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Ego (Beyoncé song)

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"Ego"
Song
A-side"Sweet Dreams"

"Ego" is a song by R&B singer Beyoncé, written and produced by Elvis "BlacElvis" Williams, Harold Lilly, and Knowles for the deluxe edition of her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce. The song was released on May 19, 2009, as the album's fifth single in the United States. The remix, featuring hip hop artist Kanye West, is included on the Above and Beyoncé - Video Collection & Dance Mixes CD/DVD.

The single is the fifth consecutive single from I Am… Sasha Fierce to reach top 40 on Billboard Hot 100, peaking at thirty-nine. The version featuring West was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Background

"Ego" was planned as the third single from the album, but later was changed in favor of "Diva". 'Ego' was eventually released as the fifth US single, it was supposed to be released alongside the sixth US/fourth worldwide single 'Broken-Hearted Girl', However, at the last minute, the release of 'Broken-Hearted Girl' was scrapped, and "Sweet Dreams" was released instead. Both tracks were taken from the 'Sasha Fierce' disc. This goes in contrast to the previous joint-releases from this album where one track was taken from each disc.

Knowles told MTV that the song "kind of talks about someone being very confident and having this swagger when they walk and when they talk, and that being one of the reasons why I'm attracted to them." [2]

Critical reception

Billboard magazine gave the song a positive review: "The fifth single from her I Am... Sasha Fierce album combines elements of both sides of her musical personality. 'Ego' sounds like an homage to old-school R&B midtempo jams yet is firmly rooted in today's production trends. Beyoncé's pop side is explored throughout, with a restrained vocal and a clever piano breakdown. Credit the singer for not polishing up her vocal during that interlude, choosing instead to show her real voice, limitations and all, just like the old days."[3]

Music video

Knowles in the video seated with her hair styled in a curly afro beside her two back-up dancers in the music video for "Ego".

Knowles made her directorial debut on the video for "Ego" with her choreographer of twelve years, Frank Gatson Jr. Gatson as the creative director. Gatson has been the creative director for several of her videos, such as "Suga Mama", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", and "Get Me Bodied", as well as her last three world tours, including the I Am… Tour. Knowles let Gatson direct the video for "Ego" after he introduced her to a new choreographer, Sheryl Murakami.[4] "My goal for [the] video is simplicity", Knowles tells Entertainment Weekly. "In 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)', I saw this old tape of Bob Fosse's wife, and I used that as inspiration. I thought in this world, with all the technology and everything that's going on, to strip everything down—great idea. So I kind of did the same thing, but glossy and black, for 'Ego'".[5] A "bootlegged" version of the music video, featuring Sheryl Murakami performing the choreography, was leaked onto YouTube in early March 2009.[6][7] In the B-roll footage on Above and Beyoncé, it was shown that a clay sculpture of Knowles was made for the "Ego" video. However, the sculpture was not shown in the final version of the video.


Overall, Beyonce made three videos for Ego:

Official Music Video

The video premiered on Beyonce's official website on May 21, 2009.[8] The video, like the ones for "If I Were A Boy", "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)", and "Diva" was shot in black and white. The video consists of Beyoncé in a silver leotard and two other women dressed similarly doing the same choreography as her, which has reminiscence of the video of "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)". Later in the video she is sitting in a white glittery chair in front of the same tiled background, in a black coat with the two dancers still dancing in unison around her, there are a few shots of her in the chair to the back of the camera with the dancers also with their backs to the camera. Later Beyoncé gets up from the chair and dances with the dancers around the chair this scene ends as she and the dancers walk to the left of the camera and walk into the next scene. In this scene she is still with the tiled background and she and her dancers are holding poles with which they dance with. Also, there are, during the pole scene some shots of her on her own singing in the chair from the second scene. In the next scene, with the same tiled background, Beyoncé is leaning against the wall during the Bridge of the song and her dancers spin in heels around her and afterward they all continue to dance against the wall. The very last scene shows Beyoncé in the chair, without the black jacket and dancing to herself while the song ends. This is the first video from I Am... Sasha Fierce for her to have curly afro hair, similar to the one in "Work It Out". It is also the first video from the Sasha Fierce side of her album where she does not don her robo-glove as in "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and "Diva". In the premiered version of the music video, the word "bitch" is muted out when Beyoncé states "I got every reason to feel like I'm that bitch!"

Remix Music Video

The remix and its music video are on the Above and Beyoncé DVD. It premiered on the June 15, 2009 episode of BET's Access Granted.[9] In the remix video, Kanye West begins his rap in an empty room next to a follow spot. At the end of his rap, he points the light towards the camera and the shot fades in white to Knowles' scenes. The rest of the video is nearly identical to the original video.

The remix's video ranked at #38 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.[10]

Fan-Exclusive Video

A fan exclusive version of "Ego" was included on Above and Beyoncé, in which only Knowles appears. The whole video is a continuous double-angled scene where Knowles is seated on the throne chair, previously seen in the original video.

Chart Performance

In New Zealand, "Ego" debuted at number 28 and peaked at number 11 after just three weeks on the chart. It is also the fifth song from the album to chart within the top forty there. In Bulgaria, "Ego" debuted at #34 August 23, 2009. It peaked so far peaked at number 22. In Portugal, "Ego" debuted at number 42 on August 23, 2009. The song entered top 20 on October 25, 2009 and has so far peaked at number 8. It was even certified "Greatest Gainer" on October 18, 2009 as it had gained 20 places. In South Africa, "Ego" jumped to number 1 after 8 weeks in the chart. The song entered Billboard Hot 100 at #77, her 19th solo entry on the chart, and peaked at #39 after 8 weeks on the chart. Ego became Knowles' 18th solo top 40 single and the 5th single from I Am... Sasha Fierce to do so. "Ego" peaked at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream R&B/Hip Hop Chart, charting higher than "If I Were A Boy" and "Halo".

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
New Zealand Singles Chart[11] 11
Swedish Singles Chart[11] 29
Türkiye Top 20[12] 14
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 39
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[13] 3

Tracklisting

Ego/Sweet Dreams Singles & Dance Mixes[14]
  1. Ego - 3:57
  2. Ego (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Club Remix) - 8:22
  3. Ego (Slang "Big Ego" Club Remix) - 6:18
  4. Sweet Dreams - 3:29
  5. Sweet Dreams (OK DAC Club Remix) - 5:14
  6. Sweet Dreams (Karmatronic Club Remix) - 6:36
Promo CD single[15]
  1. Ego - 3:56
  2. Ego (Instrumental) - 3:56
Promo CD single (Remix) [16]
  1. Ego (featuring Kanye West) - Radio Edit - 3:04
  2. Ego (featuring Kanye West) - Clean - 4:44

Official Versions/Remixes

  • Album Version (Dirty)
  • Album Version (Clean) / Video Edit
  • Album Instrumental
  • Remix feat. Kanye West
  • DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Club
  • DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Dub
  • Redtop's Digital Ska Remix
  • Redtop's Digital Ska Radio
  • OK DAC Remix
  • OK DAC Dub
  • Karmatronic Club
  • Karmatronic Radio
  • Redsoul Club Mix
  • Dan McKie Remix
  • Ego Slang Club Mix
  • Ego Slang Dance Dub
  • Zoned Out Light Extended
  • Zoned Out Light Radio
  • Lost Daze Remix

References

  1. ^ mms://wm.allaccess.com/allaccess/beyonego.wma
  2. ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (May 20, 2009). "Beyonce Knew The Perfect Person To Remix 'Ego': Kanye West!". MTV News. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  3. ^ Up for DiscussionPost Comment (2009-09-14). "Ego". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  4. ^ "Sheryl Murakami Faculty Bio". Bwydance.com. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  5. ^ Vozick, Simon (2009-03-10). "Beyonce talks world tour, new videos | EW.com". Popwatch.ew.com. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  6. ^ "Choreography For Beyonce's Next Single "Ego" Leaked". Blogs.nypost.com. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  7. ^ 2 maart 2009. "Beyonce Ego DEMO Music - Love It!!!". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ login or register to post comments. "Exclusive Video Premiere of "Ego" Right Here on Beyonceonline.com!! | The Official Beyonce Site". Beyonceonline.com. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  9. ^ login or register to post comments. ""Ego" Remix Video Premieres on Special BET Access Granted! | The Official Beyonce Site". Beyonceonline.com. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  10. ^ Black Entertainment Television's. "Notarized: Top 100 Videos 2009". Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  11. ^ a b "Beyoncé – Ego – Music Charts". αCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  12. ^ "Billboard Türkiye Top 20". Billboard Türkiye (in Turkish). June 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
  13. ^ Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart Listing For The Week Of Jun 06 2009, Billboard.com
  14. ^ "iTunes Store - Beyoncé - Ego / Sweet Dreams Singles & Dance Mixes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ [2]
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