"What's Your Name" is a song by American recording artist

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

and features

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

. Written by Usher, will.i.am and

Ryan Toby City High was an American R&B/ hip hop trio consisting of rappers/singers Ryan Toby, Robbie Pardlo, and Claudette Ortiz. City High is best known for their song " What Would You Do?", which earned a Grammy nomination. Career In 2001, City High ...

and produced by will.i.am, it was sent to radio on August 18, 2008 as the fourth single from Usher's fifth studio album, '' Here I Stand'', and was later released as a

compact disc single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

and digital download. "What's Your Name" is a

mid-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 ...

electro dance song, and is based on new wave-influenced

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s. Usher and will.i.am performed the song at the 2008

National Football League Kickoff game The National Football League Kickoff game, along with related festivities, marks the official start of the National Football League (NFL) regular season. A single game is held, preceded by a concert and other ceremonies. This first game of the se ...

concert, and it was also used in a

Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. I ...

contest. The song entered 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 ...

and 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 ...

; it peaked at numbers ninety-one and eighty-four, respectively.

Background and release

"What's Your Name" was written by

and

, while it was produced by will.i.am and the vocals were produced by

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 ...

. The song was recorded by Jeremy Stevenson at Patchwerk Studios and Triangle Sound Studios in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, and by will.i.am and Padraic Kerin at Ethernet Studios,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. Dylan Dresdow mixed the record at PaperVu Studios, Los Angeles. Usher explained to

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

that the "lighthearted" song was written for his "younger, up-and-coming fans". "What's Your Name" was sent to US

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on August 18, 2008, and to US

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

radio on August 25. The song was released as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

and

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Thi ...

in Australia and New Zealand on September 13, 2008. it featured "What's Your Name" along with an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

version of the track. Usher and will.i.am performed the song at the warmup concert for the 2008

on September 4.

used "What's Your Name" in a customer competition to meet Usher. Contestants entered by sending videos of themselves singing twenty to sixty seconds of Usher's parts of the song.

Composition

"What's Your Name" is a

midtempo 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 ...

electro song, and bases its melody on thrusting new wave-influenced

s. It contains a "whimsical" beat that utilizes

siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisc ...

s and

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...

s. Greg Kot of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' compared the song's synth

to the music that was popular during the 1980s

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 ...

generation, while John Soeder from ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' noted its similarity to British duo the

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

. Usher monotonously repeats the

pick-up line A pick-up line or chat-up line is a conversation opener with the intent of engaging a person for romance or dating. As overt and sometimes humorous displays of romantic interest, pick-up lines advertise the wit of their speakers to their target ...

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

, "What's your name?", and thereby pays homage to his bachelor history. The song's lyrics describe "the feeling you get when you run into a woman that makes you speak gibberish".

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Andy Kellman noted the song as a highlight of ''Here I Stand'', and compared it to " Yeah!" (2004). Chad Grischow from

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

also chose the song as one of the album's best tracks, and called it appropriate for "a windows-down spring car ride".

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

's Nick Levine called the song "rubbery" and danceable and compared it to

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

's work. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' Serena Kim praised will.i.am's production and vocal appearance on "What's Your Name". Sara Berry called it "a sleek, edgy dance hit". In his mixed review of the song, Waleed Hafeez from '' The National'' wrote, "'What's Your Name', produced by will.i.am, provides listeners with another club track, albeit an average one". Dan Gennoe from

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

called the song "disjointed and ultimately missable", noting that will.i.am may have lost his

Midas touch Midas (; grc-gre, Μίδας) was the name of a king in Phrygia with whom several myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for hi ...

. A writer for

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...

called "What's Your Name" the worst song from ''Here I Stand'', describing it as "downright awful". "What's Your Name" entered the

at number eighty-four on June 14, 2008, but fell off the chart the following week, and made no reappearance. "What's Your Name" debuted on the

at number ninety-one on September 22, 2008. The following week it moved to number one hundred, before slipping out of the chart. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Australian Physical Singles Chart and lasted nineteen weeks in the chart.

Track listing

# "What's Your Name" – 3:58 # "What's Your Name" (

) – 3:58

Personnel

Dylan Dresdow Dylan Dresdow aka "3-D", is an audio mixer. He has mixed songs for such artists as Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Usher, Black Eyed Peas, Nas, Afrojack, Talib Kweli, Britney Spears, Ice Cube, Redman, The Wu Tang Clan, Bone Thugs-n-Harmon ...

– mixing *

– vocal production * Padraic Kerin –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

* Joe Peluso – assistant mixing * Jeremy Stevenson – recording *

–

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

– writing,

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 ...

, recording,

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

programming,

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

– writing :Source:

Charts

Weekly charts

References

{{good article 2008 singles Usher (musician) songs Will.i.am songs Songs written by will.i.am Song recordings produced by will.i.am Songs written by Ryan Toby Songs written by Usher (musician) 2008 songs LaFace Records singles