And, of course, its inclusion in GTAV is no small matter: publishers fall over themselves to get songs in those games.īut Amerie’s momentum faltered somewhat after ‘1 Thing’. The accolades continue to this day: Australian site Fasterlouder, commenting on the artist’s return as Ameriie, called the song a “pure popsplosion”. Robert Christgau rated it the 25 th best song of the ’00s. Rolling Stone named ‘1 Thing’ their top single of 2005, and Pitchfork ranked it second.
Not only did ‘1 Thing’ become a hit, its maker’s biggest to date, but it was also a massive critical success. Their decision – or, rather, Amerie’s decision to stick to her guns and get the track out there, whatever the cost – was totally vindicated.
This put the label in an unexpected position: they were forced into action against their will, moving quickly to issue ‘1 Thing’ as an official single in the first week of 2005. Radio stations took to it immediately and continued to air the track even after Columbia pressured them to remove it from their playlists. They never anticipated having their plans torn apart by an increasingly annoyed Amerie, who – with Harrison’s support – leaked the song in late 2004. Behind the scenes, Columbia was plotting to remove the song from Amerie and place it with another of their artists, namely Jennifer Lopez. They asked for several revisions, to the great frustration of artist, producer and management alike.
Listen to both songs and these elements are evident – and the BPMs are near identical too, ‘Crazy In Love’ at 99 and ‘1 Thing’ just a beat more per minute.ĭespite the precedent of ‘Crazy In Love’, executives at Columbia were initially unmoved by ‘1 Thing’ – at least in the form they were receiving it in. Each rides on rhythms synonymous with go-go funk of the early 1970s, music where a call-and-response dynamic was often employed – as was percussion that played light and fast, allowing bursts of brass and bass to punctuate proceedings. ‘Crazy In Love’ samples The Chi-Lites’ ‘Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)’ while ‘1 Thing’ lifts The Meters’ version of ‘Oh, Calcutta!’ from the very same year. It’s another of his productions that almost certainly explains the confusion between ‘1 Thing’ and a Beyoncé number, as Harrison is the primary architect behind the Destiny’s Child singer’s ‘Crazy In Love’ single of 2003 – a six-million-seller bearing more than base similarities to what would be Amerie’s biggest hit.īoth tracks look to funk from 1970 for inspiration. She collaborated closely with Rich Harrison, her “musical soulmate”, a producer and songwriter who’d served on ‘All I Have’ as well as contributing to tracks by Kelly Rowland, Usher and Tha’ Rayne. Work on Amerie’s second album, to be titled ‘Touch’, began in early 2004 – it came out in the spring of 2005, preceded by ‘1 Thing’. It was hoped, though, that what came next would elevate her from R&B artist of substantial promise to an outright pop star, someone to compete with the likes of Beyoncé, then hitting all-new highs with her ‘Dangerously In Love’ LP, and Jennifer Lopez, riding the swell of ‘Jenny From The Block’ following so soon after the triumph of ‘J.Lo’, packed as that album was with hit singles. Nevertheless, critics were charmed: the album won a Soul Train award, and reached gold status for stateside sales. ‘All I Have’, Amerie’s debut album, charted at nine in the US in the summer of 2002, but lacked staying power.
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That was 2002, a time when artists were given more than a single crack at achieving the level of success their labels expected. Indeed, if certain people had gotten their way, it would never have been released at all.Īmerie had tasted chart success prior to ‘1 Thing’, and was a rising star on the Columbia roster after her debut single, ‘Why Don’t We Fall In Love’, broke the Billboard top 30 and peaked at 40 in the UK. ‘1 Thing’ might sound, today just as it did nine years ago, like solid-gold pop class, but its release wasn’t an entirely smooth experience.
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singer her full name, Amerie Mi Marie Rogers. The correct answer is, of course, Amerie – or, to give the Washington, D.C.
It’s not just these commentators who were getting it wrong – when I asked my wife who the song was by, she replied: “I dunno… Rihanna?” And yet, while watching a handful of Let’s Play-style videos in anticipation of receiving my own (delayed) copy of the game, I noticed how the track was repeatedly credited to Beyoncé. It quickly became a song you hoped for during any session – much like Robyn and Kleerup’s ‘With Every Heartbeat’ and the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’, which soundtracked one of my own memorable drives from Blaine County in the north to the city hub of Los Santos, into the setting sun.