"Privacy" is a song by American singer

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

from his eighth studio album, ''

Heartbreak on a Full Moon ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon'' is the eighth studio album by American singer Chris Brown. The album is a double-disc, consisting of 45 tracks, and was released digitally on October 31, 2017, and onto CD three days later by RCA Records. Brown for t ...

''. After being previewed at the beginning of 2017, it was released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

as the third single from the album on March 24, 2017. The song is an R&B

slow jam A slow jam is music with rhythm and blues and soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is the 1983 ...

fully written by Brown, and produced by David Doman and Jim Stewart, where Brown both sings and raps. The lyrics of the song were described as "an explicit portrait of a wild sex night". "Privacy" achieved commercial success in English-speaking countries, being certified double platinum by the

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(RIAA), Platinum by

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(ARIA), and gold by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI). Its music video was shot in

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on March 27, 2017, and released on April 14, 2017. The videoclip was praised by critics, that described it as "neon-colored", "dance-filled", "dreamy" and "creatively libidinous".

Background and recording

The song was made at Platinum Sound Recording Studios, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

the night of

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

2016, minutes before the dropping of the ball. Brown said that there were lots of people celebrating in his studio while he was in the booth that night, and he was looking at the women through the booth's window, thinking about how he could've been with many of them in intimate situations, but he couldn't because the girls needed to have their privacy, and that thought sparked him the inspiration for the song. According to the song's recording engineer, Patrizio Pigliapoco, the making of the song took less than half an hour, and after that everyone from their team kept telling him that the song was phenomenal, Brown chose it to be his next single. On January 4, 2017, Brown previewed two snippets on his

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profile from the songs "Privacy" and "Tell Me What to Do", that were unreleased songs planned to be on his upcoming eighth studio album, ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. On January 10, 2017, Brown posted a video of himself and rapper

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

dancing to "Privacy" in his

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

. It was later announced in February that "Privacy" would've been released as the next single from ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. The single was released on March 24, 2017, after being premiered on

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on the same day.

Composition

"Privacy" is an R&B

fully written by Brown, and produced by David Doman, with additional production done by

keyboard player A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

Jim Stewart. In the song Brown sings the first two verses and the chorus, rapping on the third verse. The lyrics talk about how Brown can't wait to be alone with his lady in the bedroom, and about spending the night with her in a sexually explicit way. The song contains an interpolation of the 1990s

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 ...

song "Tight Up Skirt" by

Red Rat Wallace Wilson (born 17 January 1978), better known by the stage name Red Rat, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae recording and performing artist.Kellman, AndyRed Rat Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-15 He is known for his up-beat music, com ...

in the first part of the chorus.

Music video

On March 24, 2017, Brown uploaded the audio for "Privacy" on his

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and

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

account. 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 the song was directed by Brown and shot in

on March 27, 2017. The music video was released on April 14, 2017 on Vevo.

Synopsis

The neon-colored, dance-filled music video starts off in a Casino where Brown is walking and performing stylized dance moves on the tables, then entering an elevator, a lady catches his eye. Once following her into a room, he is transported on the stage with other superpower like dancers. At the end Brown is transported back to that hotel elevator. This time, he walks out with the girl he had been searching for, holding hands, and looking at the camera with a knowing smile.

Live performances

Chris Brown performed the track during 2017 Bet Awards, and also during a charity concert organized by

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, and during a free pop-up concert in

some days before the dropping of his album ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. The song was included on the setlists of all Brown's tours after its dropping, including The Party Tour, Heartbreak On A Full Moon Tour, and Indigoat Tour.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Privacy" – 3:40

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

. *

– vocals, composer * d.a. doman – producer, composer *Patrizio Pigliapoco – recording engineer *Jim Stewart – composer *Tom Coyne – mastering engineer *Jaycen Joshua – mixing engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Chris Brown singles 2017 singles 2017 songs Chris Brown songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by D.A. Got That Dope