Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)

"Watch Me"
Single by Silentó
Released	May 5, 2015
Format	Digital download
Length	3:05
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Ricky Hawk Timothy Mingo
Producer(s)	Bolo Da Producer
Certification	4x platinum (RIAA)
Silentó singles chronology
"Watch Me" (2015) "Dessert" (2015)
Music video "Watch Me" on YouTube

"Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" is the debut single by the musician Silentó. In March 2015, he was signed to Capitol Records that released the track as a single with an accompanying music video. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, where it has spent six non-consecutive weeks. With a viral clip on YouTube, the song was popular for its dance, a combination of two popular moves cited in the title: the "Whip" and the "Nae Nae"^[1] as well as other hip hop dances from various songs "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" and "Stanky Legg".

The song was composed in F minor with a tempo of 132 beats per minute and a time signature of 4
4.^[2]

Release

The song was released on May 5, 2015. Starting August 28 until September 6, 2015, Silentó performed a remixed version for Nickelodeon to help advertise their Labour Day weekend line-up of shows (SpongeBob SquarePants, ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks, Harvey Beaks, Sanjay and Craig, and Pig Goat Banana Cricket) under the title "Epic Dance Party". In the promos, portions of Silentó's original music video are used, although there are new shots featuring him dancing with the Nick characters and rapping the remix.^[3]

Music video

The music video was uploaded online on Silentó's YouTube channel on June 26, 2015 and shot in Atlanta, Georgia.It was directed by Marc Klasfeld. Set in a high school gymnasium, Silentó performs the dance moves mentioned in the song with dance crews, high school and university cheerleaders, fans, even a trio of conservative women who later join in on the dance, and also incorporates videos sent in by viewers. Lil Scrappy and Rich White Ladies make guest appearances in the video.^[4]

Reception

Commercial

"Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, where it has spent six non-consecutive weeks being kept from number one on the chart by songs such as "Cheerleader" by Omi and "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd. It spent eighteen weeks in the top ten of that chart before dropping out on October 14, 2015.^[5] Internationally, the song has peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, as well as the top twenty of the charts in Denmark, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Due to its success, the song was featured on the 2015 compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 56.^[6]

Critical

The song also received a nomination for Song of the Summer at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards^[7] and another nomination for R&B/Hip-Hop Song at the Teen Choice Awards.^[8] On the other hand, Australian site Irkitated named it one of the absolute "worst songs".^[9]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2015) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[10] 9 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11] 65 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 31 Belgium Urban (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 6 Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 41 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] 15 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[15] 46 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[16] 40 Denmark (Tracklisten)[17] 16 France (SNEP)[18] 19 Germany (Official German Charts)[19] 50 Ireland (IRMA)[20] 35 Italy (FIMI)[21] 23 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 17 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23] 11 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[24] 43 South Africa (EMA)[25] 6 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 52 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 41 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[28] 19 UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[29] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[30] 3 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[31] 24 US Latin Airplay (Billboard)[32] 36 US Latin Pop Songs (Billboard)[33] 39 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[34] 2 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[35] 18 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[36] 3

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position Australia (ARIA)[37] 52 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[38] 42 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 48 US Billboard Hot 100[40] 8 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[41] 3 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[42] 2× Platinum 140,000 Canada (Music Canada)[43] Platinum 80,000 New Zealand (RMNZ)[44] Platinum 15,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[45] Silver 293,276[46] United States (RIAA)[47] 5× Platinum 2,013,000[48] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales/streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. "2015's 10 Most Viewed Music Videos on YouTube". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
2. "Silent on "Watch Me (Whip/Nad Nae)" Sheet Music". MusicNotes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
3. "Labor Day Dance Party – "Watch Me Whip Nae Nae" Nick Remix". Nickelodeon/Silento.
4. "Watch Me: Behind the Scenes" from YouTube (Posted July 31, 2015)
5. "Silento Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
6. "Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". acharts.co. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
7. "Song of Summer". MTV. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
8. "2015 Teen Choice Awards, Nominees, Winners, TV Schedule". chiff.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
9. Irkitated. "Worst Songs - Silento - Watch me Whip and Watch me Nae Nae - Irkitated". Irkitated. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
10. "Australian-charts.com – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
11. "Ö3 Austria Top40: Single-Charts". orf.at. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
12. "Ultratop.be – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
13. "Ultratop.be – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
14. "Silento – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Silento. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
15. "Canada CHR/Top 40: Sep 12, 2015". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2015. (subscription required)
16. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201534 into search. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
17. "Danishcharts.com – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". Tracklisten. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
18. "Lescharts.com – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)" (in French). Less classement single. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
19. "Musicline.de – Silentó Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
20. "Chart Track: Week 35, 2015". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
21. "Top Digital - Classifica settimanale WK 37 (dal 2015-09-11 al 2015-09-17)". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
23. "Charts.org.nz – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
24. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201535 into search. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
25. "EMA Top 10 Airplay: Week Ending 2015-09-15". Entertainment Monitoring Africa. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
26. "Swedishcharts.com – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". Singles Top 60. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
27. "Swisscharts.com – Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
28. "Archive Chart: 2015-08-14" UK Singles Chart.
29. "Archive Chart: 2015-08-28" UK R&B Chart. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
30. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Silento. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
31. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay for Silento. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
32. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Latin Airplay for Silento. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
33. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Latin Pop Songs for Silento. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
34. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Silento. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
35. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Silento. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
36. "Silento – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Silento. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
37. "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2015". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
38. "Canadian Hot 100 Year End 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Media Group. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
39. "Top Selling Singles of 2015". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
40. "Hot 100: Year End 2015". Billboard. billboard.com. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
41. "Year-end - US Hot R&B/Hop-hop Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
42. "CHART WATCH #352 - auspOp". auspOp. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
43. "Canadian single certifications – Silento – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". Music Canada. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
44. "New Zealand single certifications". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
45. "British single certifications – Silento – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae) 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
46. Jones, Alan (January 1, 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Adele still No.1, Beatles streams surge". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved January 1, 2016. (subscription required (help)).
47. "American single certifications – Silento – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 22, 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
48. Mansell, Henry (November 14, 2015). "Hip Hop Single Sales: Drake, Justin Timberlake & The Weeknd". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved November 14, 2015.