"Control Myself" is a song by American rapper

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

from his 12th album, '' Todd Smith'' (2006). The song was written by

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

, James Phillips, Ryan Toby, John Miller,

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...

, Arthur Baker and

John Robie John Robie is an American musician, producer and songwriter. He has produced and/or written for such artists as: Chaka Khan, New Order, UB40, Cabaret Voltaire, Soulsonic Force, Boy George, Planet Patrol, Laura Branigan, and Freeez, among o ...

. The song was produced by Dupri, with co-production by LRoc, and features guest vocals from American entertainer

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

. "Control Myself" contains a sample of Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force's 1983 song " Looking for the Perfect Beat", while the vocals

interpolate In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a ...

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Robert Saddler (born January 1, 1958), known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is a Barbadian-American musician and DJ. He created a DJ technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This technique serviced the break-dancer and the rapper by el ...

and

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel or simply Melle Mel (), is an American rapper who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Career Glover began per ...

's 1983 song " White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" and Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force's 1982 song " Planet Rock".

Release

"Control Myself" was released as the album's

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 ...

in February 2006 and remained on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for eleven weeks, peaking at number four. After being released as a digital download in April 2006, the song debuted at number two on the ''Billboard''

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking so ...

chart and made a strong Hot 100 re-entry at number four. This broke a record previously held by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

's 1998 song " Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)", which had re-entered the chart in March 1999 at number 20. The song also peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, where Smith and Lopez's previous collaboration, " All I Have", had achieved the same feat in March 2003.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

Hype Williams Harold "Hype" Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video and film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adelphi Univ ...

and was filmed at Sony Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on January 2, 2006. It debuted in the U.S. on February 13, 2006 and in Europe on February 19, 2006. Like some of Williams' other videos, video footage is displayed where black bars would appear on a 4:3 TV for a widescreen production. The video peaked at number two on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'', number three on BET's '' 106 & Park'', and number eighteen on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's '' VSpot Top 20 Countdown''.

Track listings and formats

European CD single # "Control Myself" – 3:56 # "Control Myself" ( Jason Nevins Funktek Edit) – 4:02 European CD maxi single # "Control Myself" – 3:56 # "Control Myself" (Jason Nevins Funktek Edit) – 4:02 # "Control Myself" (Instrumental) – 3:54 # "Control Myself" (Video) US 12-inch single :A1. "Control Myself" (Radio) – 3:54 :A2. "Control Myself" (Instrumental) – 3:54 :B1. "Control Myself" (Radio) – 3:54 :B2. "Control Myself" (Instrumental) – 3:54 UK 12-inch single :A1. "Control Myself" (Album Version) – 3:54 :A2. "Control Myself" (Instrumental) – 3:54 :B1. "Control Myself" (Jason Nevins Electrotex Club Mix) – 8:53 German 12-inch single :A. "Control Myself" (Explicit Version) – 3:58 :B. "Control Myself" (Instrumental) – 3:54

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Jennifer Lopez songs 2006 songs 2006 singles Def Jam Recordings singles Jennifer Lopez songs LL Cool J songs Music videos directed by Hype Williams Songs written by Jermaine Dupri Songs written by John Robie Songs written by LL Cool J Songs written by LRoc Songs written by Ryan Toby