American Boy

Infobox single
Name = American Boy


Caption = Worldwide single cover.
Artist = Estelle featuring Kanye West
Album = Shine
B-side = "Life to Me"
Released = Start date|2008|3|24
(See release history)
Format = CD single, digital download
Genre = Hip hop, dance-pop, post-disco [Song with a [http://idolator.com/395094/estelle-american-boy Post-disco] vibe]
Length = 3:57 (Radio edit)
4:44 (Album version)
Label = Atlantic
Writer = will.i.am, Estelle, Kanye West
Producer = will.i.am
Certification = Gold (U.S.)
Chronology = Estelle U.K. singles
Last single = "Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)" (2007)
This single = "American Boy" (2008)
Next single = "No Substitute Love"
(2008)
Misc = Extra chronology 2
Artist = Estelle U.S. singles
Type = singles
Last single = —
This single = "American Boy" (2008)
Next single = "Come Over (rmx)"
(2008)Extra chronology 2
Artist = Kanye West singles
Type = singles
Last single = "Finer Things" (2008)
This single = "American Boy" (2008)
Next single = "Put On" (2008)Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Background = khaki


Lower caption = U.S. only single cover.

"American Boy" is a song by English hip hop singer Estelle and features American rapper Kanye West.

ong information

The song was written by American singer-rapper will.i.am, Estelle and West for Estelle's second album, "Shine". Produced by will.i.am, the song uses samples from "Impatient" from his 2007 album "Songs About Girls", as well as "& Down" by Boys Noize. "American Boy" was released as the second single from "Shine". It was released in the UK, as a download, on March 21 2008 and physically on March 24 2008.

The song has been covered and parodied internationally. Sam Sparro performed an acoustic version of the song on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge which was then released as a B-Side to his single "21st Century Life". It was remixed by Busta Rhymes, [ [http://mixmatters.com/hot/2008/Estelle_feat_Busta_Rhymes-American_Boy_Remix.html Estelle feat. Busta Rhymes "American Boy" Remix ] ] and spoofed by Nova 100 as "Australian Boy" [Nova 939's [http://nova100.com.au/public/download.aspx?id=228791&str=Australian%20Boy] ] , "Armenian Boy" by Australian radio hosts Hamish & Andy and "Somerset Boy" by Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1. House artist Peven Everett released a song and video insulting the featured guest on "American Boy," Kanye West, called "Fake American Boy." [ [http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26186258 Music video for "Fake American Boy" - Peven Everett] ] And also "Canadian Boy", by radio host Mad Dog, with help of Canadian artist Suzie McNeil on Mix 99.9 in Toronto.

On Tuesday, August 19th, 2008, "Shine" was removed from iTunes U.S. store, due to Estelle's record label order. In its place was offered a cover version on a compilation album titled "Pop Picks". The original recording however, remains available on the iTunes U.K. store. The US version on iTunes is explicit, however it is not listed as such.

After quickly dropping in Billboard rankings, on September 9, 2008, "Shine" reappeared for purchase in the iTunes U.S. store. As a result of accumulated demand during the period of unavailability, "American Boy" quickly re-entered the top 100 songs chart, which prompted the song to jump four spots on the Billboard Hot 100 from #57 to #53. [http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=The+Billboard+Hot+100]

"American Boy" reached a spot in the top 6 of iTunes "Top Songs" by September 13, 2008. Those sales levels in iTunes added the 10,000 [http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/9/estelle-s-shine-and-hit-single-american-boy-suddenly-back-on-itunes-aapl-wmg-] copies of Shine sold in the now-reversed album-only experiment. During that time, the Shine Album still generated 5,000 [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/09/itunes-estelle.html] sales per week through offline sales, the UK iTunes, and non iTunes digital music channels such as Amazon which agreed to continue album sales while abiding by the publisher's wish to block sales of the single.

Chart performance

"American Boy" is Estelle's biggest hit charting in 18 different official charts in the world. The single debuted at number 72 in UK Singles Chart. The following week, the song jumped 71 spots from number 72 to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and stayed four weeks at the summit of the chart. The single has also charted on the Irish Singles Chart the same week where it entered at number eight on downloads and peaked at number two.

In the U.S, the song debuted at #98, her first appearance in Billboard Hot 100. The single rose to #9 on the chart and #8 on Hot Digital Songs. [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=656852&model.vnuAlbumId=1104403 Estelle Chart History] , Billboard.com, June 26, 2008.] As previously mentioned above, the single and its parent album were then removed from the U.S iTunes store, prompting the single to plummet from #11 to #37 on the following week's Hot 100. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003843472] The album and song were then added back to the iTunes store on September 9, 2008. The song quickly returned to the top ten on iTunes, and the week after this, "American Boy" reached a new peak on the Hot 100 of #9, becoming Estelle's first U.S. top ten hit. Also, it debuted at #96 [ [http://acharts.us/canadian_hot_100/2008/14 Canadian Hot 100 14/2008] ,"acharts.us", April 1st, 2008.] and peaked at #9 [ [http://acharts.us/canadian_hot_100/2008/26 Canadian Hot 100 26/2008] , "acharts.us", June 24th, 2008.] on the Canadian Hot 100.

The single debuted at number 7 [ [http://acharts.us/australia_singles_top_50/2008/20] , acharts.us, May 13th, 2008.] in Australia and so far peaked number 3. [ [http://acharts.us/australia_singles_top_50/2008/24 Australia Singles Top 50 24/2008] , acharts.us, June 10th, 2008.] "American Boy" is Estelle's highest charting single since "1980", which peaked number 36. In New Zealand the single first appeared on April 1, 2008 on New Zealand Chart debuting at number 25. [ [http://acharts.us/nz_singles_top_40/2008/14 New Zealand Top 40 14/2008] , acharts.us, April 1st, 2008.] After a couple of weeks, it cracked the top 5 of the chart peaking number 5. [ [http://acharts.us/nz_singles_top_40/2008/18 New Zealand Top 40 18/2008] , acharts.us, April 29th, 2008.] It was also her first appearance in New Zealand RIANZ Chart.

In addition, the song reached top 10 in more than 14 countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Canada.

On July 27 2008, the song moved up five places from #28 to #23 in the UK, but dropped 7 places the following week to #30.

There was also a remix of the song called "Canadian Boy" by Canadian rapper Famous & Andreena Mill.

Music video

The music video for "American Boy" features guest appearances by John Legend, Kardinal Offishall, Taz Arnold of Sa-Ra, Naledge and Double-O of Kidz in the Hall, Danger Mouse, Consequence, Hi-Tek, Ryan Leslie, T.I., Brandon Hines, and Terrence J of "106 and Park", among others. [ [http://stereogum.com/archives/video/new-estelle-feat-kanye-west---american-boy_008220.html Music video for "American Boy" - Estelle feat. Kanye West] ] It was directed by Syndrome.The music video was nominated for Best UK Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

Track listings and formats

;UK CD 1
# "American Boy" (clean radio edit)

;UK CD 2
# "American Boy" (explicit album version)
# "Life to Me"
# "American Boy" (video)hkllllh

;Remixes EP
# "American Boy" (kyle)
# "American Boy" (TS7 Remix Radio Edit)
# "American Boy" (Soulseekerz Club Remix)
# "American Boy" (Soulseekerz Dub Remix)
# "American Boy" (Soulseekerz Radio Remix)

Release history

Charts

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY7xXSW_NG4 Official Music Video]
* [http://www.myspace.com/estelleonline Estelle MySpace Page]