"Say Hey (I Love You)" is a single by

Michael Franti Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American rapper, musician, poet, activist, documentarian, and singer-songwriter, known for his participation in many musical projects, most with a political and social emphasis, including the Beatnigs ...

& Spearhead featuring Jamaican soul singer

Cherine Anderson Cherine Tanya Anderson (born 25 September 1984, Rockfort, East Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican actress and dancehall/reggae vocalist. Biography Anderson's acting career began in the film '' Dancehall Queen'' (1997), as Marcia's pressured, t ...

released in 2008 from their album '' All Rebel Rockers''. The single was produced by

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separ ...

. The music video peaked at number 5 on the VH1 Top 20 countdown and the single peaked at number 18 on the ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

'', making it Franti's first Hot 100 chart entry. It also peaked at number 3 on Billboard Digital Songs, number 1 on Billboard R&B Songs, and number 3 on Billboard Modern Rock Songs. Digital sales of "Say Hey (I Love You)" have topped 120,000 downloads. The music video for this song was filmed at Vigário Geral

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Background

In a January 2010 interview, Franti explained he wrote the lyrics to this song in the steam of a mirror just after a shower. He joked to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning ''

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as '' NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a ...

'': "I was staying at (US actor) Woody Harrelson's house. And, when Woody called and asked how the songwriting was going, I was like 'It's going great! I think I just wrote a hit song in the bathroom!'... And straightaway he was like 'So, is it a Number One or a Number Two?'!!"

Use in other media

The song appeared in the Showtime series '' Weeds'' for a

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

in the season five premiere episode and during the opening credits of the 2010 film ''

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

''. It also appeared in the 2010 films ''

Ramona and Beezus ''Ramona and Beezus'' is a 2010 American family adventure comedy film based on the Ramona series of novels written by Beverly Cleary.Vena, Jocely"Selena Gomez To Star In 'Ramona and Beezus' Movie."MTV.com, 2009-02-06.Kilday, Gregg"Young actress ...

'' and ''

The Back-Up Plan ''The Back-up Plan'' (previously known as ''Plan B'') is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Alan Poul, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin.Siegel, Tatiana, and Michael Fleming"Jennifer Lopez going with 'Plan B': CBS Films ...

'' and the 2011 films '' Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star'' and '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked''. This song is featured in

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

video game ''

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

''. It was also featured in a 2010 advertisement for Corona Light beer, and in advertisements for ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

''s final season. Franti recorded a version with alternate lyrics in support of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in connection with their

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

appearance in 2010. The song is featured in the 2015 animated musical comedy '' Strange Magic''. It is played in the sequel ''

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2'' is a 2011 American comedy film. It is the sequel to 2008's ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' and the second film in the ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' series. Directed by Alex Zamm, and starring George Lopez, Odette Yustman an ...

''.

Chart positions

Weekly

Year-end

Cover versions

The song was covered for the 2015 film '' Strange Magic''.

Certifications

References

{{Michael Franti 2008 songs 2009 singles Anti- (record label) singles Reggae fusion songs Songs written by Michael Franti