"Say You're Just a Friend" is a song by American singer-songwriter

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 ...

from his extended play ''

Extended Play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''. The song was released 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 ...

as a digital download on December 3, 2012 and features vocals from American rapper

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

. The song was used in the second episode in Season 3 of the American television drama series ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

.''

Composition

The song was written by

DJ Frank E Justin Franks, known professionally as DJ Frank E, is an American DJ and record producer from Denver, Colorado. Frank E started working closely with Adelio Lombardi, founder of Side 3 Entertainment and owner of Side 3 Studios in Denver, while ...

, Nick Bailey, Mike Freesh, Trent Mazur, Ryan Ogren, Ahmad Belvin and produced by DJ Frank E, Mike Freesh, Trent Mazur. The song interpolates the chorus of the hit song "

Just a Friend "Just a Friend" is a song written, produced and performed by American hip hop artist Biz Markie. It was released in September 1989 as the lead single from his album, ''The Biz Never Sleeps''. It is Markie's most successful single, reaching nu ...

" by rapper

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...

, which itself interpolates (You) Got What I Need, written by

Gamble and Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

and performed by soul singer

Freddie Scott Freddie Scott (April 24, 1933 – June 4, 2007) was an American soul singer and songwriter. His biggest hits were " Hey, Girl", a top ten US pop hit in 1963, and " Are You Lonely for Me", a no. 1 hit on the R&B chart in early 1967. Life and car ...

. Therefore,

are credited as songwriters. Mahone spoke about collaborating with Flo Rida in an interview with ''Hellenic News''.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Say You're Just a Friend" premiered via

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 ...

on February 7, 2013. It was later released 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 ...

the following day via

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 ...

. The video was directed by

Ray Kay Reinert K. Olsen (born 10 July 1978), known professionally as Ray Kay, is a Norwegian director and photographer who is currently based in Los Angeles. He is a music video and advertising director. Ray Kay mostly directs music videos and has wo ...

and the girl starring as Mahone's love interest is model Kimberly Schanks. A second music video was released online on February 27; this time it's the video of the piano version of the song.

Track listing

*Digital download # "Say You're Just a Friend" featuring Flo Rida – 3:02

Credits and personnel

* Lead

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– Austin Mahone, Flo Rida *

Lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

– Austin Mahone,

, Flo Rida, DJ Frank E, Nick Bailey, Mike Freesh, Trent Mazur, Ryan Ogren, Ahmad Belvin *

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

s – DJ Frank E, Mike Freesh, Trent Mazur *

Label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

: Chase, Universal Republic Records, Republic Records

Awards and nominations

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Say You're Just a Friend Music Video
on

{{Authority control 2012 singles 2010 songs Austin Mahone songs Flo Rida songs Republic Records singles Song recordings produced by DJ Frank E Songs written by Leon Huff Songs written by Kenny Gamble Songs written by Flo Rida Songs written by Ryan Ogren Songs written by DJ Frank E Songs written by Nick Bailey