Dirty Dancer

Background

"Dirty Dancer" was written by Enrique Iglesias, RedOne, Evan Bogart, Erika Nuri and David Quiñones, and was produced by RedOne. It was recorded at South Point Studios, Miami. "Dirty Dancer" is a dance-pop song with some influences of electropop, dubstep, and rave music. According to Adam Graham of MTV News, "Dirty Dancer" is about "a comely-yet-dangerous female"; its hook features the lyrics "She's a dirty, dirty dancer/ Dirty, dirty dancer/ Never ever lonely". At the beginning on the song, Usher dedicates it to "the dirty girls all around the world". Iglesias and Usher exchange verses before, on the single remix, Wayne gives his rap verse, which makes a reference to actor Eddie Murphy. "Dirty Dancer" was included on Iglesias' sixth studio album, Euphoria, and Usher's EP Versus. "Dirty Dancer" was sent to Australian contemporary hit radio (CHR) and nights radio on 9 May, while the single remix was sent to US CHR 10 May. The single was released as a music download in North America on 12 June 2011, and was released in Europe and Oceania on 19 June.

Critical reception

Robert Copsey from Digital Spy and Allison Stewart from The Washington Post chose "Dirty Dancer" as one of the best tracks on Euphoria, with Stewart calling it "steamy". Prefix Magazine's Wilson McBee criticized Wayne's appearance on the track, and wrote that the line "Ain't no money like young money" was his "weakest last line ever".

Chart performance

The album version of "Dirty Dancer" debuted at number 194 on the UK Singles Chart on 17 July 2010, and at number fifty-one on the Dutch Single Top 100, where it later peaked at number thirty-nine. The album version also entered the Slovakian Radio Top 100 Oficiálna at number ninety-four in May 2011, as well as appearing on the Belgian Ultratip charts of Flanders and Wallonia at numbers nine and thirty-six, respectively.

On 16 May 2011, the single version debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number thirty-six, and on the Australian Dance Chart at number thirteen. It has since peaked at numbers twenty-four and nine, respectively. On the issue dated 28 May 2011, "Dirty Dancer" debuted at number nine on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs chart with 126,000 copies sold, and subsequently appeared at number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100. The same day it entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number eighteen. On 4 June 2011, "Dirty Dancer" debuted at number thirty-three on the Pop Songs chart, and later peaked at number seventeen. "Dirty Dancer" entered the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twenty-two on 30 May 2011. On the Dutch Top 40, the song debuted at number thirty-one and peaked at number twenty-five, while on the UK Singles Chart, the single version of "Dirty Dancer" has reached number twenty-one. It entered the French Singles Chart at number ninety-nine on 11 June 2011.

On 12 August 2011, the song charted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs making it his ninth #1 single on the chart. He is the only male artist in the chart's history to achieve this milestone, beating previous record-holder Michael Jackson. It is his third consecutive #1 on this chart from his album Euphoria, following "I Like It" and "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)".

Live performances

Enrique Iglesias first premiered "Dirty Dancer" live as part of a medley with "I Like It" that he performed on the tenth season of American Idol on 12 May 2011. For the performance, he wore blue jeans and a black leather jacket, which featured Usher and Lil Wayne appearing on video screens behind backing vocalists and a band. Initially, Iglesias was under a lone spotlight, before several green lasers beams lit the stage.

Music video

The music video for "Dirty Dancer" was directed by Yasha Malekzad, Jeff Dotson & Ethan Lader and premiered on 22 June 2011. It opens by showing a city during the night, and Iglesias making his way to a futuristic strip club, who then watches a holographic pole dancer performing a gymastic routine while wearing a black latex outfit. Usher is shown donning black clothing and sings alone in a dark room. Throughout the video he alternates between reality and a holographic. Iglesias is shown in similar scenes, and at one point lowers his jacket to expose his blue luminous heart. Iglesias presses buttons on a remote control and the dancer is replaced by another, dressed in silver, who is in turn replaced by a gold bikini-clad dancer. Wayne begins his verse while being projected onto a building, while other shots show him in a dark room, similar to those of Usher. The dancer whom Iglesias watches leans in to kiss him but is replaced by a holographic message reading "credit expired". Sabrina Cognata of WNOW-FM wrote, "This video has everything. And I mean everything worth having." MTV Buzzworthy's Jenna Hally Rubenstein wrote, "If you want to be a baller, this video is how you do it." The video has been viewed 77 million times.

1. "Dirty Dancer" (Single Version) (with Usher featuring Lil Wayne) – 4:05
2. "Dirty Dancer" (Music Video)
3. "Dirty Dancer" (Remix) (with Usher featuring Lil Wayne and Nayer) - 4:04

1. "Dirty Dancer" (Single Version) (with Usher featuring Lil Wayne) – 4:05
2. "Dirty Dancer" (with Usher) – 3:35

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of "Dirty Dancer".