"Switch" is a song by American actor and rapper

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

. It was released on February 14, 2005, as the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Lost and Found'' (2005), via

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. Smith co-wrote the song with Kwame "K1 Mil", who also produced the track, and Lennie Bennett. Upon its release, the single topped the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, peaked at number seven on the US ''

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, and became a top-10 hit in several other countries.

Live performances

Will Smith performed the song live on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

2005 Kids' Choice Awards The 18th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards was held on April 2, 2005. The event was hosted by Ben Stiller and was held at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. Performers *Will Smith - "Switch" *Simple Plan - " Shut Up!" Presenters *Cameron Diaz ...

with former JammX Kids members

Alyson Stoner Alyson Rae Stoner (born August 11, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her film roles include ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (2003), '' Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' (2005), and the ''Step Up'' franchise (2006–2014). Her television roles i ...

and Monica Parales as his backup dancers, at

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before Game 1 of the

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between the

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and the

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, on

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's ''

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'', and at the

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concert in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Commercial performance

"Switch" was Smith's highest-charting single from ''Lost and Found''. On the chart dated April 16, 2005, the song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard''

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally start ...

chart, selling 40,000 digital copies. The peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Smith's third and last Hot 100 top 10 hit. It reached number one in

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and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where it remained for one week, and number four 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 ...

. The song was released days after '' Hitch'', which Smith starred in and produced. It did not appear in the film or soundtrack.

Track listings

US promo CD # "Switch" (album version) — 3:17 # "Switch" (instrumental) — 3:15 # "Switch" (a cappella) — 3:15 UK and Australian CD single # "Switch" — 3:17 # "Switch" (main RnB remix) — 3:47 (3:46 in Australia) # "Switch" (instrumental RnB remix) — 3:48 # "Switch" (video) — 3:30 European CD single # "Switch" — 3:17 # "Switch" (main RnB remix) — 3:46 European maxi-CD single # "Switch" — 3:17 # "Switch" (main RnB remix) — 3:46 # "Switch" (instrumental RnB remix) — 3:48 Digital download # "Switch" — 3:16 Digital download – Remix # "Switch" (R&B remix) — 3:46

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Australian CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at the Boom Boom Room (Los Angeles,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, US) and

the Cutting Room Studios The Cutting Room Recording Studios is a recording studio in New York City, opened in 1995 by David Crafa. The company is currently located in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. History David Crafa started The Cutting Room studios while ...

(New York City) * Mixed at the Boom Boom Room (Los Angeles, California, US) Personnel * Will Smith – writing (as Willard Smith), vocals * Kwamé Holland – writing, production (as Kwame "K Mil") * Lennie Bennett – writing * O. Banga – vocal production * Pete Novak, Dylan Margerum – recording engineers * Kevin (KD) Davis – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 songs 2005 singles Interscope Records singles Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director) Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Kwamé Songs written by Will Smith Will Smith songs