Forever (Chris Brown song)

Background

The song was written by Brown and his songwriting team, the Graffiti Artists (Rob Allen and Andre Merritt). He stated that after entering the studio, Polow da Don created a beat that Brown wrote along to. Because the producer's style was "more of a European, techno, house-type feel," the group "wanted to give it that other side of crossover, and go a little bit to that pop realm". "Forever" is one of four new songs Brown recorded for the re-release of his second studio album Exclusive. He recorded the song using an autotune effect, as he did in one of his previous singles, "Kiss Kiss". The song was first intended to be on Brown's following album, but decided he "wasn't ready to release a new album yet".

"Forever" is actually an extended version of a commercial jingle for Doublemint gum, commissioned by an advertising company working for Wrigley. Brown first created the short version for the commercial, then extended and amended it into a full song during a recording session in February 2008, which was paid for by the gum company. Originally, the plan was to follow up his third single, "With You," with the Kanye West-featuring "Down," but the new material won out. Although the label initially was reluctant to release "Forever" as a single, the song was so "potent and strong" that it overruled any hesitations regarding its commercial connections.

Release

The song was first released in on November 2, 2007 as a digital download in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand. The digital download release for the song came months later on April 15, 2008 in France, on April 22, 2008 in Japan and on August 12, 2008 in the United States and the Netherlands. An EP featuring three remixes was released in Ireland on June 13, 2008, in Australia, Austria and the Netherlands on June 16, 2008 and in Japan on August 13, 2008.

Composition

"Forever" is a Eurodance and Euro disco song that runs for 4:38 (4 minutes and 38 seconds). It contains influences of techno, trance, and house boasting bubbling and gurgling synths and a "rolling around the bottom of the sea"-sounding bass line. According to the digital sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, it is written in the key of B major, with a simple chord progression of E-B-F#-C#m. The song runs through a "with movement"-style tempo and maintains a tempo of 120 beats per minute in common time. Brown's vocal range spans nearly an octave and a half from B3 to G#5.

Critical reception

Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song four and a half stars, and said it was one of Brown's best to date. Billboard stated that the single "is really a love song but bangs with electrified production from Polow Da Don to ignite dancefloors." Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy gave the song two out of five stars, saying "Listening to 'Forever' is a pleasant enough experience, but this track never truly sparks into life or finds its own identity." He went on to say that, "His style is a bit hard to distinguish from Usher, Ne-Yo and the rest of the current crop of American male solo artists."

Background and synopsis

The two-days shoot took place in Los Angeles, California, at the beginning of March 2008. It was directed by Joseph Kahn. The video premiered on TRL on April 30, 2008 and on BET's 106 & Park on May 5, 2008. The video reached number one on the MTV Online Chart. BET placed the song at #55 on their Notarized: Top 100 Videos countdown. Brown's main love interest in the video is played by model Megan Abrigo, comedian Daniel Tosh's girlfriend.

The music video starts off with Brown driving into a club (where he chews a fresh stick of Doublemint Gum), and people are seen dancing while Brown starts to sing the first verse. Brown is also seen singing with light effects circling him. During the choruses, Brown and his background dancers start to house dance on the empty dance floor. Among the dancers are Marie Courchinoux and Rino Nakasone Razalan from Beat Freaks. In the second verse, Brown is walking outside the club following his love interest. Later he is seen performing a 540 crescent kick in front of a water fountain. During the bridge, Brown is seen in the top roof with his love interest; the girl falls off the roof and Brown jumps to catch her. The two land safely, and after the final chorus, Brown drives out of the club.

Reception

According to the Billboard, the song's video is "digital dream about sharing with one who makes your world stop." The video was popular in American television. The video for "Forever" debuted on BET's 106 & Park at number 10 on July 21, 2008 before finally reach number 2 and has stayed in the countdown for nine days. The video also has reached number 2 on for 8 days MTV TRL, behind Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl", and has stayed in the countdown for 29 days.

The video for "Forever" was also popular enough across Asia, by debuting at number 13 on MTV Asia program, "Chart Attack", which count 20 most popular video in Asia and so far has peaked at number 1 replacing Mariah Carey's "Bye Bye". "Forever" also debuted at number 7 on MTV Hip Hop Countdown; MTV Asian program which count 10 most popular urban video in the region and has reached number 1 for six consecutive weeks. In UK, it has reached number 1 on MTV Base. It also has peaked at number 1 on the MTV Online Chart for several weeks. The video was nominated in the "Best Dancing in a Video", "Best Choreography" and "Video of the Year" categories 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

Chart performance

"Forever" has reached number one in Ireland and New Zealand, and the top ten in Australia, Canada, the United States and the UK.

The song debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs on May 10, 2008, selling 113,072 digital downloads on its first week. Due to its high digital sales, "Forever" debuted at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest debut of that week along with Jesse McCartney's "Leavin'" which debuted at number fourteen; it became Brown's ninth top-ten single. The song also debuted at number nine on the Canadian Hot 100 based only on digital sales and has peaked there for 3 non-consecutive weeks, before finally jumped to number two. Has peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks behind "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry and Rihanna's "Disturbia". It has been certified gold by the RIAA. It also stayed in the top ten for 15 weeks. It has sold over 3,830,000 copies as of April 2014.

"Forever" began receiving airplay on pop and rhythmic radio stations across the US while urban radio stations still playing his previous single, "Take You Down". The song has finally been added to urban radio stations in the week of July 7, 2008, and made a debut at number ninety-five on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number seventy-two. "Forever" debuted at number sixty-three on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, and has peaked at number-one on the Hot 100 Airplay, staying there for three weeks.

"Forever" has entered various Billboard charts including number one the Hot 100 Airplay, Mainstream Top 40, Pop 100, Pop 100 Airplay, Hot Digital Songs, Hot Digital Tracks, and Hot RingMasters.

"Forever" also became a hit across Oceania. "Forever" debuted at number-forty on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart, and in its second week ascended to number-five before reaching its peak at number-one, due to high digital sales. "Forever" has officially become Brown's eighth top ten hit in the country. It currently sits at number-one on the official RIANZ Singles Chart for eight weeks so far, keeping Rihanna's "Take a Bow" from taking the top spot for five weeks. It became his fifth number one single in New Zealand, after "Run It!", "Kiss Kiss", "With You" and "No Air". It has been certified Platinum by RIANZ for sales in excess of 15,000, and was the third biggest selling single of 2008 in New Zealand. "Forever" debuted at number twenty-nine on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and the following week rose to number-sixteen following its physical release. "Forever" has since peaked at number seven. "Forever" has not only become the third consecutive top ten hit from Exclusive, but has also surpassed the success of "Kiss Kiss" to become the album's second most successful single.

The song also became successful across Europe. In the UK, the song charted on June 1, 2008, at number 17 on downloads alone. The following week it moved up to number 11, and a week later, to number 8 (still on downloads alone). "Forever" was physically released on June 16, 2008, and on the chart dated June 29, 2008, it reached its peak position at number 4, becoming Chris Brown's second highest charting solo single in the UK at the time, behind "Run It!" (No. 2). It has sold 209,275 copies and stayed in the top ten for six weeks, becoming his third highest-selling single there after "With You" (221,750 copies) and "No Air" (316,630 copies). In Ireland, "Forever" debuted at number nine, and two weeks later peaked at number six. In the next week, for the issue dated June 22, "Forever" knocked Rihanna's "Take A Bow" off the top spot on the Irish Singles Chart, becoming his first number-one single in that country, and stayed at number one for two non-consecutive weeks. The song also reached number 12 on European Hot 100 Singles, becoming his third highest-charting single there.

In other media

US Promo CD

1. "Forever" (Main) – 4:38
2. "Forever" (Instrumental) – 4:40

UK and Ireland CD single

1. "Forever" (Main)
2. "Forever" (23 Deluxe Remix)

Australian CD single

1. "Forever" (Main)
2. "Forever" (23 Deluxe Remix)
3. "Forever" (Cahill Club Mix)
4. "Forever" (Bobby Bass & J Remy Club Mix)
5. "Forever" (video)

Official versions

Credits and personnel