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Beautiful Monster

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"Beautiful Monster"
Song

"Beautiful Monster" is a song by American singer Ne-Yo from his fourth studio album, Libra Scale. The song was released to iTunes as the album's first single on June 8, 2010. The song was written by Ne-Yo, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Sandy Wilhelm, and it was produced by Stargate and Sandy Vee.[1] It has received initial positive reception, with Ne-Yo's vocals being compared to the vocal styling of Michael Jackson.

Background

"Beautiful Monster"'s original cover art was revealed online on May 21, 2010, which was a close-up of Ne-Yo's profile with a mysterious woman lurking in a forest in the background.[2] Although another cover art was revealed with the forest background altered to a city including buildings and a flashing car light, the original cover with the forest background was eventually selected as the official cover art.[3] The song was written by Ne-Yo and produced by longtime collaborators Stargate, responsible for producing some of his biggest hits such as "So Sick", "Because of You", and "Closer". The remix features Brooklyn hip-hop artist Israel The ILLa Real.[4] "Beautiful Monster" premiered online on May 25, 2010.[5]

Composition

"Beautiful Monster"
A sample of "Beautiful Monster", which includes influences such as Eurodisco and house, featuring Ne-Yo's R&B vocal stylings, which have been compared to those of Michael Jackson
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Beautiful Monster" is an uptempo dance song, containing new rave, Europop, and Ibiza influences,[3][6][7][8] featuring Ne-Yo's R&B vocals over "strobing dancefloor beats."[9] "Beautiful Monster", a pop piece,[8] features a Eurodisco feel,[6] described as "spookily anthemic", having "big filler sweeps", house beats, and "decimated snare builds" of '90s electronica.[8] The song has been compared to the sound of Michael Jackson, specifically Ne-Yo's "backing vocals and audible breath intake" according to Bill Lamb of About.com.[6] Alistair Dickinson of PopMatters said "Ne-Yo’s Michael Jackson-esque wails and screams are still in full effect". The song is composed of "out-of-tranc-y keyboard lines" and a "throbbing drumbeat."[7] "Beautiful Monster" consists lyrically about being attracted to a dangerous woman.[9] August Brown of The Los Angeles Times compared the "topical and sonic" content of the song to Lady Gaga's work on The Fame Monster, specifically the lyrical basis of "Bad Romance" and "Monster".[8] The song is written in common time with a maintaining tempo of 125 beats per minute, written in F minor, and Ne-Yo's vocals range two octaves from F4 to B♭5.[10]

Meanwhile, Ne-Yo himself described the lyrical background to the song to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis - Assistant Editor of Blues & Soul - thus: "The song itself is a small piece of a much larger puzzle. In that the album it comes from - Libra Scale - is based upon this short story that I wrote, which basically follows these three characters who are forced to choose between money-power-and-fame versus love... And the song 'Beautiful Monster' actually represents the mind-state of the man in the story whenever he comes into contact with his love interest-slash-nemesis. Whose name is Diamond Eye, and who really is best described as 'a beautiful monster'! You know, she's forbidden fruit; she's that girl who you know is gonna be nothing but trouble... But - because she's so intriguing - even if it literally might cost you your life, you still cannot resist her aura. Which is where the hook 'She's a monster, a beautiful monster; But I don't mind' comes from!"[11]

Critical reception

August Brown of The Los Angeles Times complimented the song, calling "his most evocative effort" and Ne-Yo's vocals, stating, "no male pop singer short of T-Pain can stack harmonies better right now, and when he peels off those runs of "I don't mind" after the choruses".[8] However Brown commented that, "Ne-Yo is better at writing dark edges into songs than performing them himself; he's just too put-together to truly do the freakily possessed lover act."[8] Bill Lamb of About.com favored the track's "burbling Eurodisco feel", and commented, "It also always feels like the ghost of Michael Jackson is never far away in the music of Ne-Yo."[6] Alistair Dickinson of PopMatters also gave the song a positive review, comparing it to Michael Jackson.[7] Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly compared the song to Ne-Yo's previous hit "Closer", stating, "Ne-Yo’s brand of progressive R&B has a been a winner so far. 'Monster' should be a beast, too."[4] Although Mariel Concepcion of Billboard said the song did not boast the lyricism of Ne-Yo's past songs, she said, "the beat's thumping bassline and the singer/songwriter's smooth voice make for a perfect combination on this summer hit in the making."[12]

Chart performance

"Beautiful Monster" was most successful in the United Kingdom, where it became Ne-Yo's third single to top the UK Singles Chart after "So Sick" in March 2006 and "Closer" in June 2008, and reached the top ten in Korea and Italy, becoming Ne-Yo's highest peak there. It was certified Platinum in Italy for sales over 30,000 units. In the U.S., however, it didn't even crack the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number fifty three. It failed to match the success of the lead singles from his previous three albums, "So Sick", "Because of You" and "Closer", which all reached the top 10. The song, however, did top the Hot Dance Club Songs chart, making it his second number one there after 2008's "Closer".

Music video

The video for "Beautiful Monster" premiered on July 14, 2010 along with the video for "Champagne Life". The video beings with Ne-Yo stumbling through an alley (possibly intoxicated) and causing havoc with his supernatural powers. These powers were demonstrated in the music video for "One in a Million" where he levitates a rose to a woman to court her and stops a moving taxi to keep her from ignoring him. After throwing a car and causing an explosion, Ne-Yo encounters two men with long dreadlocks and white suits that drop from the sky to fight him. Both men have glowing, white, right eyes that represent the "Beautiful Monster's" influence over them. After choreographed fighting, Ne-Yo defeats the two men and quickly arrives at a red carpet event. He then walks into a club where all of a sudden, everyone freezes mid-action. Some of these clubbers start dancing (all with the glowing white eye) and send Ne-Yo into another room where the "Beautiful Monster" waited. After a heated struggle, the Monster flashes both her silver, glowing eyes at Ne-Yo. For the rest of the video, Ne-Yo has his hat over his right eye and dances with other people in white suits, showing that the "Beautiful Monster" had won and he was now hers.

This video is the last video in a series that Ne-Yo created. The first music video in the series is "Champagne Life" where it shows Ne-Yo to be a part of a crime fighting group that's living the life with money, women and fame. The second video of the series is "One in a Million" where Ne-Yo has his pick of the women but spends his entire time trying to court a seemingly uninterested girl. His supernatural powers are demonstrated in this video for the first time. The third and final music video of the series is "Beautiful Monster" where it shows that the Monster who leads to Ne-Yo's demise is actually the uninterested girl from the previous video.

Promotion

Ne-Yo performed the song for the first time in Brooklyn on June 14, 2010.[13] He also performed the song on So You Think You Can Dance on July 1, 2010,[14] on the Rede Globo Brazilian TV show Altas Horas, on August 14, 2010 and on German talent show Popstars: Girls forever on September 23, 2010.

Track listing

  • Digital download[15]
  1. "Beautiful Monster" – 4:11
  • German CD single
  1. "Beautiful Monster" (Album Version) – 4:12
  2. "Beautiful Monster" (Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda Remix Edit) – 4:11
  • Digital download (The Remixes)
  1. "Beautiful Monster" (Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda Remix Edit) – 4:11
  2. "Beautiful Monster" (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Save The Soul Edit) – 4:33
  3. "Beautiful Monster" (Low Sunday Terrified Edit) – 4:24
  4. "Beautiful Monster" (Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda Remix Extended) – 6:36
  5. "Beautiful Monster" (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Save The Soul Club) – 9:43
  6. "Beautiful Monster" (Low Sunday Terrified Club) – 7:22
  7. "Beautiful Monster" (Mixin Marc & Tony Svedja Remix Instrumental) – 6:36
  8. "Beautiful Monster" (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Save The Soul Anthem Dub) – 9:43
  9. "Beautiful Monster" (Low Sunday Terrified Dub) – 8:00

Personnel

Source:[16]

Charts and certifications

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by UK Singles Chart number-one single
August 8, 2010 – August 14, 2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs number-one single
October 2, 2010 – October 9, 2010 		Succeeded by

Release history

See also

References

  1. ^ "Legal Title: "Beautiful Monster" Ne-Yo". ASCAP. Retrieved 2010-08-25.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Ne-Yo to Unleash 'Beautiful Monster,' New Album Due in September". Rap-Up. 2010-05-21. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b "New Music: Ne-Yo – 'Beautiful Monster' [Snippet]". Rap-Up. 2010-05-23. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b Wete, Brad (2010-05-25). "Ne-Yo unleashes 'Beautiful Monster': Stream the first single from the upcoming album here". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (May 25, 2010). "Ne-Yo Single 'Beautiful Monster' Debuts". MTV news. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c d Lamb, Bill (2010-05-25). "Ne-Yo's New Single "Beautiful Monster" Debuts". About.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c Dickinson, Alistair (2010-05-28). "Ne-Yo Meets a "Beautiful Monster"". PopMatters. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Brown, August (2010-05-25). "Snap Judgment: Ne-Yo's "Beautiful Monster"". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b Anderson, Sara D. (2010-05-26). "Ne-Yo, 'Beautiful Monster' -- New Song". AOL Radio Blog. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0096257&ref=google
  11. ^ "Ne-Yo interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' August 2010". Bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
  12. ^ Concepcion, Mariel (2010-06-18). "Ne-Yo, "Beautiful Monster"". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 23 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ thainadovale on 2/19/2011 3:09:00 PM. "Ne-Yo : Blog : Video: Ne-Yo Performing "Beautiful Monster" In Brooklyn". Yearofthegentleman.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ thainadovale on 2/19/2011 3:09:00 PM. "Ne-Yo : Blog : Ne-Yo "Beautiful Monster" YouTube Contest!". Yearofthegentleman.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^ a b "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Archived from the original on 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2011-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Beautiful Monster (liner notes). Ne-Yo. Def Jam Recordings. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue 1067 (Week Commencing 9 August 2010)" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. p. 4. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  18. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  19. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  20. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  21. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  22. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 29. týden 2010 in the date selector.
  23. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster". Tracklisten.
  24. ^ "ne-yo – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for ne-yo. [dead link‍]
  25. ^ "Ne-Yo: Beautiful Monster" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  26. ^ "Classement des ventes de titres téléchargés en France du 27 septembre au 03 octobre 2010" (in French). Chartsinfrance. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  27. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  28. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  29. ^ "Chart Track: Week 29, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
  30. ^ "Media Forest Week 33, 2010". Israeli Airplay Chart. Media Forest.
  31. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster". Top Digital Download.
  32. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard.
  33. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  34. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster". Top 40 Singles.
  35. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  36. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201029 into search.
  37. ^ "GAON Music Charts". Gaonchart.co.kr. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
  38. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster". Singles Top 100.
  39. ^ "Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster". Swiss Singles Chart.
  40. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  41. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  42. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  43. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  44. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  45. ^ "ne-yo Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard.
  46. ^ "European Hot 100". Billboard.com. 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  47. ^ [1] Archived January 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  48. ^ "MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 2010" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved 10 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  49. ^ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Ricerche e dati di mercato". Fimi.it. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  50. ^ "Year end chart: Billboard Hot Dance Club Play". Archived from the original on 29 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-26. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  51. ^ "Italian single certifications – Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "2010" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Beautiful Monster" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  52. ^ "British single certifications – Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Beautiful Monster in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  53. ^ a b "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  54. ^ "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2011-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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