Don't Forget About Us
| "Don't Forget About Us" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Don't Forget about Us" is a song co-written by American singer Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Johnta Austin and Bryan Michael Cox, and recorded by Carey for the re-release of her fourteenth album The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). Co-produced by Carey, Dupri and Austin, it was released as the album's fifth single (fourth in North America) in 2005 (see 2005 in music). It reached number one in the U.S., Brazil and Finland and reached the top twenty in other markets.
About the record
The song is a midtempo jam that harkens back to 1990s-styled R&B, and its protagonist regrets a failed relationship that never had a proper conclusion. Unlike "We Belong Together", another song from The Emancipation of Mimi, she is not very despondent, and has accepted that her ex-lover is now seeing someone else. However, she does not want him to forget what they had when they were together: "Nothing can compare to your first true love, so I hope this will remind you, when it's for real it's forever, so don't forget about us". She also reminds her ex-lover that no matter who his new girl is, "I bet she can't do like me, she'll never be MC".
Carey has been accused of repeating formulas for her singles if they are successful. For instance, in the past, she was called out for making songs such as "Heartbreaker" (1999) and "Loverboy" (2001) too similar to other up-tempos like "Dreamlover" (1993) and "Fantasy" (1995). Several music critics have drawn parallels between "Don't Forget about Us" and "We Belong Together", the second and most successful single from The Emancipation of Mimi. Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine called the song "little more than a continuation of the previous hit ... On its own, "Forget" is a soulful, satisfying track, but it suggests that Carey has hit a creative wall".[1] Bill Lamb of About.com, in a more positive summary of the song, wrote "It doesn't mess with the brilliant formula of "We Belong Together" ... [but] those wanting variety from Mariah Carey need to look elsewhere".[2]
"Don't Forget about Us" was nominated at the 2006 BET Awards in the BET.com "Viewers' Choice" category; the live awards telecast will air on June 27.
Chart performance
"Don't Forget about Us" officially impacted U.S. radio on October 11 2005, but had already been added to many radio station playlists before that. It premiered on the radio and the internet in late September. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its eleventh week and spent two weeks at the top, from December 25 to January 8. It replaced "Run It!" by Chris Brown, and was replaced by D4L's "Laffy Taffy". "Don't Forget about Us" stayed in the top forty for eighteen weeks and it also reached number one on several other Billboard charts, including the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks. It has tied Carey with Elvis Presley for the most number-one singles in the U.S. by a solo artist (seventeen), and she is now behind only The Beatles, who hold the record with twenty.
On this point, there has been some controversy: Billboard magazine statistician Joel Whitburn credits Presley with eighteen number-one hits and not seventeen, because he counts one of Presley's double-sided hits as two separate number-one singles. However, the magazine officially credits Presley with seventeen as its current methodology treats the double A-side "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" (1956) as a single unit. Presley's single came out during a period where four relevant charts were being compiled by Billboard magazine. "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" each topped the Juke Box and Best Sellers in Stores charts, which were of roughly equal importance. After Billboard introduced the Hot 100 in 1958, their methodology was changed to use only the positions on the Best Sellers chart when publishing pre-Hot 100 data. Because "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" were credited together on the Best Sellers chart, Billboard magazine's current metholodogy considers them to be one single, even though they each appeared at number one separately on the Most Played by Jockeys and Juke Box charts. Joel Whitburn rejects these retroactive backdated methodologies, and includes data for all four pre-Hot 100 charts in his series of Top Pop Singles books.[3] Carey also released a Hot 100 number-one double A-side, "My All"/"Breakdown" (1998), though the latter song did not reach number one on either of the Hot 100's component charts (the Hot 100 Single Sales and the Hot 100 Airplay) at the time.
The song's successful start to its U.S. chart performance was due to its strong radio airplay, but it advanced more slowly on the Hot 100 than Carey's previous two singles due to the lack of digital downloads. The album cut and several remixes were released to digital retailers on December 13 2005 when the song was already number two on the Hot 100, and it replaced Carey's perenially popular holiday single "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1994) at number one on the iTunes Music Store, giving Carey the distinction of being the first recording artist to replace themselves at number one.[citation needed]
"Don't Forget about Us" was successful outside the U.S.: it topped the charts in Brazil, Finland and reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. However, it performed moderately in continental Europe.
Video and remixes
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The single's video was officially released promotionally on November 1 2005, but was premiered by surprise on October 29 on MTV's Spanking New series. It reunited Carey with Paul Hunter, director of the video for "Honey" (1997), and it jumps between two different time frames. The first of these involves a tearful Carey in the present, while the second invokes memories of a relationship with a former lover (played by Dolce & Gabbana model Christian Monzon). The video pays homage to actress Marilyn Monroe, whom Carey dressed up as in the music video for "I Still Believe" (1998): the shot in which Carey is in the pool with her leg protruding out of the water emulates an identical shot from Monroe's unfinished film Something's Got to Give (1962) in which she struck a similar pose. The video reached number one on Total Request Live (where it eventually retired; see List of Total Request Live retired videos), number one on BET's 106 & Park countdown (for twenty-one non-consecutive countdowns), and number one on VH1's Top 20 Music Countdown.
The main remix of "Don't Forget about Us" was produced by Jermaine Dupri, and is known as the "Mr. Dupri Mix". It features guest appearances from rappers Juelz Santana, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and Carey's parts are greatly reduced. It premiered on Chicago's B-96 FM on November 29 2005. The "Mr. Dupri Mix" later was added to iTunes Music Store for download, while several dance remixes (by Ralphi Rosario & Craig J., Quentin Harris and Tony Moran & Warren Rigg) were produced and made available for sale at other download retailers. The Mr. Dupri Mix sold well enough to help "Don't Forget About Us" top Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, whereas the album cut reached only number two on the Hot Digital Tracks chart. In January 2006 a new remix titled the "Desert Storm" remix, produced by DJ Clue (who also remixed "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off") and featuring Fabolous and Styles P., was released to radio. It was originally supposed to be recorded with Cam'ron and Da Brat, but their recording session was cancelled after Cam'ron was injured during a shooting. The "Desert Storm" remix will appear on DJ Clue's upcoming album, The Professional, Pt. 3.
Charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
No. of chart topper |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 | 17th |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 2 | — |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 1 | 10th |
| U.S. Billboard Adult R&B | 18 | — |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 3 | — |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 2 | — |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs 1 | 1 | — |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play | 1 | 11th |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 | 20th |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 1 | 2nd |
| Hungary | 6 | — |
| Italy | 11 | — |
| UK Singles Chart | 11 | — |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 12 | — |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 12 | — |
| Canadian BDS Airplay Chart | 17 | — |
| Switzerland | 19 | — |
| Dutch Top 40 | 32 | — |
| Germany | 41 | — |
| Austrian Top 75 Singles | 61 | — |
1 Remix.
See also
Notes
- ^ Taylor, Chuck. "Billboard Single Reviews". Billboard. Retrieved October 30 2005.
- ^ Lamb, Bill. "Don't Forget About Us — Mariah Carey". About.com. Retrieved October 30 2005.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/bonus_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001736670
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