"No Regrets" is the debut solo single by British hip hop artist

Dappy Costadinos Contostavlos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Κοντόσταυλος; born 11 June 1987), better known by his stage name Dappy, is a British rapper and singer. He is the lead singer of the Camden-based hip hop and grime trio N- ...

, taken as the lead single from his debut studio album, '' Bad Intentions''. The song was produced by TMS and was written by

, Ayak Thiik, and TMS. It was released 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

on 18 September 2011. The song peaked at number one 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 ...

. The song includes many pop culture references to films such as ''

The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...

'', ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...

'' and ''

The Italian Job ''The Italian Job'' is a 1969 British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson, and starring Michael Caine. The film's plot centres around Cockney criminal Charlie Croker, rece ...

''. The track was originally recorded by

N-Dubz N-Dubz are an English hip hop trio from Camden Town, London, consisting of cousins Dappy and Tulisa, and Fazer. After winning a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer in 2007, N-Dubz briefly signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the Wor ...

, as part of their planned debut album in 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 territorie ...

with

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. After parting ways with the label, Dappy decided to rerecord the song as a solo artist. The N-Dubz version was later featured on the group's compilation album, ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

''. The

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 ...

has received more than 35 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

Music video

The music video was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

by director

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 ...

. It was first released onto YouTube on 5 August 2011, at a total length of four minutes and fourteen seconds. The video is split into four scenes. It sees Dappy name checking celebs, fictional film characters and even royalty in a number of topical references, he then proceeds with rhymes that come thick and fast backed with an athemic chorus laced with the kind of meaning that a lot of people will be able to relate to. The first scene finds Dappy in a L.A. neighbourhood, showing two friends who have gotten into gang trouble and a troubled woman dealing with a breakdown of a marriage while also aspiring to be a Nurse Practitioner. The second scene finds Dappy in a boxing gym, where it shows a boxer training and preparing for a boxing world championship fight, before fellow

bandmate

Fazer Fazer () is one of the largest corporations in the Finnish food industry. The company was founded by Karl Fazer in 1891, as a "French-Russian confectionery" in central Helsinki. Today, it employs over ten thousand people across Finland, Sweden, R ...

makes a cameo appearance playing on the piano. The fourth and final scene builds up to Dappy concluding the video with a track key change alongside gospel choir backing singers on top of an L.A. skyscraper.

Critical reception

Lewis Corner of

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, ...

gave the song a positive review stating:

"This is my king's speech, I'm nowhere near the end," Dappy announces on the opening line, proceeding to name-check no less than eight celeb mates over electro-hip-hop beats and a stirring piano riff. The result is the Big Mac of songs; you know it's no good for you, but it's thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless, and combined with an impressive vocal showing, a gospel choir and that key change that could put an X Factor winner's single to shame, Dapz's dream of a number one hit seems closer than ever before. .

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Dappy songs Songs written by Dappy 2011 debut singles Takeover Entertainment singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles All Around the World Productions singles 2011 songs Song recordings produced by TMS (production team) Songs written by Peter Kelleher (songwriter) Songs written by Tom Barnes (songwriter) Songs written by Ben Kohn Songs written by Ayak Thiik Music videos directed by Benny Boom