"I Won't Tell" is a song by American rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

. It was released as the first single of his eight album '' The Elephant in the Room'' (2008), and features R&B singer

J. Holiday Nahum Thorton Grymes (born November 29, 1981), better known by his stage name J. Holiday, is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. He came into prominence in 2007 with his breakthrough hit "Bed", peaking at number five on the US ''Billboar ...

. It was released on November 8, 2007 on Fat Joe's MySpace page. It was released through

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on December 4, 2007. It is a hip hop and contemorary R&B song. The song received a mixed reception from critics. The single peaked at number 37 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The accompanying music video for the single was directed by Gil Green.

Critical reception

"I Won't Tell" received mixed reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. Reviewing the album, David Jeffries of

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 ...

praised the song for being one of the album's better radio singles that bring "sweet relief." Jesal Padania of RapReviews found the lyrics middling but praised J. Holiday's appearance and The Hitmen's production for being soothing. ''

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. ...

'' staff writer Mcooper criticized the song along with "You Ain't Sayin Nothin'" for targeting mainstream radio, saying that, "These songs find Joe short on creativity, but eager for radio spins."

Chart performance

"I Won't Tell" peaked at number 37 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, giving Joe his fifth top 40 hit on the chart. The song also peaked at numbers three and 12 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 ...

and 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 ...

charts respectively.

Music video

The music video for "I Won't Tell" (directed by Gil Green) was released on December 18, 2007 on Fat Joe's MySpace video page. Cameo appearances include Bow Wow,

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, Diddy,

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Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his 2004 song "I Don't Wanna Know", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Winan ...

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, E-Class (

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Manager),

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Dre DRE may refer to: * ''Dre'' (album), 2010 by American rapper Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, 2010 * Dre (name) **Dr. Dre, American rapper and producer * DRE voting machine * Digital rectal examination, in medicine * Director of religious education; for exam ...

, and Brisco.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs Fat Joe songs J. Holiday songs Virgin Records singles Music videos directed by Gil Green Songs written by Fat Joe Songs written by Mario Winans Songs written by Deric Angelettie