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' was more critical. "Lie About Us" peaked at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and peaked at number 76 and nine 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

UK R&B chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Albums, or simply the UK Urban Chart) are 40-posi ...

, respectively.

Background and release

"Lie About Us" was first recorded by the German band

Bro'Sis Bro'Sis was a multicultural R&B/ pop group from Germany, which was formed through the TV series '' Popstars – Du bist mein Traum'' in 2001. The group comprised the singers Ross Antony, Hila Bronstein, Shaham Joyce, Faiz Mangat, Indira Weis, ...

for their 2004 album, ''

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

''. In 2006, American singers

and

re-recorded the song for the former's fourth studio album, ''

''. Scherzinger, who at that time found success as the lead singer of

the Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the burlesque troupe ...

and was preparing to launch her solo career, wanted to include the song on her shelved album, ''Her Name is Nicole'', however, Avant's team insisted that it should go on his record. "Lie About Us" marks their second collaboration together as Avant previously appeared on an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

remix of the Pussycat Dolls' song "

Stickwitu "Stickwitu" is a song recorded by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls for their debut studio album '' PCD'' (2005). It was written by Franne Golde, Kasia Livingston and Robert Palmer and produced by Ron Fair. A pop ballad with soul influence ...

" released in September 2005. In the United States, the song was serviced to

and

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

formats on July 31 and August 7, 2006, respectively. In Germany, a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

was released in September 2006 which included

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

and

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

versions of the song. A month later, "Lie About Us" was available for digital download in the United Kingdom. An accompanying

was directed by

Benny Boom Benny Douglas (born July 22, 1971), professionally known as Benny Boom, is an American director who has worked in music, television, and film. His most commercially successful film was the 2017 Tupac Shakur biopic ''All Eyez on Me''. Career Do ...

during the month of May and it premiered on

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

on July 21, 2006. In the music video, Scherzinger portrays Avant's love interest and discuss how to come clean with this relationship. Johnny Dee of ''

'' describes the video as "hi-tech

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

" for the use of a split-screen wall between the artists.

Lyrics and reception

"Lie About Us" has been labelled as

by Dee. The song is about secret relationship of a man and his mistress with the promise to leave the other woman and come clean to the world about their affair as chronicled in the lines, "Please don't say you wanna give up / How do I tell her that I'm fallin' in love / And I know you're waiting patiently for that day that we no longer have to lie about us". Quentin B. Huff of ''

'' noted that the mistress has doubts and isn't going into this blindly. "Lie About Us" was inspired by

's relationship with

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer

. Dozier fell in love with Stone while he was dating another woman, but eventually finished things in favor for Stone. They spent two years together before splitting in November 2005. Dozier co-wrote it with

and produced it with

. Huff labelled the song as an "other possible standout" track in ''Director'' praising Scherzinger for providing "fine vocals" and felt the song "make for a nice duet". Dee described the song as "greasy". Commercially, "Lie About Us" did not enter the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, though it charted on the US ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, a component chart which represents the 25 songs which failed to make an impact on the former chart. The song peaked at number one on September 16, 2006, spending 12 weeks on the chart. In the UK, the song entered and peaked at number 76 and nine on the

and its component

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, on the week ending November 11, 2006.

Track listing

;Digital download / CD single #"Lie About Us" 4:09 #"Lie About Us" (

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) 8:49 ;Vinyl #"Lie About Us" (Radio edit) 3:48 #"Lie About Us" (

Instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

) 3:50 #"Lie About Us" (

A cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

) 3:44

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Director''. *

lead artist *

songwriter *Grecco Burattoguitar *

producer, songwriter *Mike Eleopoulosengineering *

producer, string arrangement, conduct *Tal Herzbergco-producer,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

Peter Mokran Peter Mokran is an American mixer, producer, engineer and musician. Early life Mokran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, he studied classical guitar, while also learning engineering and programming as a teen.Paul Tingen“Sec ...

mixer *

featured artist

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2006 songs 2006 singles Avant songs Nicole Scherzinger songs Geffen Records singles Songs written by Beau Dozier Song recordings produced by Ron Fair Music videos directed by Benny Boom Neo soul songs