"Swalla" is a song by American singer

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

featuring Trinidadian rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

and fellow American singer

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

, released on February 24, 2017, by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. The song was written by the artists alongside LunchMoney Lewis, Robert Diggs, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Russell Jones. and producer Ricky Reed. The song was originally intended to be the first single from Derulo's album, titled ''777'', however the album was never released. It was later included on his fifth studio album '' Nu King'' (2024).

Background and release

Derulo previewed "Swalla" in a video posted in August 2016. He officially announced it as a single on January 2, 2017. "Swalla" premiered on February 23, 2017, and was released for download on iTunes Store the next day. While talking about the song on the red carpet of the

59th Grammy Awards The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility yea ...

, Derulo said:

"I never believe in forcing a collaboration. You know, I’m a fan of both of theirs and I thought that they fit the track perfectly. It’s one of those ones that’ll get you up and doing your thing. I feel like it’s gonna stick out on the radio. There’s nothing that sounds like it."

Parts of the chorus are created as an interpolation of

Ol' Dirty Bastard Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), known professionally as Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan, which forme ...

's song " Shimmy Shimmy Ya". On May 12, 2017, the trio released "Swalla (After Dark Remix)", a slow-paced acoustic remix of the original song. In an interview with ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'', Derulo said about the remix: "It was so nice we had to do it twice! The original version is the ultimate club track, so the idea was to give people the flip side of the song. The subject matter and melody is so sexy, but you might miss the 'sexy' in all the fun of 'Swalla'. So, 'After Dark' is on the opposite side of the spectrum and is SURE to set the mood."

Critical reception

Justin Ivey from '' XXL'' wrote that Minaj "comes through to close out the track with bars that steal the show". Joshua Espinoza of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' wrote that "Jason and Ty handle their verses nicely, but Nicki is definitely the star", also saying that the song "definitely has potential". ''

Rap-Up ''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the ...

'' also praised Minaj's verse saying that she "anchors the track with a third and final verse that many will likely assume is another thinly-veiled jab at Remy Ma". Hilary Hughes from

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

wrote that this is a "steamy number that has all three chiming in over a wobbly beat that would feel right at home on the floor of a beach club in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Music video

On February 24, 2017, the official

lyric video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of m ...

for "Swalla", directed by Alex Lockett, was uploaded to Derulo's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

premiered on March 17, 2017. As of 2023, the music video has received over 1.7 billion views on

Live performances

Derulo and Ty$ performed the song live on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

'' on April 6, 2017. Derulo and Minaj performed the song at the ''Billboard'' Music Awards on May 21, 2017. Derulo performed the song at the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

of Pakistan Super League 2018 on February 22, 2018. On April 12, 2018, Derulo performed the song live during a medley with " Tip Toe" and "

Colors Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

" at the German

Echo Music Prize Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and was set up to honor ...

Other appearance

This song is featured in

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

's In Your Area World Tour as the group member

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

's solo dance number in Asia, North America and Europe setlist. "Swalla" appeared as a dance evaluation song in Episode 6 of the South Korean idol survival show '' Produce X 101'' as one of the dance evaluation songs alongside " Believer" by

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...

and "

Finesse In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents. The player a ...

" by

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

and

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

Track listing

*Digital download #"Swalla" (featuring

and

) – 3:36 *Digital download #"Swalla" (

Wideboys The Wideboys are an English electronic music duo known for club remixes and for their own song "Sambuca", featuring Dennis G on vocals, which reached number 15 in the UK in October 2001. Another top 40 single, "Daddy-O" featuring Shaznay Lewis ...

Remix) (featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla Sign) – 3:16 *Digital download #"Swalla" (After Dark Remix) (featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla Sign) – 4:32

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2017 songs 2017 singles Jason Derulo songs Nicki Minaj songs Ty Dolla Sign songs Warner Records singles Dancehall songs Songs written by Jason Derulo Songs written by Nicki Minaj Songs written by Ty Dolla Sign Songs written by Ricky Reed Songs written by Jacob Kasher Songs written by LunchMoney Lewis Songs written by Ol' Dirty Bastard Songs written by RZA Number-one singles in Israel