Young (Tulisa song)

Background and composition

"Young" was written by Peter Ibsen, Ali Tennant, and Contostavlos's former boyfriend and N-Dubz member Fazer. It was produced by Andres Chevalle and the duo STL, which consists of Fazer and Peter Ibsen. "Young" is Contostavlos's first solo single outside of group N-Dubz, following 10 top 40 singles with the group. It is an uptempo Eurodance song with house and trance music influences.

The song was originally titled "We Are Young", but it was changed to simply "Young" in order to avoid confusion with Fun's "We Are Young". "Young" was intended for another artist, but Tulisa was determined to record the song when she heard it for the first time: "They didn't even get a chance to pitch it to the [other singer]. It wasn't even finished and I was like, 'I'm having that song, give it to me!'". Although it was not written by Tulisa herself, the singer said the song represents everything she's about: "[...] It was written in such a way that I could have wrote it anyway – I could relate to it that much so I went 'yep, that's fine give me that record – I want to take it'."

Critical reception

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song four out of five stars, writing "[...] Musically she couldn't have picked a more certain path. "I make mistakes that I learn from/ 'Cause I'm young," she calls over a well-trodden mix of pulsing beats helmed by her former beau and bandmate, before a chorus of glorious strobing trance ensues. Its timing might initially seem suspicious, but by the song's final chorus, we honestly couldn't care less." Daily Star's John Earls referred to the song as "quality rave" and wrote, "it's more universal than N-Dubz but still sharp enough for her young crew." Amy Dawson of Metro wrote, "‘Forgive me for what I have done, ’cause I’m young,’ belts out the former N-Dubz, X Factor judge on her debut solo single, a brain-witheringly generic serving of Ibiza trance-pop. We forgive her that; but surely she’s old enough to know better than this?".

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, "Young" entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 6 May 2012 ― for the week ending dated 12 May 2012 ― with first-week sales of 122,000 copies, becoming the fastest selling single of 2012. The song has sold 385,000 copies in Britain as of December 2012. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, the song peaked at number five on the Irish Singles Chart.

Live performances

Tulisa performed the song for the first time on the first semi-final of Britain's Got Talent on the 6 May 2012. She also performed the song on 5 July at T4 On The Beach.

Music video

The music video premiered on 23 March 2012 and lasts 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The video has received over 20 million views. The video features Tulisa hanging out with friends, dancing and partying in different places, singing about always being young. It was filmed in Miami, and rapper Chipmunk makes a cameo appearance in the video.

1. "Young" – 3:35
2. "Young" (Preditah Mix) – 3:20
3. "Young" (Breeze & Modulate Mix) – 3:38
4. "Young" (Expanda Mix) – 4:35
5. "Young" (Agent X Mix) – 3:22

1. "Young" (Gregor Salto Edit) - 3:16
2. "Young" (Gregor Salto Extended) - 5:34
3. "Young" (Gregor Salto Extended) - 5:16
4. "Young" (Gregor Salto Dub) - 3:36
5. "Young" (Vice Edit) - 3:29
6. "Young" (Vice Extended) - 6:00
7. "Young" (Vice Instrumental) - 6:00
8. "Young" (Expanda Remix Edit) - 3:29
9. "Young" (Expanda Remix) - 4:33
10. "Young" (Expanda Remix Instrumental) - 4:33
11. "Young" (Hector Fonseca Edit) - 4:03
12. "Young" (Hector Fonseca Club) - 6:02
13. "Young" (Hector Fonseca Dub) - 5:32