"Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" is a song by English singer and songwriter
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
featuring American rapper
Common
Common may refer to:
As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin.
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Com ...
. Written by Stone,
Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson, Tony Reyes,
Mark Batson
Mark Christopher Batson (born 1968) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has worked on albums by artists including Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, LeAnn Rimes, Anthony Hamilton, Eminem, India Arie, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Skylar ...
and Common and produced by
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...
, the song was released as the second
single from Stone's third album ''
Introducing Joss Stone'' in July 2007. It was later included on the 2011 compilation album ''
The Best of Joss Stone 2003–2009
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
''.
Chart performance
"Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" had a lacklustre performance in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number eighty-four on the
UK Singles Chart the week of 4 August 2007 and spent only one week on the tally, becoming Stone's first solo single to miss the UK top seventy-five. It charted mildly in other countries such as Canada, Germany, Romania and Switzerland. Nevertheless, the single did manage to achieve success in Turkey and the Netherlands, where it peaked at numbers four and twenty-three, respectively. It was also Stone's second single (the first being 2005's "
Spoiled") to chart on the U.S.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
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 ...
, on which it debuted at number sixty-nine the week of 28 April 2007 (after debuting at number twelve on the
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop 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 po ...
) and reached its peak position of number sixty-four four weeks later. Surprisingly, "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" debuted at number thirty-eight in Greece the week of 23 February 2008, peaking at number thirty-two the following week.
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 ...
for "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", directed by
Sanaa Hamri and filmed 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 ...
, premiered on
VH1 Soul on 7 May 2007 and 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'', and has also been viewed on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
over 24 million times (as of 15 October 2010) on 12 May. In aid of
U2's frontman
Bono
Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...
's initiative
Product Red, an organization helping finance the fight of
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
/
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
in Africa, 100% of the proceeds from copies of the video sold on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
were reverted to
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...
; Stone is the first artist to do so.
The video starts with a red
gerbera
''Gerbera'' ( or ) L. is a genus of plants in the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. The first scientific description of a ''Gerbera'' was made by J. D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889 when he described '' Gerbera jamesonii'', a S ...
being held by the cameraman, who heads for a typical
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 ...
terraced house
A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...
from which Stone shows up. He hands the gerbera in to her and proceeds to film Stone as the two go for a walk around the city. Next, they take a break and sit on a bench in the city centre, where the cameraman caresses Stone's face and hands a drink plastic glass in to her. They then head for the backstage of Stone's outdoor concert in a park; she gets changed in an impromptu dressing room and subsequently comes onto the stage (where a Product Red billboard can be seen in the background) along with Common before a crowded audience. Common performs his rap segment followed by the song's final lines. As the concert ends, Stone takes the cameraman to the backstage where she kisses the camera as if she had kissed the man. Intercut shots of Stone wearing a skin-coloured suit and purple high heels while lying on a flower-covered floor are included from the scene in which Stone and the cameraman are sitting on the bench.
Track listings
CD maxi single
# "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" – 4:22
# "
Tell Me 'bout It" – 5:20
# "What Were We Thinking" – 5:25
UK CD single
# "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" – 4:22
# "Music" – 4:20
US promo CD single
# "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" – 3:40
# "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" – 3:58
# "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" – 4:23
Personnel
Musicians
* Joss Stone – vocals
* Common – vocals
*
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...
–
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
* Khari Parker –
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
*
Robert Ozuna – additional drums,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
,
turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...
*
Chalmers "Spanky" Alford –
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
* Lionel Holoman –
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
* Charlie Happiness –
claves
Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony ...
Production
* Raphael Saadiq –
producer
*
Glenn Standridge –
mixing
* Chuck Brungardt – mixing
* Oswald Bowe – assistant
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
* John Tanksley – assistant engineer
* James Tanksley – assistant engineer
* Marlon Marcel – assistant engineer
* Charlie Stavish – assistant engineer
* Jeremy Mackenzie –
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
operator
*
Benjamin Wright –
string
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
arrangements
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
2007 singles
Common (rapper) songs
Joss Stone songs
Music videos directed by Sanaa Hamri
Songs written by Joss Stone
Song recordings produced by Raphael Saadiq
Songs written by Common (rapper)
Song recordings produced by Mark Batson
2007 songs
Songs written by Mark Batson
Relentless Records singles
Songs written by Novel (musician)
Alternative hip-hop songs
Songs written by Tony Reyes