"Top of the World" is a song by American singer

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. She is known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layer ...

, from her second studio album, '' Never Say Never'' (1998). The song was written by

Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

Fred Jerkins III Fred Jerkins III, also known as Uncle Freddie, is an American songwriter and record producer who is best known for his work with his brother Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Jerkins has co-written several hit songs with Rodney Jerkins and LaShawn Dani ...

LaShawn Daniels LaShawn Ameen Daniels (December 28, 1977 – September 3, 2019) was an American songwriter, vocal producer and arranger known for his songwriting credits on songs by artists such as Brandy, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Michael Jacks ...

Isaac Phillips Isaac Phillips is an American songwriter, producer, and guitarist, best known for his work with producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Phillips has written for Whitney Houston and Brandy Norwood, among others. Songwriting and guitarist credits C ...

Nycolia "Tye-V" Turman BlackGirl is an American pop/ dance vocal trio consisting of Pam Copeland, Nycolia "Tye-V" Turman, and Rochelle Stuart from Atlanta, that formed in 1992 on the Kaper/RCA/ BMG label. Biography BlackGirl released their debut album '' Treat U Righ ...

, and

Mason Betha Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

, with Darkchild and Norwood producing and

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

having featured vocals. Released as the album's second international single in 1998, the track peaked at number two 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 reached the top 20 in Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand. The music video for "Top of the World" was directed by Paul Hunter in June 1998 and became a huge success on the music video channels,

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

and

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 ...

. In the video, Norwood floats in the air where she does somersaults and other gymnastic movements. She performed the song live at the

MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

and the remix version with Big Pun and Fat Joe at the

Soul Train Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

which aired in 1999. Norwood performed the song on her first world tour

Never Say Never World Tour The Never Say Never World Tour was the first concert tour by American R&B singer Brandy to support her second studio album, '' Never Say Never''. The tour became Norwood's first world tour, reaching North America, Asia, and Europe. The tour beg ...

(1998-1999), the TV special Brandy in Concert: A Special for the Holidays (1999) and on her second world tour,

Human World Tour The Human World Tour is the second solo concert tour by American recording artist, Brandy. Often acknowledged as the Just Human Tour, the outing supported her fifth studio album, ''Human''. The tour was the singer's first concert tour in nearly t ...

(2009) where it was part of a "1990s medley".

Chart performance

"Top of the World" topped the

UK R&B Singles Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Albums, or simply the UK Urban Chart) are 40-posi ...

for six weeks and reached number two on the

. The song became the second consecutive European success for Brandy and peaked at number 20 on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

. "Top of the World" also charted at number 11 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

and 21 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart. In the United States, it was a modest hit on the ''

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 ...

'' charts, peaking at number 44 on the

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

chart, number 19 on the

Hot R&B Singles 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 p ...

chart, and number 10 on the

Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...

chart.

Music video

A music video for "Top of the World" was directed by

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

and filmed in June 1998. A

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

clip built on

digital effects Digital Effects Inc. was an early and innovative computer animation studio at 321 West 44th street in New York City. It was the first computer graphics house in New York City when it opened in 1978, and operated until 1986. It was founded by Ju ...

, it features Norwood floating in the air, flipping and somersaulting above various objects such as telephone poles and vehicles—as passersby stopped to stare—and balancing vertically and horizontally alongside skyscrapers and other buildings.

Remix

A remix version with Latin rappers

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 ...

and

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City in the ea ...

appeared on Pun's 2001 compilation album ''

Endangered Species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

''. The

Darkchild Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

-produced song was previously released on the remix EP '' U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To) - The Remix EP'' (1999). The remix samples

Ahmad Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

's single " Back in the Day."

Track listings

Notes * denotes additional producer Sample credits * "Top of the World (Part II)" samples " Back in the Day" (1994) by

, written by Ahmad Lewis and Stephan Gordy.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Never Say Never''. *

— vocals, writing *

— vocal production,

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, ...

, writing *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance- ...

— mastering * Jean-Marie Horvat — recording *

— writing *

Rodney Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

—

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 ...

, instruments, mixing, recording, writing *

— additional production, vocals, writing * Isaac Phillips — recording * Rick Sigel — recording * Dexter Simmons — mixing *

— writing * Brian Young — assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1998 singles 1998 songs Big Pun songs Brandy Norwood songs Fat Joe songs Mase songs Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director) Song recordings produced by Rodney Jerkins Songs written by Fred Jerkins III Songs written by LaShawn Daniels Songs written by Mase Songs written by Rodney Jerkins Songs written by Traci Hale