Genre Hip hop Label Bad Boy
Atlantic | Length 4:10 | |
Released November 14, 2006 (2006-11-14) Format CD single
digital download Writer(s) Elizabeth Bingham
Sean Combs
Stephen "Static Major" Garrett
Shannon Jones
Jack Knight
Shannon Lawrence
Ryan "Royce" Montgomery
Leroy Watson | ||
"Tell Me" is the second single from Diddy's 2006 album, Press Play. The song features Christina Aguilera and is produced by Just Blaze. According to All Access, the single hit radio stations on November 7, 2006.
Contents
Background and composition
This song was originally created as a demo track to test pop–R&B group Danity Kane but Diddy decided to use Christina Aguilera for the song.
The song was co-written by R&B singer / songwriters Static Major & Yummy Bingham. Diddy's rap was written with Royce da 5'9".
The song had general success but failed to be a major hit in US, most likely due to lack of promotion.
"Tell Me" has met critical acclaim and has been hailed as one of the stand-outs on Press Play.
"Tell Me" is written in the key of A♭ minor with a tempo of 99 beats per minute.
Critical reception
Andy Kellman of Allmusic highlighted this song on album. Los Angeles Times editors Natalie Nichols and Serena Kim wrote that Diddy gives Xtina a "task on the club-thumping." Mike Joseph of PopMatters wrote that: "pop princess Christina Aguilera serves as little more than hook girl on her guest spot."
Commercial performance
The track was moderate hit worldwide. It reached the top 10 in the UK at #8 (becoming Aguilera's 14th top 10 hit in the UK), and went top 20 in 15 different countries. The song debuted on the Top 75 singles chart in the UK at number 20, based on download sales alone, during the week ending Sunday 10 December. It climbed to number 8 the next week.
"Tell Me" in the United States charted at only #47 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his lowest charting single since "Diddy" hit #66 back in 2001. Most critics gave the track good reviews and were sure that it would become another top 40 hit for him, but that was not that case. Some think that it was lack of promotion, some think that "Hurt" which Aguilera's other song at the time disrupted the song's performance. This single was not released in France and Italy. It was a hit in Bulgaria and Philippines.
Despite being only a minor success in the United States, the song gained somewhat of a cult following or strong recurrent by some U.S. radio station playlists, and therefore some stations such has Philadelphia's Q102 and Chicago's Kiss 103.5 still have the track in moderate rotation. "Tell Me" is the #7 most played song of Z100 New York the biggest radio station in the world proving further more that it was a huge hit in certain markets. It also made Z100's Top 100 of 2007 at #11, passing Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Kanye West's "Stronger". The total is 529,000 singles sold from the week 04 to 10 of 2007.
Music video
The video for "Tell Me" was shot during the last week of September 2006 in Los Angeles and was directed by Erik White. The video was premiered on TRL October 30, 2006. The video entered the TRL charts two days later at number 10. In the UK the video was premiered on the 17th November, 2006 being the same day Aguilera kicked off her world tour.
In the beginning of the video the stereo equipment shown is the Beocenter 2 DVD player, Beolab 8000 speakers, and the Beo 4 remote control from Bang & Olufsen. The TV that is used is a Panasonic plasma TV. The Modernist club chair is an iconic LC2 Grand Confort Petite Model Armchair, designed by Le Corbusier in 1928.
In this video, Diddy somewhat represents the Maxell "blown away guy".
The video begins with Diddy in a virtually empty white room except for the stereo equipment mentioned above, with the track "Diddy Rock", another track from Press Play, playing in the background. After his attractive female assistant asks Diddy if he wants her to "press play", the speakers and TV turn on and the track begins. While Diddy raps he is blown away by the power of the speakers, and Aguilera is seen on the television. By the time Aguilera's catchy hook comes in, the white room has shattered and Diddy and Aguilera are seen on either side of a fan in some sort of dark wind tunnel. It is now seen that Aguilera has donned a classy, sexy, yet modern look for the video, in contrast to the 20's and 30's glamorous look she has used to promote her own album.
This setting then shatters in the middle of the second verse to feature clips of the two performers, as well as backup dancers, performing in front of flashing neon lights. As the song ends, the camera zooms out to show that the lights form the promotional "Press Play" symbol associated with the album.
Track listing
Track CD single
- "Tell Me" (Explicit Album Version) (featuring Christina Aguilera) - 4:06
- "Tell Me" (Instrumental) (featuring Christina Aguilera) - 4:26
- "Tell Me" (A Cappella) (featuring Christina Aguilera) - 4:36
- "Come to Me" (Explicit Version) (featuring Nicole Scherzinger, Yung Joc, Young Dro & T.I.) - 3:51
Remixes and Versions