Selfie (song)

The correct title of this article is #Selfie. The substitution or omission of the # is because of technical restrictions.
This article is about the song by The Chainsmokers. For the song by Nina Nesbitt, see Selfies (song). For the TV series, see Selfie (TV series).
"#Selfie"
Single by The Chainsmokers
Released January 29, 2014 (2014-01-29)
Format Digital download
Recorded 2013
Genre Electro house[1][2]
Length 3:03
Label Dim Mak
Writer(s) Andrew Taggart
Producer(s) Andrew Taggart
The Chainsmokers singles chronology
"The Rookie"
(2013)		 "#Selfie"
(2014)		 "Kanye"
(2014)

"#Selfie" (stylized as "#SELFIE") is a song produced by American DJ duo the Chainsmokers. It was released on January 28, 2014 by Dim Mak Records.

Background and promotion

The Chainsmokers, composed of Drew Taggart and Alex Pall, had noticed how the word selfie had become a trend and they wanted to take advantage of it. They made a demo of a song containing monologue from a female clubber about taking good selfies.[3] Inspiration came from the regular club going women that the Chainsmokers saw on their nights out in New York City. So when they were composing the track, they wanted to incorporate the "let me take a selfie" line in it somehow. The Chainsmokers described in an interview with The Phoenix New Times,

Honestly, "#Selfie" is kind of a phenomenon for us. We made it and thought it was funny and put it out as an edit. Then Dim Mak wanted to buy it, and they bought it from us and put it out officially and we made a video for it. This was all just because we thought it was fun. And then the song just kind of took on a life of its own. Which is honestly really great because it's brought in a new audience of people that listen to music that we've made that we're more passionate about.[4]

The duo released the track to their SoundCloud account along with other posts in Vine and Instagram.

Music video

Lindsey Diane (second from left), who played the woman in the song on the music video, taking selfies with friends in the accompanying music video

A music video for the song was also released and features actual selfies from Steve Aoki, founder of Dim Mak, Snoop Dogg, David Hasselhoff, WWE NXT superstar Tyler Breeze, Canadian DJ A-Trak, Darth Vader, and Ian Somerhalder among others.[5] Oliver Luckett, CEO of social media marketing firm TheAudience, said that the song is "so on point – it's shit-white-girls-say-meets-a-club-remix". TheAudience introduced the Chainsmokers to Aoki, helped create the "#Selfie" video and released it on January 29, 2014, on YouTube, utilizing the network of celebrities to promote it.[3][6][7][8] According to Pall, "the video inherently had this viral concept built into it, which certainly helped get it off the ground".[9]

Composition

"#Selfie" is an electro house song that is mostly instrumental though it features spoken word verses; the uncredited talking female vocals in the song are by Alexis Killacam.[5][10] The song details a narcissistic young woman at a club, presumably speaking to friends, as she is concerned about taking selfies and uploading them to her Instagram account, while she criticizes other people at the club, including their outfits, while also dealing with a guy named Jason, that she has a love/hate relationship with though she might have a crush on him as well. At the end of each spoken verse, she says "Let me take a selfie".[11] The intonation of the spoken lyrics bears a strong resemblance to that of the opening of Sir Mix-A-Lot's 1992 single "Baby Got Back". Similarly to "#Selfie", the words are critical of the appearance of another girl. The lyrics make several cultural[12] references, including Instagram and the Lana Del Rey song "Summertime Sadness".

The song has been compared to the viral impact of "Harlem Shake" by Baauer. The Chainsmokers explained that one of their initial intentions with "#Selfie" was to re-create the viral impact that "Harlem Shake" had, with the general public taking the song and maybe including their own interpretations along with the beat. The structure of it has drawn comparisons to the 1982 hit "Valley Girl" by Frank Zappa and his daughter, Moon Unit Zappa.[13][14][15]

Critical response

Miles Raymer from the Chicago Reader gave the song a negative review, stating referring to the album as "garbage, paint-by-numbers EDM with all the artistic flavor of an audio software preset that makes "Harlem Shake" sound like Selected Ambient Works Volume II. But the song's only there to deliver the meme, and if the song had any personality it might distract from the hashtag-packed spoken-word bit that's the real focus here."[10]

Commercial performance

"#Selfie" debuted on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart at number 19, with first week sales of 9,000 digital downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan.[5] The next week, "#Selfie" sold another 53,000 digital downloads and debuted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest debut of the week.[15] The sales drove the song to number six on the Dance/Electronic Songs and number three on the Dance/Electronic Digital Songs charts. "#Selfie" additionally debuted at number seven on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, becoming only the sixth song in the chart's 11-year history to debut as high or above and the first since Lady Gaga entered at number six with "Alejandro" in May 2010.[16] In its third week of release, the song sold another 88,000 downloads (up by 64%) to move into the top ten of the Hot Digital Songs chart. It also reached a peak of number 27 on the Pop Songs chart.[17] On the Hot 100, the song consecutively jumped to number 28.[18] It also started on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart at number 33.[19] The fourth week saw the song sell a further 111,000 digital downloads and moved to number 18 on the Hot 100.[20] It reached the top of the Dance/Electronic Songs, and also moved up the other component charts like Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs (16–7; 1.4 million US streams, according to Nielsen BDS), Dance/Mix Show Airplay (4–2) and Hot Dance Club Songs (33–19).[21] "#Selfie" sold another 101,000 copies next week and moved to number 16 on the Hot 100.[22] As of June 2014, the song has sold 865,000 copies in the United States.[23]

In the United Kingdom, "#Selfie" debuted at number 115 on the UK Singles Chart and moved to number 42 the next week.[24] The song finally peaked at number 11 in the UK. In Australia "#Selfie" debuted at number 98 on the ARIA Charts, and moved to a peak of number 3.[25][26]

In 2015, the Japanese pop trio MAX released a cover version of the song, renamed "#SELFIE ~ONNA NOW~." The song was released to commemorate their 20th anniversary.

Track listing

  1. "#Selfie" – 3:03
  1. "#Selfie" (Original Mix) – 3:04
  2. "#Selfie" (Club Mix) – 4:01
  1. "#Selfie" (Botnek Remix) – 3:36
  2. "#Selfie" (Will Sparks Remix) – 3:52
  3. "#Selfie" (Caked Up Remix) – 3:15

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Charts (2014) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[26] 3
Australia Dance (ARIA)[29] 3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[30] 16
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[31] 14
Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders)[31] 20
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[32] 24
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[33] 13
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[34] 11
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[35] 10
Denmark (Tracklisten)[36] 9
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[37] 1
France (SNEP)[38] 55
Germany (Official German Charts)[39] 38
Ireland (IRMA)[40] 14
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[41] 12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[42] 9
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[43] 12
Norway (VG-lista)[44] 3
Poland (Dance Top 50)[45] 21
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[46] 7
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[47] 54
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[48] 27
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[49] 45
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 2
Sweden Dance (Sverigetopplistan)[51] 2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[52] 33
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[53] 11
UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[54] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[55] 16
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[56] 8
US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[57] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[58] 14
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[59] 23

Year-end charts

Charts (2014) Position
Australia (ARIA)[60] 100
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[33] 86
Denmark (Hitlisten)[61] 48

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[62] Platinum 70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[63] Platinum 80,000
Italy (FIMI)[64] Platinum 30,000
Sweden (GLF)[65] 3× Platinum 120,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[66] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[67] Platinum 1,000,000
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[68] Platinum 2,600,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format Label(s)
Netherlands[69] February 28, 2014 Digital download Dim Mak
Switzerland[70]

References

  1. ↑ "The Chainsmokers - #SELFIE [Universal-Island Records. Ltd] :: Beatport".
  2. ↑ http://www.edmhunters.com/selfie/the-chainsmokers/5707638/
  3. 1 2 Hyman, Dan (March 4, 2014). "'Harlem Shake' 2.0? '#Selfie' Is Going Viral With Slick Marketing". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ Savage, Amanda (February 27, 2014). "The Chainsmokers: "We Just Try to Mix What's Fun"". The Phoenix New Times. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Staff, Billboard (July 2, 2013). "Bubbling Under: Chainsmokers Get Their Shot With '#Selfie'". Billboard. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  6. ↑ Canoe inc. (March 6, 2014). "Is '#Selfie' set to become the new 'Harlem Shake'?". Technology.canoe.ca. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Chainsmokers Video '#SELFIE' Taking The UK By Storm – Watch - Music News". Capital FM. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ "San Francisco Edges Top ‘Selfies’ List « CBS San Francisco". Sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ Mansfield, Brian (March 16, 2014). "Chainsmokers' '#SELFIE' goes viral". USA Today. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Raymar, Miles (March 11, 2014). "The Chainsmokers' paint-by-numbers virality". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ Del Mar, Pollo (March 6, 2014). "The Chainsmokers' Bring Cheeky Smash "#Selfie" to SF March 8". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  12. ↑ #SELFIE Lyrics, azlyrics.com
  13. ↑ Trust, Gary (March 11, 2014). "Chart Moves: Avicii, The Chainsmokers Burn Up Dance Charts; Coldplay Makes 'Magic' On Hot 100, Hot Rock Songs; The Pretty Reckless Rules Mainstream Rock". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ Okano, Marisa (March 11, 2014). "#SELFIE: The Chainsmokers’ 7 Tips For Taking The Perfect One". Yahoo!. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  15. 1 2 Newman, Melinda (March 6, 2014). "5 things you need to know right now about The Chainsmokers’ "#Selfie"". Hitfix.com. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  16. ↑ Murray, Gordon (March 6, 2014). "Chainsmokers' '#SELFIE' Blasts Up Dance Charts, Enters Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Rick Ross Rules With Fifth No. 1 Album On Billboard 200". Billboard. August 18, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Idina Menzel's Frozen song 'Let It Go' enters US singles top ten - Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Dance Club Songs : Mar 22, 2014 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  20. ↑ Grein, Paul (March 19, 2014). "Chart Watch: "#Selfie" Is A #Smash". Yahoo!. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  21. ↑ Murray, Gordon (March 20, 2014). "The Chainsmokers Take '#SELFIE' to No. 1 on Dance Chart". Billboard. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  22. ↑ Grein, Paul (March 28, 2014). "Chart Watch: After 'Frozen', Here Comes 'Summer'". Yahoo!. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  23. ↑ Murray, Gordon (July 2, 2014). "Daft Punk, DJ Snake & Lil Jon Lead Mid-Year SoundScan Dance/Electronic Charts". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Official Singles Chart UK Top 100 - 15th March 2014". March 15, 2013. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Chartifacts – Tuesday 4th March 2014". ARIA Charts. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  26. 1 2 "Australian-charts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  27. ↑ "iTunes - Muziek - '#SELFIE - Single' van The Chainsmokers". iTunes Store. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  28. ↑ "The Chainsmokers - #selfie - Polydor - 3781149 - Maxi-CD". Deejay.de. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  29. ↑ "Australian Top 20 Dance Tracks". ARIA Charts. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014.
  30. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  31. 1 2 "Ultratop.be – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  33. 1 2 "The Chainsmokers – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for The Chainsmokers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  34. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201414 into search. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  35. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201419 into search. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". Tracklisten. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  37. ↑ "The Chainsmokers: #SELFIE" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 13, 2014". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  41. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  42. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Chainsmokers search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  43. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  44. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". VG-lista. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  45. ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Dance Top 50. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  46. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-03-29". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  47. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201415 into search. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  48. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201426 into search. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  49. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  50. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". Singles Top 100. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  51. ↑ "Veckolista Dance - Vecka 12, 21 mars 2014" (in Swedish). Hitlistan.se. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  52. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Chainsmokers – #SELFIE". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  53. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-03-29" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  54. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-03-22" UK Dance Chart. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  55. ↑ "The Chainsmokers – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for The Chainsmokers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  56. ↑ "The Chainsmokers – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for The Chainsmokers. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  57. ↑ "The Chainsmokers – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for The Chainsmokers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  58. ↑ "The Chainsmokers – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for The Chainsmokers. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  59. ↑ "The Chainsmokers – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for The Chainsmokers. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  60. ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Singles 2014". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  61. ↑ "Track Top-50 2014". Hitlisten. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014.
  62. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  63. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Chainsmokers – Selfie". Music Canada. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  64. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Chainsmokers – Selfie" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved January 9, 2015. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Chainsmokers in the field Filtra. Select 2015 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
  65. ↑ "The Chainsmokers - Selfie" (in Swedish). Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  66. ↑ "British single certifications – Chainsmokers – Selfie". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 9, 2015. Enter Selfie in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  67. ↑ "American single certifications – Chainsmokers – Selfie". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 9, 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  68. ↑ "Certificeringer - The Chainsmokers - Selfie" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  69. ↑ "iTunes Muziek – '#SELFIE' – Single' van The Chainsmokers" (in Dutch). Netherlands: iTunes Store. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014.
  70. ↑ "iTunes Musik – '#SELFIE' – Single' van The Chainsmokers" (in German). Switzerland: iTunes Store. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.

External links

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