I Love It (Icona Pop song)

"I Love It" is a song by Swedish duo Icona Pop featuring vocals from British recording artist Charli XCX. It was released as a single in May 2012 as a digital download in Sweden, where it peaked at number two on the singles chart. The song was added to their debut studio album, Icona Pop, as well as their EP Iconic and their debut international album, This Is... Icona Pop.[1]

"I Love It"
Single by Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX
from the album Icona Pop and This Is... Icona Pop
Released9 May 2012 (2012-05-09)
Recorded2012
Genre
Length2:37
LabelTEN
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Icona Pop singles chronology
"Mind Your Manners"
(2012)		 "I Love It"
(2012)		 "We Got the World"
(2012)
Charli XCX singles chronology
"Nuclear Seasons"
(2011)		 "I Love It"
(2012)		 "You're the One"
(2012)

The song received positive reviews from music critics, and publications Rolling Stone and Pitchfork included it on their year-end lists for 2012. The song went on to become Icona Pop and Charli XCX's first US hit, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100[2] and was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting over 2 million copies sold in the United States. In June 2013, over a year after it was released elsewhere, the song charted at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It has gone on to sell 4.3 million certified downloads.

Background
Singer Charli XCX co-wrote and recorded an earlier version of "I Love It".

The song was originally written by Charli XCX, whom Icona Pop met several times in London.[3] Swedish producer Patrik Berger sent Charli two beats, and she quickly wrote songs for each of them, one of which became "I Love It" and the other of which became her following single "You're the One".[4] However, she later stated that she knew she would not end up releasing it herself because she could not reconcile it with her sound.[5]

While recording "Good for You" with Icona Pop, Berger presented them with Charli's work on "I Love It".[6] Band member Aino Jawo said she felt a connection to the song because it mirrored her own experiences, and the line "You're from the 70s but I'm a 90s bitch" reminded her of an older man she had known.[7] Member Caroline Hjelt described Charli XCX's original demo as "more cute, in a way…really cool and cocky".[8] Icona Pop approached Swedish producer Style of Eye to make a rougher version of the track, telling him, "We want the punkiness. We want the 'fuck it' feeling."[6]

Composition

"I Love It" is set in common time with a tempo of 126 beats per minute (Allegro), and is described as an electropop[9] and dance-pop[10][11] song. It is written in A♭ major, with an authentic cadence for the main chord progression.[12] Billboard critic Jessica Hopper defined the instrumental by its "swells of revving synths" and prominent sub-bass sounds.[13] Pitchfork writer Lindsay Zoladz commented that the song was "basically just two-and-a-half minutes of drop";[14] colleague Larry Fitzmaurice noted the track's maximalist approach fit the contemporary trends in electronic and pop music.[15]

The song's lyrics describe breaking up with an older boyfriend. In its chorus, Icona Pop and Charli XCX shout in unison "I don't care / I love it".[16] Critics compared the song's breakup narrative to Kelly Clarkson's 2004 single "Since U Been Gone",[14][17] and journalist Chuck Eddy wrote in a piece for Spin that the track's brattiness was similar to British band Shampoo.[18]

Release and promotion

"I Love It" was released in Sweden in May 2012. It entered the Swedish Singles Chart the following month at number 48, and after two months on the chart, the song peaked at number two for three consecutive weeks.[19] After its January 2013 appearance on an episode of Girls, the song performed better in digital downloads than it had upon initial release.[20] Ten days later it entered the Billboard Hot 100,[3] eventually climbing to number seven on the chart.[2] Jawo and Hjelt's first performance with Charli XCX happened in April 2013, after seeing her back stage at a South by Southwest showcase where both acts were playing.[21]

In June 2013, several cover versions of the song entered the UK Singles Chart, including one by vlogger Venus Angelic.[22] When Icona Pop released their version, it entered at the top of the chart, overtaking Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams.[23]

Critical reception

"I Love It" was met with positive reviews from music critics. The song placed 15th on The Village Voice's 2012 Pazz & Jop list,[24] and it rose to eighth place the following year.[25] Pitchfork Media labeled it "Best New Music", calling the song "delectable, empowering, infinitely repeatable".[15] Pitchfork later listed the song number 50 on its "Top 100 Tracks of 2012" list.[17] Rolling Stone placed "I Love It" at number 35 on its year-end list, naming it "the Euro-slut club jam of the summer".[26] Amrit Singh for Stereogum described it as "fun",[9] Heather Phares commented Jawo and Hjelt "half-sung, half-shouted vocals and revved-up synths make the song inescapably catchy".[27] Kat Bein of the Miami New Times called the song a "feminist pop anthem".[28] In 2019, Stereogum[29] and Pitchfork[30] ranked the song as the 117th and 197th best song of the 2010s respectively.

The song has been used in numerous advertisements and promotional materials, for example in advertisements for a global fast food company.[31] It is effectively the theme music for the Paris-set thriller movie 3 Days to Kill, in which the lead, played by Kevin Costner, has his mobile phone programmed by his resentful teenage daughter, played by Hailee Steinfeld, to play the snippet when she calls. Hence it pops up repeatedly throughout the movie and is an effective if subtle reminder of parental-child tension, over the three days during which the long-absent father is in Paris to look after his daughter, while thwarting a world-threatening master terrorist.

In the TV series 11.22.63 the protagonist Jake Epping, played by James Franco, has a video with "I love it" in his present day smart phone, and while in the year 1960 he sets the phone to start playing it to get an attacker to be surprised at the right moment, to be able to get away.

This song was also used in the 2012 racing game Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

It is the official theme song of the Italian TV show Live - Non è la D’Urso.

It is briefly heard when Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan changed the radio station in Bruce Banner's truck in the video game, Avengers.

It is played in the 2015 comedy Get Hard, as Will Ferrell's character is commuting to the office near the open.[32]

In 2012, the song was also used in the intro for Snooki & Jwoww.

Music video

The music video for "I Love It" was directed by Fredrik Etoall. The video was shot in a day by friends of the band while they were in Paris.[7] It shows Jawo and Hjelt playing a show for a crowd shouting the lyrics and dancing, with additional shots from backstage and an after-party.[33] It also includes outdoor shots of them wearing fringed jackets that they made. Charli XCX does not appear in the video.[7]

Track listing

Charts

Sales and certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[100] 6× Platinum 420,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[101] Gold 15,000*
Belgium (BEA)[102] Gold 15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[103] 4× Platinum 320,000*
Germany (BVMI)[104] 3× Gold 450,000^
Italy (FIMI)[105] 2× Platinum 60,000*
Mexico (AMPROFON)[106] Gold 30,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[107] Gold 7,500*
South Korea (Gaon Chart)
Iconic EP version 		— 87,650[108][109]
South Korea (Gaon Chart)
Single version 		— 95,498[108][109]
Sweden (GLF)[110] Platinum 40,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[111] Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[112] Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[113] 4× Platinum 2,127,000[114]
Venezuela (APFV)[115] 2x Platinum 20,000^ 

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

Several cover versions have charted in the UK.

Artist Peak position Reference
Loreen Harris 74 [116]
Venus Angelic 71 [22]
Remix Junkies 49 [117]
Remix Chix 61 [118]
New Music Masters 51 [119]

In 2017, Swedish singer Moneybrother released a punk rock inspired cover version of the song as a part of the eighth season of Så mycket bättre. The track received mixed to positive reviews, ultimately failing to chart.[120][121]

In November 2020, a cover of the song was included as the final track on the album "Viva La Rev" by Australian punk rock band "The Smith Street Band".[122]

Release history
Region Date Format Label
Sweden 9 May 2012[123] TEN
United States 5 February 2013[123] Mainstream Airplay
United Kingdom 23 June 2013[124] Digital EP

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