Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston song)
"Beautiful Girls" | ||||
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Single by Sean Kingston | ||||
from the album Sean Kingston | ||||
Released | May 26, 2007 | |||
Recorded | 2006–2007 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Sean Kingston singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Beautiful Girls" on YouTube |
"Beautiful Girls" is the debut single by the American reggae-influenced musician Sean Kingston from his 2007 eponymous debut album; it was first released in 2007, when Kingston was 17 and is considered his "signature song". The song is about a boy who feels "suicidal" (radio edits have changed this to "in denial") over the prospect of dating a "beautiful girl" only to have her break up with him.
The song samples the 1961 song "Stand by Me" by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King.[2]
Rapper Lil Mama and actors Kenny Vibert and Lil' JJ are featured in the music video directed by Marcus Raboy, which hit 1 billion YouTube views on September 8, 2022.[3]
Lyrics controversy
[edit]Due to the lyrics containing references to suicide, the track was removed from various radio playlists including FM104 in Dublin, where complaints were phoned in on a late night chat show, The Adrian Kennedy Phoneshow, and Wild 102 in Roseau, Minnesota. It was allegedly pulled from 2FM although a spokesperson said the song was not on its playlist at the time but did not confirm if it had been prior.[4] FM104 replaced "suicidal" with "in denial", a change Sean Kingston made for the radio station. The edited version also changed the line "Damn all these beautiful girls" to "Man, all these beautiful girls", and "When I went away for doing my first crime" became "When I'd rush back just to see you in time".
Track listing
[edit]US promo CD
- "Beautiful Girls" (main version) – 3:45
- "Beautiful Girls" (instrumental) – 3:45
- "Beautiful Girls" (a cappella) – 3:45
UK CD single
- "Beautiful Girls" (album version) – 4:02
- "Beautiful Girls" (a cappella) – 3:41
- "Beautiful Girls" (instrumental) – 3:40
- "Beautiful Girls" (remix) (featuring Fabolous and Lil' Boosie) – 3:27
- "Beautiful Girls" (video)
Official remixes
[edit]- Official remix featuring Fabolous and Lil' Boosie – (3:28)
- Official remix featuring AC – (4:12)
- Official remix featuring Lil Mama – (3:50)
Official versions
[edit]- Main version, radio edit – 3:43
- Album version, LP version – 4:02
- Extended version, video version – 4:17
Chart performance
[edit]The song benefited from extensive airplay before its digital release, reaching as high as number 17 on the Hot 100. On July 24, "Beautiful Girls" was accidentally leaked onto the US iTunes Store, two days before the planned release date. The week after the song's digital release it hit number one on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs, debuting with 260,000 downloads in its first week (the second highest digital sales for a new song of 2007, only behind Rihanna's "Umbrella").[5] Kingston became the first artist born within the 1990s to top the Hot 100, beating rapper Soulja Boy Tell 'Em to it by six weeks.[6] It has also gone on to occupy the top spot on the US Hot 100 Airplay and the Canadian Hot 100. It remained on top of the UK Singles Chart for four weeks before being knocked off by the Sugababes' first single from their fifth studio album Change, "About You Now". The song ended 2007 as the year's 15th biggest-selling single in the UK.[7] On the official ARIA charts in Australia, it debuted at number one but fell to number two the following week when Delta Goodrem's comeback single took the top spot. "Beautiful Girls" returned the next week and remained for a month before being replaced by Timbaland's "The Way I Are".
Charts
[edit]
Weekly charts[edit] |
Year-end charts[edit]
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Certifications
[edit]Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[63] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[64] | Gold | 30,000* |
Canada (Music Canada)[65] | 2× Platinum | 80,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[66] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Germany (BVMI)[67] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] | Platinum | 15,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[69] | Gold | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[70] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[71] Digital |
Platinum | 1,000,000* |
Ringtone | ||
Canada (Music Canada)[72] | 3× Platinum | 120,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[73] Ringtone |
Platinum | 20,000* |
United States (RIAA)[74] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Covers
[edit]A few months after "Beautiful Girls" was released in 2007, a new online video service called Votigo began a cover contest in which fans could submit covers of the song for a chance to get a call from Sean Kingston. After an online vote user Mallory Robbins won with an a cappella version of the song. Top honors also went to a rock cover of the song performed by the Ailan Christopher Project. Shortly afterwards, singer JoJo released a cover response version of the track which was released on Myspace, however was not featured on her upcoming album. Chris Moyles also released a parody cover, however it was about the song describing how bad it was in his opinion.
The lead singer of Sublime with Rome, Rome, sang the acoustic version of "Beautiful Girls" on RAWsession on October 20, 2008.
The Plain White T's, whose song was knocked out of the charts by this one, did a cover version for Yahoo Music. Lead vocalist Tom Higgenson says that the group "started covering it as a joke almost. We started learning it because we were number one for a few weeks and then we got knocked out of the number one spot by Sean Kingston, by this song. It's kind of like an ode to Sean."[75] To close out the song guitarist Mike Retondo breaks into the chorus of "Stand by Me", which is also done in the cover version by Boyce Avenue, a nod to the fact that that song's bassline is used in "Beautiful Girls". Maverick Sabre did the same at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[76]
Teddy Geiger covered the song on her 2007 tour, due to popularity a recorded version of the song will be featured as a bonus track on the iTunes version of her upcoming CD The March.
Lil' Brianna remixed the song and featured Kingston's vocals on her second mixtape, Princess of Miami.
Jesse McCartney covered "Beautiful Girls" during his Right Where You Want Me tour.
David Archuleta briefly sang the chorus of the song at the end of his May 6, 2008 performance on the American TV show American Idol. He was singing Ben E. King's original "Stand by Me" song.
Deer Tick recorded a cover of "Beautiful Girls", which can be found on Myspace.
Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter recorded a cover of this song and has occasionally performed it live.
Boyband JLS performed a mashup of "Beautiful Girls" and "Stand by Me" as their bottom two performance on the fifth series of the UK TV show The X Factor. A year later on series six of the show, Lloyd Daniels sang the chorus and last verse of the song in his November 30, 2008 performance, also singing King's original "Stand by Me".
Bayside covers the song on Punk Goes Pop Volume Two.
BAMF! recorded a version entitled "Bootyfull Girl".
Russell Crowe, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, and Alan Doyle performed a cover version during the press tour for Robin Hood and at several benefit shows afterwards.
Beautiful Girls Reply
[edit]"Beautiful Girls Reply" | |
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Song by JoJo | |
Released | July 20, 2007 |
Recorded | 2007 |
Genre | R&B |
Length | 3:32 |
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Joanna "JoJo" Levesque |
Producer(s) | J.R. Rotem |
"Beautiful Girls" (also known as "Beautiful Girls Reply") is a song by American singer JoJo. It was released digitally on July 20, 2007, as a cover response to "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston.[77] The song samples Ben E. King's classic "Stand by Me" and uses digital pitch correction technology on the vocals. Whereas Kingston's version is about a boy who is suicidal over the failure of his relationship with a "beautiful girl", JoJo speaks from a girl's perspective.
Chart performance
[edit]The song debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart one month after its release.
Chart (2007) | Peak position |
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US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)[78] | 39 |
Parodies
[edit]- Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave from BBC Radio 1 have produced a popular parody, Sean Krapston – A Suicidal song.[79]
- Kel Mitchell has produced a song on his Myspace called "Scariest Girl".
- Panamanian reggae group Comando Tiburón made a parody of the song in Spanish, called "No Llores Más" ("Don't Cry No More").
Use in media
[edit]This song is featured in the 2008 monster film Cloverfield, the 2019 crime drama Hustlers, and on The CW's Gossip Girl. The "suicidal" version of the song, which ends differently from the single mix is also featured in the video game SingStar Hottest Hits. It was the score screen theme for almost every game from the Peruvian flash games website Inkagames.
See also
[edit]- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2007 (U.S.)
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2007 (Canada)
- List of number-one singles of 2007 (Ireland)
- List of number-one singles in Australia in 2007
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (New Zealand)
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
- List of European number-one hits of 2007
References
[edit]- ^ Smith, Troy L. (13 September 2021). "Every No. 1 song of the 2000s ranked from worst to best". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ https://www.whosampled.com/sample/206/Sean-Kingston-Beautiful-Girls-Ben-E.-King-Stand-by-Me/ [bare URL]
- ^ Rowley, Glenn (2022-09-08). "Sean Kingston's 'Beautiful Girls' Joins YouTube's Billion Views Club". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-11-03.
- ^ Independent.ie - Station bans hit song about suicide (September 21, 2007)
- ^ "Kingston Has 'Beautiful' View Atop Revamped Hot 100". Billboard. August 2, 2007. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ "Music Industry Salesaccess-date=2007-09-08". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30.
- ^ BBC Music. "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007 ". Retrieved 2007-12-30
- ^ "Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
- ^ "Issue 948" ARIA Top 40 Urban Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
- ^ "Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
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- ^ Sean Kingston — Beautiful Girls. TopHit. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
- ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 39. týden 2007 in the date selector.
- ^ "Hitlisten.NU – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls" (in Danish). Tracklisten.
- ^ "Hits of the World: Eurocharts". Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 42. October 20, 2007. p. 101.
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- ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
- ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Beautiful Girls". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
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- ^ "Romanian Top 100 – Issue nr: 43/2007 (05 Noiembrie - 11 Noiembrie 2007)" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
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- ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
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- ^ "Rapports Annuels 2007". Ultratop. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
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- ^ "European Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
- ^ "Top de l'année Top Singles 2007" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
- ^ [1] Archived January 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Dance Top 100 - 2007". Mahasz. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ "Rádiós Top 100 - hallgatottsági adatok alapján - 2007". Mahasz. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2007". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten - Single 2007". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ "Top Selling Singles of 2007". Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
- ^ "Årslista Singlar – År 2007" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
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- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
- ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
- ^ "Canadian single certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". Music Canada.
- ^ "Guld og platin i November" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sean Kingston; 'Beautiful Girls')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". Recorded Music NZ.
- ^ "Spanish digital single certifications" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved August 30, 2022. Select Canciones under "Categoría", select 2008 under "Año". Select 28 under "Semana". Click on "BUSCAR LISTA".
- ^ "British single certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ "American single certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Canadian ringtone certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". Music Canada.
- ^ "Spanish ringtone certifications" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved June 17, 2022. Select Canciones under "Categoría", select 2008 under "Año". Select 39 under "Semana". Click on "BUSCAR LISTA".
- ^ "American ringtone certifications – Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ "Yahoo Music - Beautiful Girls: Pepsi Smash Exclusive Cover Art by Plain White T's". Retrieved 28 February 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Maverick Sabre - Beautiful Girl/Stand By Me in the Live Lounge". YouTube. 2012-06-21. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
- ^ Brian (July 20, 2007). "WHO SANG IT BETTER? JOJO VS. SEAN KINGSTON". Concrete Loop. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "JoJo - Chart history". Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 for JoJo. Retrieved 28 August 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Download of Sean Krapston – A Suicidal song
- 2007 debut singles
- Sean Kingston songs
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles
- Music videos directed by Marcus Raboy
- Number-one singles in Australia
- European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- Number-one singles in New Zealand
- Number-one singles in Scotland
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- Song recordings produced by J. R. Rotem
- Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
- Songs written by J. R. Rotem
- Songs written by Sean Kingston
- Doo-wop songs
- Songs about suicide
- 2007 songs
- Epic Records singles
- Music controversies