"X" is a song by American recording artist

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

, taken from his sixth homonym studio album '' X'' (2014), and was released as an instant-gratification track alongside the album pre-order on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on August 25, 2014. It was written by Brown,

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

Djemba Djemba Andrew Swanson (born August 4, 1987), better known by his stage name, Djemba Djemba, is an American multi-platinum record producer of Pop, EDM and bass music, from Fairfield, IA. Notable works include "Elastic Heart" and " Gangsta". He has prod ...

RoccStar Leon "Roccstar" Youngblood Jr. is an American music producer, songwriter, recording artist and rapper. Youngblood has written and produced songs for artists such as Chris Brown, Post Malone, Usher, Rita Ora, Fergie, Prince Royce, Kendrick Lamar, ...

, Dewain Whitmore and

Sevyn Streeter Amber Denise "Sevyn" Streeter (born July 7, 1986)S ...

. Musically, "X" is a song that unites R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

vocals with a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

beat. The song contains lyrics about Brown forgetting a failed relationship with a woman. "X" received critical praise from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, which praised the maturity of the lyrics and his production. Following the release of ''X'', as a result of the strong digital downloads, the song charted on multiple charts worldwide; it peaked at number 98 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 26 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, number 63 on the

French Singles Chart French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

, number 12 on the UK Singles R&B Chart, number 81 on 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 ...

and number 75 on 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 ...

Composition and lyrics

"X" is a song that unites R&B and

vocals with an

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 ...

beat, with an

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

provided by a

roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...

and

synthesizer 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 ...

s. In the song Brown sings over a soft beat before transitioning into a more

up-tempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

sound. In the song, Brown says that he's forgetting a failed relationship with a woman, as he sings, "I swear to god i'm moving on!", admitting his past errors singing "I deal with my pain like a lonely child". Music critics speculated that the lyrics were about Brown's former relationships with aspiring American model and fashion designer Karrueche Tran and Barbadian recording artist Rihanna.

Reception

"X" received critical praise from

. Miranda J. of '' XXL'' gave a positive review saying that in the song Brown "speaks of maturing and accepts his role in recent events, over the soft beat before transitioning into a more up-tempo sound". Brad Wete 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 ...

'' called the song "Brown's most honest song", saying also that "it's safe to say that this is a man who knows he's got to get his life together and has to prove to himself and others". ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

s Alexa Camp felt that "X" was "an admirable attempt to take responsibility for his anger-management issues" from Brown, speculating that the lyrics were about Brown's relationship with Barbadian recording artist

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 ...

. Marcus Dowling of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' wrote that "Brown emphatically stating that “ eswears to god he’s moving on!” is either an amazing kiss-off to well documented on again/off again flame

, or an angry note to on again/off again mate

Karrueche Tran Karrueche Tran ( ; born May 17, 1988) is an American actress and model. From 2013 to 2016, she starred as Vivian Johnson in the web series '' The Bay''. For producing the series, she won two Daytime Emmy Awards. Her return to ''The Bay'' for i ...

Charts

References

{{Chris Brown singles 2014 songs Chris Brown songs Songs written by Diplo Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by Dewain Whitmore Jr. Songs written by Djemba Djemba Songs written by Sevyn Streeter