"United" is a song recorded by Dominican–American

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Smi ...

recording artist

Prince Ital Joe Joe Paquette (May 5, 1963 – May 16, 2001), better known by his stage name Prince Ital Joe, was a Dominican rapper of reggae and ragga best known for his collaborations with Marky Mark and Death Row Records artists. Prince Ital Joe also did so ...

and American rapper

Marky Mark Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...

. It was released in March 1994 as the third single from their debut album, ''

Life in the Streets ''Life in the Streets'' is the debut album by reggae/ragga recording artist Prince Ital Joe and the third album by rapper Marky Mark. The album was released in 1994 for Ultraphonic Records and blended Prince Ital Joe's reggae with Marky Mark's h ...

'' (1994). It was co-written and produced by

Alex Christensen Alex Christensen (born 7 April 1967), also known by his stage names Jasper Forks or Alex C., is a German dance music producer, songwriter, and DJ generally known as the face and one of the founding members of U96. Since 2002, he has been coll ...

and

Frank Peterson Frank Peterson (born 29 December 1963) is a German music producer known for his work with Enigma and artists such as Sarah Brightman, Ofra Haza, Gregorian, Princessa, and Andrea Bocelli on his first international album, '' Romanza''. Peters ...

. The single reached number one in Germany and the top 10 in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Critical reception

Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave the song four out of five. He wrote, "Number one in Germany, this catchy confection combines Ital Joe's

Haddaway Nestor Alexander Haddaway (born 9 January 1965) is a Trinidadian-born German singer best known for his 1993 hit single " What Is Love", which reached number 1 in 13 countries. Early life Nestor Alexander Haddaway was born in Trinidad and Tobago ...

and

Dr. Alban Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born 26 August 1957), better known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian- Swedish recording artist and producer with his own record label, Dr. Records. His music can best be described as Eurodance/ hip-hop reggae in a d ...

influences with Marky Mark's streetwise rapping. A substantial hit." He later added, "This is an anthemic German production pairing the patois of Prince Ital and a more conventional Marky Mark rap with a big chorus. Don't underestimate the potential of a record which has now been huge all over Europe, and consequently exposed to million of British holidaymakers." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update deemed it a "

Boney M Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

-ish chant-along cheesy German smash".

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the song features Prince Ital Joe and Marky Mark being chauffeured around predominantly rough neighborhoods of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in a

Mercedes-Benz 600 The Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100) is a line of ultra-luxury cars produced by Daimler-Benz from 1963 to 1981. The forerunner of the modern Maybach marque, the ''Grosser Mercedes'' ("Grand Mercedes") succeeded the Type 300d "Adenauer" as the compa ...

Pullmann limousine. This footage is interspersed with a second storyline showing a mixed-race couple reuniting after the female partner has apparently moved out of their apartment. The video was A-listed on Germany's VIVA.

Track listings

* CD maxi - Europe (1994) # "United" (Radio Edit) - 4:02 # "United" (Extended Version) - 5:59 # "United" (United Mix) - 5:29 # "In The 90's" - 3:17

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Eurodance songs Mark Wahlberg songs Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Israel Prince Ital Joe songs Song recordings produced by Alex Christensen Song recordings produced by Frank Peterson Songs written by Alex Christensen Songs written by Frank Peterson Songs written by Mark Wahlberg