Tilt Ya Head Back

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"Tilt Ya Head Back"
"Tilt Ya Head Back" cover
Single by Nelly featuring Christina Aguilera
from the album Sweat
Released September 2004
Format Airplay Only
Genre Rap/R&B
Length 4:13
Label Universal Records
Writer(s) Nelly
Dorian Moore
Tegemold Newton
Curtis Mayfield
Producer(s) Doe Mo' Beats
Chart positions
  • #5 AUS, UK
  • #27 CAN
  • #58 US
Nelly singles chronology
"Flap Your Wings"
(2004)
"Tilt Ya Head Back"
(2004)
"Over and Over"
(2004)
Christina Aguilera singles chronology
"Car Wash"
(2004)
"Tilt Ya Head Back"
(2004)
"Ain't No Other Man"
(2006)

"Tilt Ya Head Back" is a single by rapper Nelly with pop singer Christina Aguilera, released in 2004, from Nelly's album Sweat.

[edit] Song information

"Tilt Ya Head Back" was written by Nelly, Dorian Moore, Tegemold Newton and Curtis Mayfield. It was produced by Doe Mo' Beats for Mo' Beats/Derrty Ent. The song contains samples of the single "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield. The music video was directed by Little X.

In the early stages of the song, Nelly and his record label had in mind either Janet Jackson or Britney Spears for the female part on the record. Jackson felt it would be best to stay out of the spotlight after her wardrobe malfunction fiasco, and Spears' label declined feeling that the song would be too urban for her audience. Interestingly enough, Spears' rival in the media, Christina Aguilera, ended up on the song.

[edit] Chart success

At first, the song was expected to be a big hit for both Nelly and Aguilera, as it tested well at Pop, Urban, and Rhthmic formats. Nelly and Christina would hype up the release of the song by performing it at the 2004 Video Music Awards (the only time the song was ever performed). However, It was later revealed that Nellys label was insecure about this record, as they felt that Aguilera overshadowed Nelly on his own record and therefore was not given a big push or any other promotion by the record label. The video for the song had already been shot before Nellys label decided to switch their promotion over to another Nelly song that had been getting major attention, Over and Over a duet with Tim McGraw off of his Suit album. That track began receiving large amounts of airplay and would overshadow the release of Tilt Ya Head Back".

"Tilt Ya Head Back" flopped in the U.S., failing to crack the top fifty of either the Billboard Hot 100 or Hot 100 Airplay, in a very similar fate that Aguilera's previous single, "Car Wash" faced.

Internationally, the song became a top five hit in the UK, but peaked at a somewhat low #27 in Canada. It peaked lowly in other European nations.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
U.S.Billboard Hot 100 58
U.S. Top 40 Tracks 28
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream 26
U.S. Rhythmic Top 40 38
UK Top 40 Singles 5
Canadian Singles 27
Dutch Top 40 16
'Tokio Hot 100' 30
Australia Top 50 Singles 5
Switzerland Top 100 Singles 16
Ireland Top 50 Singles 12
Germany Top 100 Singles 27
Indonesia Chart 44
Austria Top 75 Singles 42
New Zealand Top 50 Singles 4
In other languages