"U Smile" is a song performed by Canadian singer
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
. It was written by
Jerry Duplessis
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born 9 August 1975) is a Haitian music producer, film score composer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His first major success was as a producer for the Fugees' 1996 album '' The Score''. He also played the bass guitar w ...
, Arden Altino, and
Dan August Rigo, and produced by Duplessis and Altino. The song was released as the second digital-only single from
the latter half of Bieber's first album on March 16, 2010. It was released to
mainstream
Mainstream may refer to:
Film
* ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film
Literature
* ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine
* Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher
* ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso
Mu ...
radio in Canada on August 9, 2010, followed by a mainstream and
rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to:
* Related to rhythm
* Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format
* Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format
* Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics
* Rhythmic (chart)
The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...
release on August 24, 2010, in the United States as the album's third single there.
The song, a piano- and-instrument driven
blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...
ballad, garnered acclaim from critics as a standout track from the album. The song charted at seventeen and twenty-seven respectively in the United States and Canada, and later charted in the United Kingdom. Bieber performed the song as an intro to "
Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
" on the
ninth season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' and on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''.
Background
On Twitter, Bieber wrote, "'U Smile' is one of the best songs I have ever recorded ... It really is a throwback to the great records I listened to growing up. ... I wrote it for all my fans who got me here."
Bieber explained on his
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that his fans "took him from a small town in Canada" to the "amazing opportunity" he is living now, and feels "grateful for everything" and "blessed" for the support.
Bieber confirmed he co-wrote the track with August Rigo.
He also told his fans to enjoy it as they are the ones who give him his strength in this.
Composition and critical reception
"U Smile" is a
blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...
ballad, driven by
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and other instruments.
Leah Greenblatt of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' said the song is "the best by far" of ''My World 2.0'', calling it "a shimmery slice of
Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...
-style blue-eyed soul".
The song has a "
Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
" feel, and makes use of metaphors such as "You are my ends and my means/With you there’s no in between."
The song composed in the key
E Mixolydian
Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic scal ...
and it set in
time signature
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 ...
of
compound time
In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter ( American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perf ...
with twelve
eighth note
180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest.
180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together.
An eighth note (American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...
in a bar, with the
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 75
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 ( ...
. Bieber's vocal range span two
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
from the lowest note A
3 and the highest note E
5. It follows the
chord progression
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 practice ...
E-D-A.
Bill Lamb of
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
noted the song as a track on ''My World 2.0'' and said it "lets Justin Bieber sway and croon. It is guaranteed to generate warm and fuzzy emotions in millions of young fans" and that it "should not disappoint adults either". Monica Herrera of ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' commended the song and said that it "should appeal to some older listeners." For ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''s cover story on Bieber, Herrera said, "Bieber croons, his voice straining as much from puberty as emotion. It's the closest he's come to fulfilling Braun's wish, by sounding like a certain young Motown star. "This is as unconditional as it'll ever get/You ain't seen nothing yet".
Chart performance
Originally released as a digital-only single, the song debuted at number twenty-seven on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, selling 83,000 downloads in its first week.
It also debuted 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 ...
at seventeen.
"U Smile" was the highest debut on the week on both charts.
The song initially stayed on both charts for a weeks' length. Following an official release to mainstream and rhythmic radio, the song re-entered the US Hot 100 at ninety-five on the week ending October 2, 2010.
Due to digital sales, the song also reached ninety-eight in the United Kingdom.
Music video
Background and reception
On September 30, 2010, the music video for "U Smile" premiered online, it was directed by
Colin Tilley
Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos.
Tilley directed, pro ...
, with a cameo appearance by
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...
.
Bieber had stated that the video for "U Smile" was about "letting fans experience the ultimate fantasy for any hard-core Belieber: being Justin's girlfriend", further explaining in a tweet, "I took the opportunity 2 make a video 4 the fans, about a fan, and how we could fall IN LOVE."
Mawuse Ziegbe from MTV met the video with a positive review. Ziegbe felt that the video suggested "a more mature Bieber, who appears to relish the quiet moments with his gal pal away from the nonstop fan hysteria."
Ziegbe also felt that the video "displayed
ieber'sskills as an instrumentalist, as he belts out the lyrics from behind a grand piano throughout much of the vid."
Synopsis
Starting out in a black and white frame (and later incorporating scenes of color), a group of girls are seen standing outside on the street while Bieber is seen exiting a building while trying to walk away without getting noticed. This however, is unsuccessful as the girls run up to Bieber; he then takes pictures and signs autographs with the girls. While this is happening Bieber takes an interest with one particular girl asking her to meet him later on, to which she agrees. As the song starts playing Bieber is seen sitting in an empty auditorium playing the piano and singing. When Bieber's date shows up they sneak into an empty theater where they are seen; holding hands, horsing around on the theater's seats, and sliding down banisters. At the ending of the video they are seen engaging in a playful back-alley water fight and eventually collapse into each other's arms while Bieber is playing the piano back inside the theater.
Live performances
Bieber performed the song along with "
Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
" on the
eighteenth episode of season thirty five of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''. He also performed the song in ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' along with "
Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
" on May 19, 2010. It was also released as a single video of the live performance, along with "Baby". Bieber performed the song at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards on August 9, 2010. The performance was pre-recorded because Bieber could not attend the event. The performance was filmed in Los Angeles on his My World Tour. Bieber later performed an a cappella version of the song for the final time during his Washington, DC stop of his
Purpose World Tour
The Purpose World Tour was the third concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, in support of his fourth studio album '' Purpose'' (2015). The tour started on March 9, 2016, in Seattle, Washington, and concluded on July 2, 2017, in London, U ...
.
Slowed version
In August 2010, music producer
Varien
Nikki Kaelar (born May 15, 1990), better known by her stage name Varien, is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Varien has incorporated or experimented with such styles as industrial, metal, orchestral, neofolk, and ambi ...
used the sound processing software ''PaulStretch'' to create an 800% slower version of the album track, lasting around 35 minutes, which he made available via
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
. The modified track resembled a minimalist, ambient composition. By September 2 it had been discussed in multiple news articles, linked to from Bieber's website, and downloaded more than one million times.
The slowed version of this song served as inspiration for the Slo-Mo theme in the film ''
Dredd
''Dredd'' is a 2012 science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland. It is based on the '' 2000 AD'' comic strip '' Judge Dredd'' and its eponymous character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezq ...
'' (2012).
Alex Garland
Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English writer and filmmaker. He rose to prominence as a novelist in the late 1990s with his novel '' The Beach'', which led some critics to call Garland a key voice of Generation X. He subsequ ...
, the film's writer and producer, said that
Portishead instrumentalist
Geoff Barrow
Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak and supergroup Quakers, and has scored several films.
Portishead—formed in 1991—was named after the s ...
"sent me a link to a Justin Bieber song slowed down 800 times and it became this stunning trippy choral music." Morgan then recreated the effect based on the modified track, which was used in the finished film. The film used Bieber's music as a
temporary placeholder during editing before the score was finalised.
Credits and personnel
*
Songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
-
Jerry Duplessis
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born 9 August 1975) is a Haitian music producer, film score composer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His first major success was as a producer for the Fugees' 1996 album '' The Score''. He also played the bass guitar w ...
, Arden Altino, Dan August Rigo
*
Production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
- Jerry Duplessis, Arden Altino
*
Vocal recording - Andy Grassi, Serge Tsai, Dave Clauss, Warren Babson, assisted by William Villane
*
Vocal production and recording -
Kuk Harrell
Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In ...
, assisted by Travis Harrington
*
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
- Arden Altino, additional by Paul J. Falcone
*
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
- Bruno J Sutter III, Ben DeFusco
*
Harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
-
Frédéric Yonnet
Frédéric Yonnet (born 30 April 1973) is a French musician, producer and recording artist who is best known for his use of the harmonica as a lead in jazz, R&B, funk, gospel and hip-hop influenced music. His ability to play chromatic scales on ...
*
Mixing - Glen Marchese
*
Engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
- Pat Thrall
Source:
[Justin Bieber ''My World 2.0'' (Digital booklet) ]Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
/Raymond
Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...
-Braun Music Group. (2010)
Charts
Release history
References
{{MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video
2010 singles
Justin Bieber songs
Soul ballads
Songs written by Jerry Duplessis
Song recordings produced by Jerry Duplessis
Songs written by August Rigo
Music videos directed by Colin Tilley
MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video
Songs written by Justin Bieber
2010 songs
2010s ballads
Blue-eyed soul songs
Songs written by Arden Altino