Ridin' Solo

"Ridin' Solo"
Single by Jason Derulo
from the album Jason Derulo
Released	February 24, 2010
Format	CD single digital download
Recorded	2009
Length	3:36
Label	Warner Bros. (US) WEA International Inc. (outside US)
Writer(s)	Jason Derulo Jonathan Rotem Xavier Thomas
Producer(s)	J.R. Rotem
Certification	3x Platinum (RIAA)
Jason Derulo singles chronology
"In My Head" (2009) "Ridin' Solo" (2010) "What If" (2010)
Music sample "Ridin' Solo"

"Ridin' Solo" is the third single from Jason Derulo's self-titled debut album, produced by J.R. Rotem. The demo originally sampled "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve, but the sample was not cleared and was subsequently replaced with electronic motifs which are featured throughout the entire song.^[1]

On May 16, 2010, "Ridin' Solo" became Derulo's third consecutive top three hit on the UK Singles Chart. It is his third consecutive number-one hit on the UK R&B Chart and third consecutive top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Critical reception

The song has received generally mixed reviews from critics. Fraser McAlpine of BBC Chart Blog gave the song a rating of three stars out of five and went to say that "Jason clearly doesn't have a lisp, his sibilants hiss out from every other word in the song. And he delivers them all perfectly. Nice work otherwise.^[2]

Idolator says that "Derulo knows how to get the public interested in the hip-hop star again—follow every trend there is".^[3] Robert Copsey from Digital Spy gave "Ridin' Solo" three out of five stars and wrote that it "is still another catchy, engaging effort that should keep Derulo near the top on both sides of the pond".^[4]

Chart performance

As of April 23, 2014 the single has sold over 3 million digital copies in the US, making it Derulo's third consecutive song to sell more than 3 million copies. ^[5]

Music video

The music video for "Ridin' Solo" was released on May 2, 2010, directed by Scott Speer. The video depicts Derulo singing about being single after breaking up with his girlfriend. In the first 15 seconds of the video Derulo is playing a piano and singing "Blind", which is a track of his debut album, with a photo of his ex-girlfriend on the top of the piano. Derulo features in several scenes shot at Lot 613, including one in a nightclub, several in a Honda CR-Z and him dancing, (at times with backup dancers) on a moving floor (which are actually hidden conveyor belts) in front of a big, colourful LED screen flashing and glowing, sometimes reading "Solo" in block letters. Derulo wears a white jacket with spikes on the sleeves throughout the video in different scenes.

In one of the nightclub scenes filmed at Lot 613, a group of girls are seen to be chatting on PlentyofFish (an Internet Dating website) on an iPad. There is a slight difference between the music video and the album version of the song; in the video the line "You told me get my shit together, now I got my shit together, oh" uncensored on the track is replaced by "You told me get myself together, now I got myself together, oh". Some areas of the instrumental have also been altered slightly and it is a few seconds shorter than the album version. This version is also used on many radio stations across the UK. Another radio edit exists which is similar to the video version, except it mutes the explicit lyrics rather than just replace them with other words.

Covers

In April 2012, "Ridin' Solo" was covered by MC Chris and included on his 2012 mixtape Apple Lung with the lyrics changed to "I'm Han Solo", also appearing in the video game Kinect Star Wars.^[6] The Station parodied "Ridin' Solo" on YouTube as "No Homo".^[7]

Track listing

• CD Maxi single^[8]

1. "Ridin' Solo"
2. "Ridin' Solo" (Acoustic Version)
3. "Ridin' Solo" (Justin Michael & Kemal Remix)
4. "Ridin' Solo" (Eddie Amador Club)
5. "Ridin' Solo" (Mig & Rizzo POP Mix)
6. "Ridin' Solo" (Video)

• Ridin' Solo EP^[9]

1. "Ridin' Solo" (Acoustic Version) – 3:44
2. "Ridin' Solo" (Eddie Amador Club) – 7:59
3. "Ridin' Solo" (Justin Michael & Kemal Remix) – 6:17
4. "Ridin' Solo" (Ian Nieman Club Mix) – 6:58

• 7th Heaven Remix

1. "Ridin' Solo" (7th Heaven Club Mix) - 6:42
2. "Ridin' Solo" (7th Heaven Radio Edit) - 3:21

• Promo CD single^[10]

1. "Ridin' Solo" – 3:24

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2010) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[10] 4 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11] 36 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 31 Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[13] 4 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] 19 Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[15] 41 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 11 German Singles Chart [16] 24 German Black Chart[17] 15 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[18] 11 Ireland (IRMA)[19] 4 Italy (FIMI)[20] 35 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 15 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 47 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23] 12 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[24] 51 South Korea International Singles (Gaon)[25] 194 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 45 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[27] 2 UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[28] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[29] 9 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[30] 29 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[31] 7 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[32] 4

Year-end charts Chart (2010) Position Australian Singles Chart[33] 38 Canadian Hot 100[34] 57 Dutch Top 40[35] 95 European Hot 100 Singles[36] 76 Hungarian Airplay Chart[37] 79 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[38] 22 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[39] 3× Platinum 210,000 Canada (Music Canada)[40] Platinum 80,000 New Zealand (RMNZ)[41] Gold 7,500 United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Gold 400,000 United States (RIAA)[43] 3× Platinum 3,000,000 ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
United States[44]	February 24, 2010	Digital download	Warner Bros. Records
Belgium[45]	April 26, 2010		WEA International Inc.
United Kingdom	May 31, 2010	CD single	Warner Bros. Records
Germany[46][47]	June 21, 2010	Digital download
	September 3, 2010	CD single

References

1. Samet, Matt (11 March 2010). "Test Spin: Jason Derulo". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
2. Fraser McAlpine (8 May 2010). "Jason Derulo - 'Ridin' Solo'". BBC. bbc.co.uk.
3. "Jason Derulo Follows The Trends While "Ridin’ Solo" In New Music Video | Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on". Idolator.com. 2010-04-29. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
4. Released on Monday, May 31, 2010 (2010-05-31). "Music - Singles Review - Jason Derulo: 'Ridin' Solo'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
5. "Chart Watch: Former Teen Stars Make Good!". Chart Watch (Yahoo Music). April 23, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
6. Michelle Maltais, "Get down like Han Solo in Kinect Star Wars", Los Angeles Times, 3 April 2012.
7. The Station, No Homo,.
8. "Ridin' Solo: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
9. "Ridin' Solo - EP by Jason Derulo". iTunes Store. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
10. "Australian-charts.com – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
11. "Austriancharts.at – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
12. "Ultratop.be – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
13. "Ultratop.be – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo" (in French). Ultratip.
14. "Jason Derulo – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Jason Derulo.
15. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201039 into search.
16. ":: MTV | Hitlist Germany KW 50 | charts". Mtv.de. 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
17. ":: MTV | Deutsche Black Charts KW 50 | charts". Mtv.de. 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
18. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
19. "Chart Track: Week 19, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
20. http://www.fimi.it/classifiche#/category:digital/year:2015/id:942
21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Jason Derulo search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
23. "Charts.org.nz – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". Top 40 Singles.
24. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201040 into search.
25. "South Korea Gaon International Chart (Week: January 22, 2012 to January 28, 2012)". Gaon Chart. December 15, 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
26. "Swisscharts.com – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". Swiss Singles Chart.
27. "Archive Chart: 2010-05-22" UK Singles Chart.
28. "Archive Chart: 2010-05-22" UK R&B Chart.
29. "Jason Derulo – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Jason Derulo.
30. "Jason Derulo – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Jason Derulo.
31. "Jason Derulo – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Jason Derulo.
32. "Jason Derulo – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Jason Derulo.
33. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
34. "Charts Year End: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
35. http://212.182.166.241/YearChart.aspx?Year=2010&Chart=1
36. "European Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
37. "MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 2010" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
38. "2010 Year-end UK Singles". BBC (BBC Online). 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
39. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
40. "Canadian single certifications – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". Music Canada.
41. "New Zealand single certifications – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". Recorded Music NZ.
42. "British single certifications – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Ridin' Solo in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
43. "American single certifications – Jason Derulo – Ridin' Solo". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
44. "Ridin' Solo: Jason Derulo: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
45. "Ridin' Solo – Single". iTunes Store. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
46. "Ridin' Solo EP: Jason Derulo: Amazon.de: MP3-Downloads". Amazon.de. 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
47. "Ridin' Solo: Jason Derulo: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2010-12-19.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics