"Pon de Floor" is a song by

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after t ...

, a collaborative musical project consisting of the American DJ

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

and the British DJ

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

. The single was released in 2009 by

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. Recently, it has popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music created by DJ ...

and

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Geffen Records (formerly Interscope Records and The Orchard) in the ...

as the second single from Major Lazer's first studio album, '' Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do''. The duo wrote the song and produced it with

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack, is a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer from Spijkenisse, South Holland. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album '' Forget the World' ...

and vocals by

Vybz Kartel Adidja Azim Palmer (born 7 January 1976), better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall recording artist, composer, record producer, and entrepreneur. Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as "Worl' Boss". As summarize ...

. "Pon de Floor" is a

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

and baile funk song and was positively received by music critics. It appeared on the charts 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 ...

in 2010, where it reached number 125.

Eric Wareheim Eric Alexander Wareheim (; born April 7, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, and winemaker. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netf ...

directed 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 ...

for "Pon de Floor", which shows people

dry humping Non-penetrative sex or outercourse is sexual activity that usually does not include sexual penetration. It generally excludes the penetrative aspects of vaginal, anal, or oral sexual activity, but includes various forms of sexual and non-sexua ...

, and incorporates

daggering Daggering is a form of dance originating from Jamaica. The dance incorporates the male dancer ramming his crotch area into the female dancer's buttocks, and other forms of frantic movement. Daggering is not a traditional dance; it is of recent orig ...

choreography. The song has been heavily sampled in

Chiddy Bang Chidera Anamege, now known by his stage name Chiddy Bang, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to its breakup, Chiddy Bang was an American hip hop duo consisting of Anamege, under the stage name Chiddy, and Noah Beresin, ...

's "Shooter" and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's "

Run the World (Girls) "Run the World (Girls)" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, from her fourth studio album '' 4'' (2011), released as the lead single from the album on April 21, 2011. It was written and produced by R&B singer The-Dream and Beyoncé, wh ...

Composition

"Pon de Floor" was written and produced by

– whose members at the time were

and

. It features vocals from

, and

provided additional production and mixed the song. "Pon de Floor" is a

and baile funk song. The song uses a rapid marching

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

s beat and

synth 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 ...

riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

. Its

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

is a chopped-up vocal line, and according to Josh Heller of

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

Kartel's input is "laughing and occasionally shouting 'Major Lazer!'".

Reception

John Bush of

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 ...

lauded the production of "Pon de Floor" and named it a tour de force. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' Pete Cashmore called the song "shitfacedly loopy", while Andy Freivogel from Dusted Magazine noted it as one of the best tracks from '' Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do''. "Pon de Floor" is used during the video game ''

DJ Hero 2 ''DJ Hero 2'' is a rhythm video game and a sequel to ''DJ Hero'', a spinoff of the ''Guitar Hero'' series. ''DJ Hero 2'' uses a special turntable-controller, the same as introduced in ''DJ Hero'', to simulate turntablism, the act of creating a n ...

''. "Pon de Floor" entered 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 ...

of 17 April 2010 at number 187. It later peaked at number 125.

Music video and live performance

The

for "Pon de Floor" was directed by

, and shows people

against a cartoon background depicting suburbia. It incorporates

choreography. Ted Maider from

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

wrote "This song is already fucking whacked, but the video takes it to a whole other level ... 'Pon de Floor' seems equally as offensive as watching porn on hallucinogenic substances." Major Lazer performed "Pon de Floor" at the Go! music festival at

Marina Bay Sands Marina Bay Sands (abbreviation: MBS) is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. The resort is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and at its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino prop ...

, Singapore in September 2010.

Samples and cover versions

"Pon de Floor" was

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

's "Shooter", a song on his mini-

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

, ''Air Swell'' (2010). In 2011,

released "

", which heavily samples "Pon de Floor". "Run the World" was produced by Switch and

The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...

, and co-produced by Knowles and Shea Taylor.

Track listing

*12-inch single # "Pon de Floor" – 3:33 # "Pon de Floor" (Drop the Lime Remix) – 4:06 # "Pon de Floor" (Ninjasonik Remix) # "Pon de Floor" (Blue Bear Remix) – 4:15 *Digital download – EP 1 # "Pon de Floor" (radio edit) – 3:05 # "Pon de Floor" (The Streets Remix) – 3:07 # "Pon de Floor" (Drop the Lime Remix) – 4:06 # "Pon de Floor" (Blue Bear Remix) – 4:15 # "Pon de Floor" (Camo UFOs Jungle Edit) – 4:32 *Digital download – EP 2 # "Pon de Floor" – 3:33 # "Pon de Floor" (The Streets Remix) – 3:07 # "Pon de Floor" (Drop the Lime Remix) – 4:06 # "Pon de Floor" (Blue Bear Remix) – 4:15 # "Pon de Floor" (Mike B vs. Nate Day Remix) – 4:32

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2009 singles Major Lazer songs Dancehall songs Funk songs Songs written by Diplo Songs written by Switch (songwriter) 2009 songs V2 Records singles Songs written by Afrojack