"Ain't Easy" is a song recorded by Canadian

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

duo Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine for the first season of the Canadian reality music competition ''

The Launch ''The Launch'' is a Canadian reality music competition created by Daniel Lachance. The series broadcast by CTV, which premiered on January 10, 2018. Each episode of the series follows five emerging musicians competing for a chance to have a d ...

''. The song was written by

Ryan Tedder Ryan Benjamin Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, and lead vocalist for the pop rock band OneRepublic, while also serving as a prolific cont ...

, Zack Skelton, and

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the Pop music, pop girl group Fifth Harmony, one of the List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl gro ...

, with a new arrangement composed by Woods and Fine, while Tedder produced the track. Following the duo's selection as the winner of the series's second episode, "Ain't Easy" was released to Canadian radio, digital retailers, and

music streaming A music streaming service is a type of online streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to s ...

services on January 17, 2018 by

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

and

Universal Music Canada Universal Music Group (UMG) owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here. According to the UMG official website, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Gra ...

. The song serves as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

for the duo's debut EP, ''8:47'' (2019). Since its release, "Ain't Easy" has become the most successful single from ''The Launch'', launching at number one on

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and being certified Platinum by

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

Recording

"Ain't Easy" was recorded in the fall of 2017 as part of the competition on ''The Launch'' by both the duo of Elijah Woods and Jamie Fine and the soloist Basil Phoenix. The duo created their own arrangement of the song, which was merged with elements of the original for the final recording. Fine performs lead vocals on the track with Woods accompanying on piano. Scott Borchetta described hearing the duo's version of "Ain't Easy" as being "like an out-of-body experience," contributing to the duo's victory.

Commercial performance

Following the song's release, "Ain't Easy" hit number one on the Canadian

sales chart, displacing co-writer Cabello's "

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Canadian Digital Song Sales The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart is compiled and releas ...

chart dated January 27, 2018. The following week, "Ain't Easy" debuted at number 40 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. The song reached its peak position of 38 on the chart dated April 7, 2018. It remains the only single generated by the series to appear on the chart. "Ain't Easy" has reached the top 10 on multiple

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

airplay charts, peaking at positions of 1, 6, and 5 on the

Canada AC The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

Canada CHR/Top 40 The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, and

Canada Hot AC The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

charts, respectively.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 songs 2018 singles Big Machine Records singles Universal Music Group singles Song recordings produced by Ryan Tedder Songs written by Ryan Tedder Songs written by Camila Cabello Songs written by Zach Skelton