Ayo Technology

"Ayo Technology"
Song

"Ayo Technology" is the fourth single from 50 Cent's third album, Curtis. The song, featuring Justin Timberlake and produced by Timbaland, was a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, where it charted at #5 and #2 respectively, amongst other national charts across the world. The song has since been covered by Milow, whose version was successful in a number of countries, including Belgium and Germany.

Background

HipHopDX also reported that the song was renamed three times. It was first titled "Ayo Pornography", then "Ayo Technology", and then "She Wants It". Finally, the song title was reverted to "Ayo Technology." The song features Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, but most sources don't credit Timbaland for being on the song. In 2008, it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Song. As revealed within its lyrics, Ayo Technology puts a strong emphasis on hot-blooded sexual fantasies, explicit body movements (such as when Timberlake utters the line "Why don't you sit down on top of me,") and wild festivities at night clubs.

Music video

The music video was premiered by BET on August 2 2007, and was filmed in London, U.K..

There is an Official Remix it features Francisco

50 Cent described the music video to MTV. He said:

You can see this is not my normal uniform, or get-up, when I'm in a music video. But it's time for me to do something a little different, and this is the perfect time for me to actually change my look. You might see this on the red carpet, but not in an actual music video. The biggest challenges for the video are giving off a natural vibe and not seeming contrived at any moment. For you to actually be comfortable when you're actually doing it is a task. At some points you've got a room full of people looking at you at one time, just watching you to see what you're going to do. You've got to relax and just do it.

Timbaland's appearance in the music video uses features from the movie Minority Report such as moving computer interfaces with hands. Justin Timberlake's appearance is similar to that of his role in his music video "SexyBack".

Chart performance

"Ayo Technology" became 50's highest debut yet on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 22. It peaked at number 5, becoming his tenth top 5 single. In the UK, the song debuted at number 10 on downloads alone, becoming his eighth top 10 single. It peaked at number 2, becoming 50 Cent's highest charting single in the UK, beating out "In Da Club" and "Candy Shop" which both peaked at number 3.

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	10
Canadian Hot 100	12
Czech Singles Chart	9
Danish Singles Chart	7
Dutch Singles Chart	17
French Singles Chart	5
German Singles Chart	3
Deutsche Black Charts	1
Irish Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	7
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
Romanian Singles Chart	9
Swedish Singles Chart	8
Swiss Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	5
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	41
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks	10
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	7
UK Singles Chart	2

About the song

• An acoustic cover of "Ayo Technology" performed by Belgian singer Milow was released in a number of European countries, making #1 in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland, and also charting well in countries such as Germany. In most of these countries, Milow's version was more successful than the original.
• The intro and lead synth were created with the Elektron SidStation, an 8-bit sound synthesizer. Because of this, it is remarkably similar sounding to the electronic music duo Crystal Castles' "Courtship Dating" from their self-titled album, released the following year although performed live since December 2006. Despite the album itself not being out until nearly a year after the public debut of "Ayo Technology," there was still minor controversy over the alleged "sampling" of this song on "Ayo Technology" perhaps because of the negative reputation Timbaland has garnered recently over sampling 8-bit musicians uncredited. The origin of the unique sound of both songs has actually come into question on both sides. Crystal Castles is now notorious for its illegal use of Creative Commons-licensed chiptune music in their early, non-album works posted on MySpace. Renowned chiptune and 8-bit music forum 8bitcollective.com could not locate a sample source for the two songs nor any evidence either song sampled from the other. It is also possible that, instead of using the SidStation personally, Timbaland and Crystal Castles both used the same sample CD, something available for purchase to use in any way without attribution, as has been hypothesized by the Timbaland blog The Thomas Crown Chronicles, which specifically cites 8 Bit Stylez by Ueberschall. Ethan Kath of Crystal Castles has allegedly stated that he made the disputed music on a SidStation synthesizer, which he then looped over the Crystal Castles track, and that "Ayo Technology" is at most a re-creation with a similar feel using a SidStation rather than a sample of "Courtship Dating."
• The song is about the difference between pornography and real life (hence the original name "Ayo Pornography").
• The instrumental version of the song is played by the Boston Celtics at the TD Banknorth Garden when the team is introduced during the player introductions.