Format CD
digital download Writer(s) Martijn Garritsen | Label Spinnin' Producer(s) Martin Garrix | |
Released 17 June 2013 (2013-06-17) Length 5:04 (original mix)
2:51 (radio edit) | ||
"Animals" is a song released by Dutch DJ and record producer Martin Garrix when he was 17. It was released as a digital download on 17 June 2013 on iTunes, the song quickly became popular within the EDM culture, leading to Garrix becoming the youngest producer to ever have a song reach number one on the electronic music store Beatport. The track was a commercial success, reaching the top ten or topping on a number of electronic music charts, topping singles charts in the United Kingdom and Belgium, and reached number 21 on the United States' Billboard Hot 100.
Contents
Composition and release
Prior to release, the track gained buzz after being played anonymously with speculation increasing about the author after Dutch record label Spinnin' Records released a clip of the track online only titled "Animals (Teaser)". It started to reach even more speculation after a Vine video featuring Agnes from Despicable Me was posted. The track was, at various times, attributed to other acts like Hardwell, GTA, Sidney Samson and Bassjackers before the actual identity of the producer was revealed.
According to Garrix, the melody was based on a previous, never-released track that he composed two years prior, and the "ruthlessly minimalist" rhythmic sound (the drop) is an interpretation of Busta Rhymes' "What It Is".
Commercial performance
Animals booked initial success at electronic music festivals and venues like Ultra Korea, Tomorrowland, Governors Beach Club, Amsterdam Dance Event, and Ultra Music Festival, to name a few. Subsequently it rose to number one at the online music store, Beatport 100. In the period of August to October, the track began to climb up dance hit-lists as well as mainstream singles charts across continental Europe, getting all the way to top on Belgium's Ultratop 50. In November, the single debuted at number one on UK's Official Singles Chart, ahead of tough competition from Lily Allen's 2013 John Lewis Christmas advert cover single "Somewhere Only We Know" and Ellie Goulding's Children in Need 2013 cover "How Long Will I Love You?".
In the United States, "Animals" was the first instrumental track to reach the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 since Kenny G's "Millennium Mix" of "Auld Lang Syne" in 1999.
As of February 2017, the song's music video has over 950 million views on YouTube.
Usage in media
"Animals" was used in a commercial for video game Madden NFL 25. It was added in the March 2014 update of Asphalt 8: Airborne. In April, the track was also used in the Dior advertisement for their "Dior Addict Fluid Stick". "Animals" is featured on the new video game series Just Dance 2016. The instrumental version of the song was also featured in FIFA Online 3, an online free-to-play version of the FIFA series.
Parodies
In December 2013, a SoundCloud user named McMaNGOS posted an edited version of "Animals" titled "Funnymals", which remixes the song's drop to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm". The "Funnymals" edit gained prominence at the 2014 Ultra Music Festival, when Deadmau5 (who had made comments attacking Garrix on Twitter earlier in the day, and has been a prominent critic of "mainstream" electronic music) played the edit as part of his live set.