"Timber" is a song by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

featuring American singer

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...

. The song was released on October 7, 2013, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from Pitbull's

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.

(EP) '' Meltdown EP''. The song was produced by

Dr. Luke Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...

Cirkut Henry Russell Walter (born April 23, 1986), known professionally as Cirkut, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He has co-produced and co-written for Dr. Luke, Katy Perry, Becky G, Ava Max, Nicki Minaj, R. City, The Weeknd, Kesha, C ...

, and

Sermstyle Jamie Michael Robert Sanderson (born 24 November 1987 in South Shields, England), known professionally as Sermstyle, is a British singer, songwriter, record producer, and remixer who lives and works from Los Angeles. Recognition Sermstyle was f ...

, with additional production by Nick Seeley. The song interpolates

Lee Oskar Lee Oskar (born 24 March 1948) is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which was formed by Howard E. Scott and Harold Brown, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer. H ...

's 1978 single "San Francisco Bay" and features harmonica player Paul Harrington, who plays through the entire song and was told to emulate Oskar. The song was the 90th-most popular song of the decade according to ''Billboard''. It peaked at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. It also topped the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...

in over fifteen additional countries. According to the IFPI, the song sold 9.6 million units worldwide in 2014, including single-track downloads and track-equivalent streams, becoming the sixth best-selling song of that year. It was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

fifteen-times Platinum in Norway, diamond in the US and Germany, seven-times Platinum in Australia and Canada, and Gold or higher in fourteen additional countries.

Background and composition

Kesha had previously featured Pitbull on

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of her songs "

Tik Tok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

" and "

Crazy Kids "Crazy Kids" is a song by American singer Kesha. It was released in April 2013 as the third single for her second studio album ''Warrior'' (2012), with will.i.am and Juicy J as a featured artist depending on the version. An additional remix sur ...

", and Pitbull has featured Kesha on a 2009 song, "Girls". In an interview in December 2013, Pitbull said that

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

was originally meant to be the featured artist on "Timber", but she had already been asked to be the featured artist on

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

's "

Can't Remember to Forget You "Can't Remember to Forget You" is a song recorded by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira from her fourth English and overall tenth studio album, ''Shakira'', featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna. Shakira began planning to make new music in 2011; w ...

" and did not have time to record "Timber". "Timber" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

and

folktronica Folktronica is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments – especially stringed instruments – and incorporating hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, although i ...

song with elements of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

. According to the

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing, the song is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

with a moderately fast tempo of 130

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The song is written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the cont ...

and follows a

chord sequence In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practic ...

of Gm– B– F– E. Kesha's vocals span from G♯₃ to D♯₅. Paul Harrington, who plays the harmonica throughout the track, was initially given a flat fee of $1,000 for his services. Three years later, however, after consulting an expert on music law, Harrington was paid a further $50,000.

Chart performance

"Timber" made its first chart appearance on October 10, 2013, in the Republic of Ireland, where it debuted at number 67 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. The following week, the song climbed to number 19. In Austria, "Timber" debuted at number 69 on the

Austrian Singles Chart Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

on October 18, 2013, and eventually crowned the chart at number one. In Germany, the song debuted at number 90 on October 18, 2013, on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

and later peaked at number one. Timber debuted at number 49 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on October 26, 2013. On January 18, 2014, the single reached number one on the chart, giving Kesha her third number-one single and her ninth and last top ten hit. As well as earning Pitbull his second number-one single and ninth top ten hit. Before topping the Hot 100, it had been stuck at number two for four weeks, behind " The Monster" by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

featuring

. "Timber" is also Kesha's eleventh top ten song on the Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at number one on the US

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 sta ...

chart, selling 442,000 copies in its peak week, constituting the fourth largest single week sum of 2013. It is also Pitbull's first song to do so. "Timber" also peaked at number one on the US

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart. It was the first number one single of 2014 in the US, and stayed at number one for three consecutive weeks. In May 2014, the single reached its 4 million sales mark. As of March 2016, the single has sold 4.7 million copies in the US. On June 23, 2022, the song was certified

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of ten million in the United States, making it both Kesha's and Pitbull's first diamond certified single in the country. In Canada, the song debuted at number seventeen on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

as the week's highest debut and climbed steadily to number one, where it has stood for eight consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, "Timber" debuted at the top of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on January 5, 2014 ― for the week ending date January 11, 2014 ― shifting 139,000 copies in its first week. This gave both artists their third chart-topping songs in Britain. By the end of 2014, the song had sold 744,000 copies in the UK. In South Korea, "Timber" debuted at number 16 on Gaon International Chart, but it debuted at number 13 on Gaon Download International Chart with 6,522 downloads. In its second week it reached number two on the International Chart. On the download chart, it jumped to number three, selling another 15,276 copies. "Timber" sold 68,321 copies during 2013 in South Korea. During January 2014, the single sold another 16,515 copies, and during February sold 15,482 digital units. During March 2014, another 13,975 units were sold in South Korea. According to the IFPI, the song sold 9.6 million units worldwide in 2014, including single-track downloads and track-equivalent streams, becoming the sixth best-selling song of that year.

Music video

Kesha filmed her scenes on November 5, 2013, while Pitbull filmed his scenes one week later on November 12, 2013. The video also features a cameo by Italian model

Raffaella Modugno Raffaella Modugno is an Italian model who was crowned ''Miss Curve d'Italia Lazio 2011'' ("Miss Curvy Lazio 2011"). Retrieved 2014. She was the cover model of the German ''Maxim'' (2012) and Indian '' GQ'' (2013), and modeled for brands such as Do ...

and The Bloody Jug Band, an Orlando-based Americana Group, who perform on stage as the bar's house band. The beach scenes were filmed in

Exuma Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays. The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma, by a small bridge. The capital ...

islands,

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The music video has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube as of August 2021, making it his most viewed video as a lead artist.

Controversy

The song's lyrical content itself was considered controversial. On June 25, 2014, it was reported that songwriters

, Keri Oskar, and

Greg Errico Greg Errico (born September 1, 1948) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone. Background Errico was born and grew up in San Franc ...

had filed a

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

lawsuit against the makers of "Timber", which features a harmonica melody that Oskar claims is "identical" to the melody used in his 1978 song "San Francisco Bay". The songwriters were seeking $3 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

in damages. The lawsuit alleges that while Sony Music may have obtained permission to use the sample, which is credited in the album notes for ''Meltdown'', from a license holder, the label failed to obtain permission from the songwriters themselves.

Track listing

*;Digital download #"Timber" (featuring

) – 3:24 *;CD single #"Timber" (featuring Kesha) – 3:24 #" Outta Nowhere" (featuring Danny Mercer) – 3:26

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Engineered in Tokyo, Japan, and at APG Studios, Hollywood, California;

Conway Recording Studios Conway Recording Studios is a recording studio in Hollywood, California. People and awards Conway started in the early 1970s as a mastering studio. In 1976, the studio began recording albums, including projects by Elton John and Stevie Wond ...

, Hollywood, California; Luke's in the Boo, Malibu, California; Jungle City Studios, New York City, and Blackbird Recording Studios,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

;Personnel * Armando C. Pérez – songwriter, vocals * Kesha Sebert – songwriter, vocals *

– songwriter, producer, instruments, programming * Priscilla Hamilton – songwriter * Jamie Sanderson – songwriter *

Breyan Isaac Breyan Isaac (born May 24, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist based in Daytona Beach, Florida. He has written, produced, and performed on songs by a number of artists including, David Guetta, Flo Rida, Pitbull, Wiz Kh ...

– songwriter *

– songwriter, producer, instruments, programming *Aaron "AD" Arnold – songwriter *

Pebe Sebert Rosemary Patricia "Pebe" Sebert ( ; born March 17, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter from Brentwood, Tennessee, and the mother of singer and songwriter Kesha. Sebert has co-written number-one hits for Dolly Parton, Pitbull, and Kesh ...

– songwriter *

– songwriter *Keri Oskar – songwriter *

– songwriter *

– producer *Nick Seeley – additional production *Al Burna –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Rachel Findlen – engineer *Clint Gibbs – engineer *Benny Steele – engineer *Ryan Gladieux – engineer *Juan P. Negrete – engineer *Alan Da Fonseca – engineer *Ernesto Olivera – engineer *Eric Eylands – assistant engineer *Paul Harrington – harmonica *Serban Ghenea – mixer *John Hanes – engineer for mix Credits adapted from the liner notes on BMI.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

* *
Timber
' on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Background and composition

Chart performance

Music video

Controversy

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

See also

References

External links