Countdown (Beyoncé song)

"Countdown" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé Knowles for her fourth studio album, '' 4'' (2011). The song was written by Knowles, Terius Nash, Shea Taylor, Ester Dean, Cainon Lamb, Julie Frost, Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris, and produced by Beyoncé, Taylor and Lamb. The song's conception was brought about by Knowles desiring to mix musical styles of the 1990s with the 1970s. It was sent to radio on October 4, 2011, as the fifth single from ''4''.

Featuring a sample of " Uhh Ahh" by Boyz II Men, "Countdown" incorporates aspects of hip hop, funk, reggae and world music. Lyrically, the female protagonist delivers a message of monogamy to her lover, celebrating self-worthiness as well as appreciating him. Several music critics were surprised by its maturity and compared it to Beyoncé's earlier solo work and with Destiny's Child. The song finished second in 2011's Pazz & Jop critics' poll and was included on the list of the year's best songs by various critics and publications including '' Spin'', ''Rolling Stone'' and ''The Guardian''. "Countdown" peaked at number 71 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at number 12 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Countdown" peaked at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart and number nine on the UK R&B Chart.

Adria Petty directed the accompanying music video, which was recorded while Knowles was pregnant in August 2011. The music video sees Beyoncé incorporate a mix of classic and modern dances, with references to pieces like that of Audrey Hepburn's appearance in ''Funny Face''. Although well received by critics, the video faced controversy for the use of choreography from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's 1983 ballet ''Rosas danst Rosas''. Beyoncé performed "Countdown" on her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé and Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live residency shows, as a video interlude on The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour and on the set list of The Formation World Tour.

Background and release

"Countdown" was written by Beyoncé, Terius Nash, Shea Taylor, Ester Dean, Cainon Lamb, Julie Frost, Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris. Production was handled by Beyoncé, Taylor and Lamb. Bivins, Morris and Morris are credited as "Countdown" samples Boyz II Men's 1991 single, " Uhh Ahh". A private listening party for Knowles' fourth studio album was held on May 12, 2011, at the Sony offices in New York City, where one of the five songs previewed was "Countdown". While playing the song, Knowles commented: " ay-Zliked it. I do not think he was dissecting it, just thinking of what he could do to it as a rapper."

On June 7, 2011, both "Party" and "Countdown" leaked online, followed by the whole album, three weeks prior to its official release date on June 28, 2011. This was followed by cease-and-desist notices from Beyoncé's legal team, who forced multiple media sites to remove download links to the songs. Beginning on June 16 to June 27, 2011, the songs from ''4'' were available to listen to in full each day on Knowles' official website, paired with its accompanying photo spread from the album packaging and a quote. On June 24, 2011, "Countdown" was the ninth song to be chosen. The quote found Beyoncé elaborating on the song's inspiration: "I really liked mixing the 90s with the 70s. I put those two together and it was so much fun putting bridges back into songs, all the things in music that I love that I feel I just want to hear again." (Note that you have to click on the cover art of "Countdown" to see the quote.) She also referred to "Countdown" as "really experimental". Concerning the development "Countdown" and the reason for using the sample, Beyoncé stated:

I wanted to do something refreshing and different, so I mixed genres and drew inspiration from touring, traveling, watching rock bands, and attending festivals… I was like a mad scientist, putting lots of different songs together. Boyz II Men were the first ones to put Destiny's Child on tour. They showed us how to treat an opening act and I will never forget that. That was 15 years ago! Wow, 15 years! I'm old.

On September 22, 2011, Columbia Records posted the cover art of "Countdown" on the official website of KZII-FM, most commonly known as "102.5 Kiss FM". It was the same photograph spread for "Countdown" in the album notes for '' 4'' and it was taken by German photographer Ellen von Unwerth. "Countdown" impacted both rhythmic and contemporary hit radio on October 4, 2011, in the United States as the fourth single from ''4''.

Development

In an interview with Leslie Moore on Tumblr, Cainon Lamb recalled how he started working on the Boyz II Men's sample and how his work reached Knowles. He said that he began working on "Countdown" during the night preceding the 2010 BET Awards. He was in the studio, listening to Boyz II Men's song, "Uhh Ahh". He commented: " tstarts with a countdown of '10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'. So I thought, 'Wow, that could be something. Just the countdown itself.'" Once the countdown was in the computer, he slightly increased the pace at which it was played, added some snare drum taps to it, and started a beat. After that, he sent the song to his publisher, EMI Music. The latter was impressed with the instrumental and went on saying: "I had a meeting this morning with Beyoncé and I played a couple other songs I had and she wasn't really feeling them. When I played the beat that you sent me, you should have seen how she went crazy! She started dancing and bouncing up and down and just doing all kind of stuff. She loved that beat!" On the request of his publisher, Lamb made "a female version of the countdown part". Terius Nash wrote the verses and two days later, Knowles went in the studio and recorded it.

In an interview with Jocelyn Vena of MTV News, the members of Boyz II Men said that they were surprised that Beyoncé decided to use their song on "Countdown" even though they have known her for long. Wanya Morris considered it a "clever" move and quipped that Boyz II Men finally got their duet with Beyoncé.

Composition

Music and comparisons

"Countdown", which samples "Uhh Ahh" performed by American group Boyz II Men, was considered to be "everywhere on the genre map" by Consequence of Sound's Chris Coplan. It is an upbeat R&B song, displaying elements of funk, hip hop, Latin pop, world music, reggae as well as dancehall influences. "Countdown" is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 84 beats per minute. The song is scored in the key of D minor, and has the sequence Dm–Gm–F–C. Beyoncé's voice in the song ranges from D₃ to F₅. "Countdown" makes heavy use of staccato horns, and rides a "disjointed military rhythm", containing an "agitated" Afrobeat heavy brass riff which, according to Alexis Petridis of ''The Guardian'', bears resemblance to that of "Run the World (Girls)" (2011). Jody Rosen of ''Rolling Stone'' attributed the bristling brass arrangement to the fact that Beyoncé's collaborated with the band from ''Fela!'' for a couple of days to gain inspiration from the play's subject, Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, Fela Kuti. Additional instrumentation on the song includes a keyboard, synthesizers, a plucky guitar, 180 BPM steel drums, and trumpets. Built on a stepping beat, "Countdown" features video-game bleeps reminiscent of Knowles' previous alter ego, Sasha Fierce, as stated by Jocelyn Vena of MTV News. Priya Elan of ''NME'' noted that it also consists of "some nicely disorientating" chord changes.

Ryan Dombal of ''Pitchfork'' viewed "Countdown" as a sequel to Beyoncé's own 2003 single, "Crazy in Love". Matthew Horton of BBC
...