"Like U Like" is a song by the British recording artist

Aggro Santos Yuri "Aggro" Santos (born 12 October 1989) is a Brazilian rapper who lives in Balham, London.

featuring the

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

member

Kimberley Walsh Kimberley Jane Scott (née Walsh; born 20 November 1981) is an English singer, fashion designer, model, variety performer, television presenter, actress and dancer. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series '' Po ...

. The song was written by

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...

, and Aggro Santos and produced by Mac for his first album, '' AggroSantos.com'' (2011). After Santos mentioned to

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

that he was interested in making a duet with Walsh, Barlow contacted her and arranged their duet. Originally, Walsh's part was sung by a male. The song uses

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

noises while Walsh's voice was described by reviewers as sultry and monotone. The song received mixed reviews from critics complimenting the synthesiser noises but criticising Walsh's contribution to the song. An accompanying music video, directed by the Lennox Brothers, shows Santos trying to win Walsh's affections during speed dating. It was noted that Walsh looked like her bandmate

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstars: ...

. The single entered at number eight and thirteen 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

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, respectively.

Background and composition

In an interview with MTV United Kingdom, Santos said that Walsh replaced a male vocalist on the song. "I think it suits a girl's vocal more. It's more of a softer song and Kimberley did a great job on the vocals." He also said that Gary Barlow had arranged the duet. "I was a big fan of Girls Aloud for years and I mentioned that to Gary Barlow who is a friend of Kim's. I said I would be up for working with her. He spoke to her and she was up for it, so we made 'Like U Like'." "Like U Like" is a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

- electro song which uses "grinding

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

", "

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

bleeps" and "catchy hand-claps" with Walsh providing a sultry voice. The song was written by Mac, Hector and Santos. Santos said that "Like U Like" " smore pop, bubbly and commercial than my last track, '

Saint or Sinner "Saint or Sinner" is the second official single by Aggro Santos, released on 22 August 2010. The single has been taken from Santos' debut album, '' AggroSantos.com''. It reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (curr ...

'".

Critical reception

"Like U Like" received mixed reviews from critics. Robert Copsey from ''

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, ...

'' wrote, " imberley Walsh'ssultry tones garnishing 'Like U Like's spicy mix of grinding

, techno bleeps and catchy hand-claps in oh-so tasty fashion." Leanne Rain of ''Hive Magazine'' praised the song. " hesingle has all the ingredients of a pop classic, and possesses one of the biggest pop hooks of the year." Other critics criticised Walsh's appearance. Jon O'Brien from ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' said, "

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

won't exactly threaten Cheryl Cole's status as the band's chief success." He also described "Like U Like" as a "tuneless dirge". Rach Read from ''Teentoday'' also commented on Walsh's appearance. "Like U Like is a tacky trashtastic 'club banger' that would have completely slipped under our radar

f it F, or f, is the sixth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#Let ...

had it not featured Girls Aloud's most shapely member ..That's in addition to looking extremely lovely, working some super-sexy moves and contributing some not terribly good vocals." Morwenna Ferrier from ''

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 ...

'' wrote that Santos raps like he has chips stuffed in his cheeks.

Music video

The music video for "Like U Like" was directed by the Lennox Brothers. The video has Santos adopting a variety of different looks to try to win the affections of Walsh during speed dating.

Reception

Rach Read from ''Teentoday'' described the speed dating as the "worst speed-dating session in the world" because "every other participant seems to be Aggro himself. Get your money back, love!" A reviewer from ''

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

'' said that he loved the video particularly commenting on Kimberley's dance moves.

Formats and track listings

Digital download # "Like U Like" (featuring Kimberley Walsh) - 3:25 Like U Like - EP # "Like U Like" (featuring Kimberley Walsh) - 3:25 # "Like U Like" (

Digital Dog Digital Dog are an English remix/production duo consisting of Steve Cornish and Nick Mace. The duo also produce under the aliases Jack Rokka and Elek-Tro Junkies. Digital Dog's 2007 collaboration with Betty Boo, "Take Off", topped the UK Indie ...

Remix) - 6:09 # "Like U Like" (Instrumental) - 3:10 # Album Preview Mix - 5:23

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Like U Like 2011 singles Mercury Records singles Songs written by Steve Mac Songs written by Wayne Hector Song recordings produced by Steve Mac 2011 songs