"Magic" is a song by American hip hop recording artist

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

, released on June 7, 2010 as the fifth single from his debut studio album '' B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray'' (2010). The track features

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

's lead singer

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

, singing the chorus. It was written by both artists, alongside the song's producer

Dr. Luke Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...

. In the UK, the track made Radio 1's B-Playlist.

Composition

"Magic", a hip hop song, 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 82 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 song follows a chord progression of B5–E5–G5–F5, and the vocals in the song span from D₃ to F₄.

Reception

Despite mixed reviews, the song progressed up and down the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching number 10 at its peak. ''Billboard'' gave it a positive review, saying, "The song's strongest force is an infectious, throbbing synth-guitar hook from Dr. Luke, who seamlessly fuses B.o.B's verses with a chorus by Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo that demands a singalong. The result is stellar." The reviewer at TinyMixtapes.com said that "'Magic' is magnificently, triumphantly corny, enough to give Steve Miller and that guy from

The Outfield The Outfield were an English rock band based in London, England. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for their hit single, " Your Love". The band's lineup consisted of guitarist John Spinks, vocalist and bassist ...

a run for their money. 'Magic' isn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it is goofily enjoyable." In his album review for ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', Kenny Herzog wrote, "The Adventures of Bobby Ray is a hip-hop ''

Scary Movie ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American slasher parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Anna Far ...

'', tossing off references (

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, ...

sample, Rivers Cuomo cameo) while struggling to establish a distinctive identity." Pitchfork questioned "the appearance by Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, whose creepily blank vocals on 'Magic' sound like the engineer has a gun to his head". ''

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 ...

''s Paul MacInnes wrote that "all the Chris Martinesque piano lines and calibrated guest appearances – from Weezer's River Cuomo to

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

– can't obscure an absence of soul throughout."

Music video

The music video was released on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

at midnight on September 3, 2010 The video features B.o.B trying to wake himself up from a dream. He was also performing with

in the video on a stage at a wild party. In addition,

Paul Iacono Paul Stanley Iacono (born September 7, 1988) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying RJ Berger in the MTV scripted series ''The Hard Times of RJ Berger''. Early years Iacono was born in Secaucus, New Jersey, to Italian American pa ...

from the MTV show ''

The Hard Times of RJ Berger ''The Hard Times of RJ Berger'' is an American television sitcom created by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith for MTV. The show's central character is RJ Berger (Paul Iacono), an unpopular sophomore at the fictional Pinkerton High School in ...

'' is featured dancing on stage. The video was directed by

Sanaa Hamri Sanaa Hamri ( ar, سناء حمري; born November 19, 1977) is a Moroccan-American film, television, and music video director. She has directed music videos for musicians including Prince, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and Sting. She is kn ...

.Rodriguez, Jayson (September 3, 2010)
"B.O.B IS LIVING THE DREAM IN 'MAGIC' VIDEO -- WATCH IT HERE!"
MTV.

Track listing

# "Magic" - 3:16 # "Mellow Fellow" - 2:58

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In other media

* The Treblemakers, an all-male a cappella group in ''

Pitch Perfect ''Pitch Perfect'' is a 2012 American musical comedy film directed by Jason Moore and written by Kay Cannon. It features an ensemble cast, including Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Skylar Astin, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knap ...

'', sang the song in their finale performance. *

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

recorded a new version of the song for ''

The Smurfs 2 ''The Smurfs 2'' is a 2013 American 3D fantasy comedy film loosely based on ''The Smurfs'' comic book series created by the Belgian comics artist Peyo. It is the second film in the ''Smurfs'' film series and a sequel to the 2011 film ''The Smur ...

'' soundtrack called "Magik 2.0", featuring singer

Austin Mahone Austin Harris Mahone (; born April 4, 1996) is an American singer, songwriter and professional wrestler. Mahone gained popularity performing covers of pop songs on YouTube. He released three albums to date. Famous releases include " Say Somethi ...

. It was produced by A.C. *

References

{{Authority control 2010 singles 2010 songs B.o.B songs Atlantic Records singles Grand Hustle Records singles Rivers Cuomo songs Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Songs written by B.o.B Songs written by Dr. Luke Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Pop-rap songs