Ignition (Remix)
"Ignition (Remix)" is a song written and produced by American R&B singer R. Kelly. It was released in 2002 as the lead single from his sixth studio album Chocolate Factory (2003). It is viewed as one of his most well-known songs and has been popular in the United States, Europe and Oceania.
"Ignition (Remix)" | ||||
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Single by R. Kelly | ||||
from the album Chocolate Factory | ||||
B-side |
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Released | October 22, 2002 | |||
Recorded | 2002 | |||
Genre | R&B | |||
Length |
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Label | Jive | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robert Kelly | |||
Producer(s) | R. Kelly | |||
R. Kelly singles chronology | ||||
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"Ignition (Remix)" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks behind 50 Cent's "In Da Club". Outside the United States, the song topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.[1] It was later included on the updated version of Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs of all time in 2010 at number 494. The song was listed at #19 on Pitchfork Media's top 500 songs of the 2000s.
Background
The original song "Ignition" was first recorded in 2002 after the alleged statutory rape tape was a hot topic in the media. The original "Ignition" was planned to be one of the songs on his forthcoming album at that time called Loveland; the album got leaked later on, and Kelly decided to turn Loveland to Chocolate Factory, record mostly new songs and remix some of the songs on that album. "Ignition" was one of the songs he decided to remix after people in the studio liked the end part of the song, which would later become the intro to the remix.
On Genius, Kelly explained the song: "First of all it was an old, old track that I had in my computer for a long time. When I pulled it up, for some reason I just heard “ignition” on it, so I start really just messing with the words and a lot of metaphors start coming to me. You know “trying to get you to my hotel/ you must be a football coach/ the way you got me playing the field/ So baby give me that “toot toot, that beep beep.” You know what I mean? Just basically having fun with the song from there, once I tapped into the metaphor of it."[2] In a 2016 interview, Kelly claimed that he wrote the basis of "Ignition (Remix)", including the main lyric of the refrain, approximately five years before he wrote the song called "Ignition".[3]
Song structure
The song is sometimes called simply "Ignition" colloquially and for marketing purposes, including as the title of one of its releases as a single and on the Billboard charts. While it shares the song title with the original version of "Ignition", the remix version is most commonly referred to in writing to avoid confusion with the original. The two songs share some instrumental elements (guitars and percussion) but are otherwise completely different.
The original "Ignition" was released first to urban contemporary radio stations although it never officially charted on Billboard in this manner at first. At the end of the song, Kelly gives the listeners "a lil' preview of the remix", which includes only the first verse then fades out. The "remix to Ignition" was released weeks later to urban and Top 40 pop stations, and it gained significantly more attention. While many stations never played the original but opted for the remix only, others played both songs, merged, at six minutes total; it was structured that way on the Chocolate Factory album.
The song contains a minor sample from the intro of R. Kelly's 2001 hit song "Fiesta (Remix)". Additionally, the original version opens with the same spoken-word intro that originally appeared in his earlier hit "You Remind Me of Something".
Music video
The music video was shot in a club where Kelly is seen wearing a Boston Celtics jersey. The club is meant to be the inside of a stretch Club Hummer limousine. He is also seen in a different part of the club wearing a white fur coat. Nick Cannon is also featured in the music video as the DJ. David N. Feldman also makes a cameo as the dancing white hipster. Ken Foree also makes a cameo in the music video. The music video is directed by Bille Woodruff, who has directed numerous other videos for Kelly.
Live performances
Kelly often performed "Ignition (Remix)" at events and concerts; he sang this song three times at the BET Awards show (2003, 2004 and 2013).
In 2013, R. Kelly surprised the crowd at the music festival Coachella coming in to the stage and performing a mash-up between "Ignition (Remix)" and "1901" with French rock band Phoenix; a year later, Kelly again surprised the crowd with the song, this time at Lollapalooza with Chance the Rapper.
Chart performance
"Ignition (Remix)" was a huge success for Kelly. In the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for four non-consecutive weeks (it later returned entered on the Hot 100 to number two on April 19, 2003) behind 50 Cent's "In da Club" and became his most successful song in the United States in the 2000s.
In the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart, where it remained for four weeks, becoming Kelly's second number-one song in Britain after "I Believe I Can Fly" in April 1997.[1] In April 2013, a decade after its initial release, "Ignition (Remix)" re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 43.
"Ignition (Remix)" also topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland.
The song also peaked at number two on the 2003 Billboard Year-End Chart, yet again behind "In da Club". Due to the success of this song and other songs by Kelly the same year, this also made him number two on the "Year End Best Artist" chart, behind 50 Cent.[4]
Reception
The remix received positive reviews from both critics and fans upon release.[5]
The remix was included on the updated version of Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs of all time in 2010 at number 494.[5] The song was listed at #19 on Pitchfork Media's top 500 songs of the 2000s.
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
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Formats and track listings
- Digital download
- "Ignition (Remix)" – 3:07
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic.[35]
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Soundtrack appearances
The song has been featured in the films Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003), Soul Plane (2004) and 30 Minutes or Less (2011).
The song is in the episode "The Gang Group Dates" on the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The song is featured in the Ubisoft Just Dance series of games, on The Hip Hop Dance Experience (2012).
Cover versions
Recorded covers
- German hip-hop group K.I.Z. covered the song with entirely new (German language) lyrics, as "Was willst du machen?" ("What do you want to do?"), on their 2006 mixtape Böhse Enkelz.
- Alain Clark covered the song on the 2011 album De Wereld Draait Door Recordings.
- Jinja Safari covered the song for the 2012 compilation album Triple J: Like a Version, Volume 8.
- In 2013, the band Rixton covered the song and released an official music video of the band performing it.[36] They later performed it on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and other shows.
- The Wind and The Wave released a cover of the song in 2015.
Television and radio performances
- In 2011, The Dartmouth Aires covered the song on the talent show The Sing-Off.
- In 2014, The Ragtime Gals (Jimmy Fallon and others) did a barbershop quartet version of this song which they performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[37]
- In 2014, A Great Big World covered the song on the show On Air with Ryan Seacrest; this also happens to be Ryan Seacrest's favorite song.[38]
- In 2014, "Catfish and the Bottlemen" covered the song for 'Like a Version' on the Australian radio show Triple J.
- In 2014, Jess Glynne has covered the song on BBC 1Xtra Live Lounge and other radio stations.[39][40]
- In 2017, Miley Cyrus sang a bluegrass-style version of this song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as part of the Musical Genre Challenge.
Live covers
- In 2011, Joseph Gordon-Levitt covered the song live in front of a crowd.
- In 2013, Tyler Hilton and Teddy Geiger covered the song on their live show.
- In 2014, Maroon 5 lead vocalist Adam Levine covered this song at The Voice coaches concert; the song is also one of his favorite songs.[41]
- In 2014, British singer Robbie Williams featured a comical a cappella version of the song, very similar in style to the Tonight Show barbershop quartet version, as part of his Swings Both Ways Live tour.
Other artists who have covered the song include Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars.
Web video
- In 2012, Young the Giant covered the song for the website The A.V. Club's "A.V. Undercover" series.[42]
- In 2013, James Dalby covered the song on YouTube, which later became popular.[43]
- In 2015, Postmodern Jukebox covered the song with Rayvon Owen on vocals.[44]
Mashups
- In 2013, British band The Vamps covered the song as a mash-up with "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High" on BBC Radio 1.
- In 2014, AJR sang a mash-up of "All About That Bass" and "Ignition (Remix)", in New York City.[45]
- Phoebe Ryan's song "Ignition/Do You", from her 2015 EP Mine, is a mash-up of "Ignition (Remix)" and Miguel's song "Do You...".[46]
Parodies
The sketch comedy show Chappelle's Show had a 2003 skit parodying the R. Kelly sex tape, which consisted of music videos for the fictional songs "Piss on You" and "Piss on You (Remix)". "Piss on You" parodied the 2001 R. Kelly song "Feelin' on Yo Booty", while "Piss on You (Remix)" parodied "Ignition (Remix)".
Samples and interpolations
"Don't Matter", by Akon on his 2006 album Konvicted, borrows the melody of "Ignition (Remix)" in its verse.
Other legacy
A portion of Michael Jackson's Private Home Movies, a 2003 compilation of home movies which Jackson recorded throughout his life and narrated, showed him dancing to "Ignition (Remix)" in the back of Brett Ratner's car during a 2003 vacation in Miami, Florida.[47] Kelly, who claimed to have been unsuccessfully asked by Jackson to write a song similar to "Ignition (Remix)" for Jackson's use, later stated in 2009 after having seen the clip on the Web that "I cried when I first saw it on YouTube[...]I've written a lot of songs, I've been around the world, and I've won all kinds of awards and everything else, but[...]nothing told me, I didn't know I had made it until I saw Michael Jackson in the back of that car singing and dancing to my song 'Ignition'. That's when it became official. I've been in the business for over 20 years, but that's when it became official to me that Kels is here, baby."[48]
In March 2013, a petition was launched on We the People requesting that the U.S. national anthem be changed from "The Star-Spangled Banner" to "Ignition (Remix)".[49] Referencing the song's lyrics, the petition stated that "We, the undersigned, would like the Obama administration to recognise the need for a new national anthem, one that even a decade after its creation, is still hot and fresh out the kitchen."[50]
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[51] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[52] | Platinum | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] | 2× Platinum | 767,829[54] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Ignition (Viceroy Remix)
"Ignition (Viceroy Remix)" | ||||
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Single by Viceroy & R. Kelly | ||||
Released | 2 December 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2002 (vocals) 2014 (song) | |||
Length | 3:43 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robert Kelly | |||
Producer(s) | Viceroy | |||
R. Kelly singles chronology | ||||
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"Ignition (Viceroy Remix)" or "Ignition (Viceroy "Jet Life" Remix)" is a 2014 remix to "Ignition (Remix)", the song was released on iTunes as a single.[55] The remix was made by "Viceroy" as it says on the title. The song was uploaded to R. Kelly's Vevo the same day and also on his Spotify account.[56]
References
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- https://genius.com/216681
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- ""Ignition" cover by Rixton on YouTube". Retrieved April 3, 2014.
- "The Ragtime Gals: Ignition (Remix)". YouTube. 2014-02-18. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- "On Air with Ryan Seacrest - News & More from the Live Radio Show". Ryanseacrest.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- "Jess Glynne covers R. Kelly's Ignition in the 1Xtra Live Lounge". YouTube. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- "Jess Glynne - ignition (R.Kelly Cover) - live and acoustic @ ENERGY". YouTube. 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
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- "Ignition(remix) - James Dalby (R Kelly Cover)". YouTube. 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- "Ignition (remix) - Vintage Sinatra Style Swing R. Kelly Cover ft. Rayvon Owen". YouTube. 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- "Ignition (Remix) + All About That Bass - AJR Cover". YouTube. 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
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