Dynamite (Taio Cruz song)

Composition

The song "Dynamite" is written in the key of C# minor, with a tempo of 116 beats per minute. According to Cruz, "The song 'Dynamite' itself is about when you go to the club and when you go to a party and when you're just going out... you got to feel like, 'I'm just gonna explode.'" Dr. Luke and Max Martin had written the melody, and asked Bonnie McKee to write lyrics. McKee only met Cruz months after the song's release, and later said that “I thought ["Dynamite"] was the dumbest song I had ever written and thought it was going nowhere. And I actually think it was biggest song I have written so far.”

Release and reception

The song was released in the UK on 23 August 2010. The song has met with mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics. While reviewing "Rokstarr", Jon Caramanica from The New York Times gave a mixed review, saying that the song has "vapid lyrics to navigate (e.g. “I hit the floor cause that’s my plans, plans, plans, plans / I’m wearing all my favorite brands, brands, brands, brands”) but they don’t disrupt the mood, which is emphatic and rarely sensual".

Nick Levine from Digital Spy rated the song 4 out of 5 stars and gave it a positive review, naming it "a suitably Eurohousey club pumper" and saying that it's "essentially a cheap, tasty, and entirely satisfying banger". The New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones named the song as his second favorite of 2010.

Chart performance

"Dynamite" debuted at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 13 on the Digital Songs chart, selling 83,000 copies in its opening week. The single rose to number 14 on the week ending 10 July 2010 and on the week ending 21 August 2010, the single climbed to a peak of #2, giving Cruz his second Top 3 single in the US. The song kept this position for three consecutive weeks, blocked from the top position by Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" featuring Rihanna. It also became Cruz's second consecutive number one single on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart in its 21 August 2010 issue. "Dynamite" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 47 weeks, making it the longest run for a single since Train's "Hey Soul Sister", which stayed on that chart for 54 weeks. As of May 2012, it has sold over 6 million digital copies in the US alone. This marks the first song by a British act to reach this plateau, the twelfth song to do so, and only the second song to reach 6 million downloads without reaching number one (the first being Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours", which reached number six in September 2008).

The single debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number eight on the week ending 17 June 2010, marking Cruz's second Top 10 hit in the country. The following week the single fell to number nine, where it remained at for four consecutive weeks. On the week ending 18 September 2010, the song peaked at number one, becoming Cruz's second Canadian number one single, following "Break Your Heart"'s two-week stay at that position in May 2010. The song became the best-selling single in Canada during 2010 with sales of 319,000 copies.

On the chart dated 16 August 2010, "Dynamite" topped the New Zealand Singles Chart, and was certified gold, selling 7,500 copies. The song topped the Irish Singles Chart in its first week, becoming Cruz's first number one on that chart, following previous number two hit "Break Your Heart".

In Cruz's native United Kingdom, "Dynamite" charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 29 August 2010. This became his second number-one single in UK after "Break Your Heart". It knocked "Green Light" by Roll Deep off the summit, and was knocked off in turn by "Please Don't Let Me Go" by Olly Murs a week later.

Music video

The music video begins with a group of female mechanics working on cars at a garage. Cruz, wearing a red helmet, rides a silver motorbike towards the garage and stops by. As the music starts, he takes off his helmet and puts on his black sunglasses. He then kicks off a party, complete with a jacuzzi and fireworks. As the sun goes down and night falls, Cruz gives an impromptu concert of sorts with the mechanics as his audience. An enormous, fiery explosion then goes off behind Cruz, before subsiding into a shower of sparks.

Cruz has said that this is the perfect backdrop for the subtext of his song and that his inspiration came from "wanting to do things on a bike" since his previous videos included cars and boats. "So you're gonna see me spin the tyres on this, which is pretty cool!" One of the vehicles brought for the video shoot was a "massive truck" which was used to film big screen project Universal Soldier. Speaking of the shoot he said "I've never done a video that has this many props in it. We've got the most amazing, wrecked cars."

Live performances

Taio performed "Dynamite" for the first time on Live with Regis & Kelly on 9 June 2010. Later, he also performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, T4 on the Beach, America's Got Talent, GMTV, Dancing with the Stars, and on 31 December 2010, he performed the song on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest. On 12 August 2012, Cruz performed "Dynamite" at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

Track listing

1. "Dynamite" (Original Mix)- 3:24
2. "Dynamite" (Ralphi Rosario Club Remix) – 8:03
3. "Dynamite" (Mixin Marc Club Remix) – 5:34
4. "Dynamite" (StoneBridge Club Remix) – 7:20

1. "Dynamite" - 3:24
2. "Dynamite" (Mixin Marc Radio Mix) – 3:34

Personnel

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