"The Time (Dirty Bit)" is a song by American musical group the Black Eyed Peas from their sixth studio album, '' The Beginning''. It was written by group members

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. ...

and apl.de.ap along with

DJ Ammo Damien LeRoy, sometimes known professionally as DJ Ammo (also simply as Ammo), is an American disc jockey and record producer, music producer from Los Angeles, California. He has co-produced "The Time (Dirty Bit)" along with three other songs from ...

, who produced the song with will.i.am. Additionally,

Franke Previte Franke Jon Previte (born May 2, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, and Academy Award-winning composer. He was the lead singer of the 1980s pop rock band Franke and the Knockouts. Biography Born and raised in New Brunswick, New Jersey to Fr ...

John DeNicola John DeNicola (born October 4, 1955) is an American songwriter and producer. He is best known for co-writing the song "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", for which he won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as receiving a Grammy ...

and Donald Markowitz received co-writing credits since the chorus interpolates 1987's ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

'' soundtrack "

(I've Had) The Time of My Life "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is a 1987 song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and used as the theme song for the 1987 film '' Dirty Dancing''. The song has ...

", performed by

Bill Medley William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Med ...

and

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 for ...

. The song received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised its catchiness but criticized the sample use. It peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US, becoming the group's sixth consecutive top ten hit (following the five singles from their previous album, '' The E.N.D''), and ninth overall. It topped the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, while also charting inside the top ten of the charts in most European countries. Worldwide, it was the eighth best-selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 7.3 million copies.

Background and composition

After

tweeted: "Who wants me to drop the new Black Eyed Peas single from ''The Beginning'' earlier than we should???", he posted the song on Dipdive. Group member Fergie noted the song's coincidental relation to ''Dirty Dancing'' actress

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide ...

's appearance on '' Dancing with the Stars'': "... that song reminds me of reyand ''Dirty Dancing'' and that whole time". The chorus of "The Time (Dirty Bit)" interpolates "

", originally performed by

and

in the 1987 film ''

''. In the chorus, the line "Yes I swear it's the truth" was changed to "And I swear this is true". '' Billboard'' described the song as continuing the group's "evolution from hip-pop to dance heavyweights as will.i.am and Fergie sing and rap over a beat tailored to global dancefloors."

Reception

Critical response

Simon Vozick-Levinson 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 cu ...

'' praised the song's catchiness, but felt it failed to meet the standards of previous singles "

Boom Boom Pow "Boom Boom Pow" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by group members will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie, being produced by will.i.am. The song feat ...

" and "

I Gotta Feeling "I Gotta Feeling" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by the group members with the song's producers David Guetta and Frédéric Riesterer. The song was re ...

, who won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for co-writing "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", complimented the Black Eyed Peas' sample usage, saying, "It just reconfirms to me that the song is cross-generational. The song has now crossed over to the next generation in a huge way." Willa Paskin of '' New York'', however, criticized the choice of sample and was disappointed with the chorus, feeling it was "shoehorned into the rest of the song". Todd Martens of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called "The Time (Dirty Bit)" "the most assertive party song of the year". Digital Spy's Nick Levine gave a review of three stars out of five, disliking the many elements that constituted the song. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''s Simon Price also criticized the sampling on the track, calling it a low quality attempt to satisfy listeners.

Comparisons to Deadmau5

After receiving Twitter messages about the song's similarity to his own work, Canadian record producer

Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produce ...

compared the song to the remix of " You and I" by

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

, a song he produced. The record producer spoke of the similarities through his official Facebook account. "I so know that hi-hat... and the

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

it was in... so I went to my masters folder, cracked open my instrumental mix of 'You and I' remix thing I did for Medina... and there it was again, staring me in the face". The producer stated he welcomed the usage of sampling in

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

, "This isn't calling the Black Eyed Peas out at all. This is just another interesting factoid I keep finding about sampling and electronic music".

Commercial performance

"The Time (The Dirty Bit)" debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 87 the week of November 5, 2010. The song also debuted at number 40 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Top 40 chart the next week and has currently peaked at number 19. Two weeks later, the song climbed to number one in Canada, the third time the group has achieved this, selling 31,000 downloads that week. The song also peaked at number one for two weeks in a row in New Zealand, becoming their sixth number one and 12th top 10 single in the country. While the song debuted at number ten in Australia, it reached number one in its second week. On the singles chart for Ireland and the Netherlands the song has peaked at number two. In the United Kingdom, "The Time (Dirty Bit)" climbed five places 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 ...

from its previous highest peak of number six to number one on December 12, 2010 ― for the week ending date December 18, 2010 ― beating "

Whip My Hair "Whip My Hair" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Willow Smith, released in 2010 under the name Willow. The song was written by Ronald "Jukebox" Jackson and Janae Luann Ratliff, and produced by Ronald Jackson. "Whip My Hair" peaked ...

" by

Willow Smith Willow Camille Reign Smith (born October 31, 2000), known mononymously as Willow (stylized in all caps), is an American singer and actress. The daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has received various accolades, including ...

to the summit of the chart. The song became the group's fifth chart-topping song in Britain, following 2003's "

Where Is the Love? "Where Is the Love?" is a song by American hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas. It was released on May 12, 2003, as the lead single from their third album, ''Elephunk''. The song was written by will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, Justin Timberlake, Prin ...

" and 2009's "Boom Boom Pow", "I Gotta Feeling", and "

Meet Me Halfway "Meet Me Halfway" is the third single from the Black Eyed Peas' fifth studio album, ''The E.N.D.'' It is a dance-pop song that combines futuristic electro hop beats with vintage 1980s in music#Pop, 1980s pop stylings. Released in September 2009, ...

". It also debuted at number one on the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

. In Germany, the song debuted at number seven on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

and reached number two in its third week, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks. In its sixth week on that chart, it finally reached number one, breaking the 12-week run of

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's "

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" (also known as "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World") is a medley of " Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", recorded by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. First released on ...

". In February 2011, the single was certificated Platinum in Germany for 300,000 copies sold, making it their third single to do so (following "

Shut Up Shut may refer to: *Yana Shut (born 1997), Belarusian snooker and pool player. * ''Shut'' (1988 film), directed by Andrei Andreyevich Eshpai. * ''Shut'' (2009 film), starring Lee Baxter. * ''Shut'' or ''šwt'', "shadow", an Ancient Egyptian conce ...

" and "I Gotta Feeling"). After 4 weeks at the top, the song went down to No. 4, making it the biggest fall from the pole position since

Mehrzad Marashi Mehrzad Marashi (born 20 September 1980) is a German singer of Iranian descent and the winner of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' season 7. Early life Born in Tehran, Iran where his father was in the military profession during the Shah's r ...

did so with his single " Don't Believe" in May 2010. As of July 2011, the single has sold 3 million copies in the US, making it the group's fourth to do so.

Music video

The music video for "The Time (Dirty Bit)" was released on November 23, 2010, and was directed by

Rich Lee Richard "Rich" Lee is an American music video and commercial director. He has directed music videos for Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professio ...

, who earlier directed the video for "

Imma Be "Imma Be" is a song recorded by the American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album ''The E.N.D.'' (2009). The song's title is a slang expression, meaning "I am going to be" or "I will be". Initially released as a promotional sing ...

"/" Rock That Body",

Pasha Shapiro Pasha Shapiro is an American graphic designer and music video director, best known for his work with the musician Will.i.am and his hip hop group Black Eyed Peas. Video "Smile Mona Lisa" co-created by Pasha Shapiro was presented in Musee Du Lo ...

, and Ernst Weber. It opens with a zoom-in to a city street where, as will.i.am sings the beginning, his head

voxel In 3D computer graphics, a voxel represents a value on a regular grid in three-dimensional space. As with pixels in a 2D bitmap, voxels themselves do not typically have their position (i.e. coordinates) explicitly encoded with their values. I ...

izes and transforms into a television screen where Fergie is projected during her solo. The video then cuts to sweaty dancers at an underground nightclub, who, along with the Peas, also variously become voxelized throughout the song. The avatars seen on the cover of the new album ''The Beginning'' appear as posters, and the

BlackBerry PlayBook The BlackBerry PlayBook is a Tablet computer#Mini tablets, mini tablet computer developed by BlackBerry (company), BlackBerry and made by Quanta Computer, an original design manufacturer (ODM).

also appears as pre-release product placement, seen animating them in an augmented reality application and making special effects. The animated versions of the band members are in this order: will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap, and

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

. As of August 2020, the video has received over 485 million views on YouTube.

Live performances

The Black Eyed Peas performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)" at the

American Music Awards of 2010 The 38th Annual American Music Awards were held November 21, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California. The awards recognized the most popular artists and albums from 2010's music list. Nominees were announced on October 12, 2 ...

on November 21. Each member wore a futuristic outfit and started off enclosed in a glow-in-the-dark yellow box chamber similar to an

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

, accompanied by dancers with boxes as heads. Martens gave it grade of C+, calling it the "oddest set of the night". During the performance, Fergie experienced some trouble when the door to her box remained stuck for a moment. On December 5, the group performed the single live during the semi-final results of season 7 of the British TV singing competition ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. They also performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)" in the Super Bowl XLV halftime show, and then again at the "i.am.FIRST" performance at the

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

World Championship on April 29, 2011. For the first time in over 9 years, the Black Eyed Peas performed this song once again during the latter part of the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, with recent member J. Rey Soul in place of Fergie.

Track listing

*Digital download # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" – 5:08 *CD single # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (Radio edit) – 4:15 # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (Main mix) – 5:08 *The Time (Dirty Bit): Re-Pixelated – Digital Remix E.P. # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack, is a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer from Spijkenisse, South Holland. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album '' Forget the Worl ...

remix) – 7:53 # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaiserslautern, G ...

remix) – 6:00 # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (

Dave Audé Dave Audé (born Oct 12, 1969) is an American DJ, producer and remixer. He operates his own label Audacious Records, and is known for having more number ones than any other producer on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart. He has done prod ...

club mix) – 7:16 # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (

Felguk Felguk is the stage name of the Brazilian DJs and record producer duo Felipe Lozinsky (born February 12, 1986) and Gustavo Rozenthal (born February 26, 1982). The duo performed - and had their single "2nite" as the track for the official trailer ...

remix) – 5:18 # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" ( Wideboys full club remix) – 5:23 *Digital single # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (Video edit) – 4:52 # "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (Edson Pride vocal edit) – 8:15

Credits and personnel

Vocals – will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Fergie

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References