Deja Vu (Beyoncé song)
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| "Deja Vu" | ||
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| Single by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z | ||
| from the album B’Day | ||
| Released | June 13, 2006 (leaked) August 14, 2006 (Europe) |
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| Format | 12" single, CD single, download | |
| Recorded | October 26, 2005; Newark, NJ |
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| Genre | R&B | |
| Length | 3:59 | |
| Label | Columbia | |
| Writer(s) | Shawn Carter, Rodney Jerkins, Beyoncé Knowles, Makeba Riddick, Keli, Nicole Price, Delisha Thomas | |
| Producer(s) | Beyoncé Knowles, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Beyoncé singles chronology | ||
| "Check on It" (2005) |
"Deja Vu" (2006) |
"Ring the Alarm" (2006) |
| Beyoncé Europe singles chronology | ||
| "Check on It" (2005) |
"Deja Vu" (2006) |
"Irreplaceable" (2006) |
| Alternate cover | ||
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“Deja Vu” [sic] is an R&B song written by Beyoncé Knowles, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Rodney Jerkins, Makeba Riddick, Nicole Keli Price and Delisha Thomas for Knowles' second solo album B’Day (2006). It features rapper Jay-Z and production by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, utilizing the bass, hi-hat, and the 808 instruments and sound system, reminiscent of many popular Rich Harrison productions. Released as the album's lead single in the third quarter of 2006, "Deja Vu" reached number one in Brazil, China, Poland, and the UK. While the song failed to match the success of 2003's "Crazy in Love", it entered the top ten on the majority of the charts it appeared on. It also was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best R&B Song at the Grammy Awards of 2007.
The title of the song is taken from the French word déjà vu, meaning “the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time” m-w.com. Management for the album however anglicised the spelling, removing the two diacritics from déjà and promoting their spelling mistake around the world. The error appears on the B’Day album, the iTunes cover, the official site and other promotional material, but the correct spelling is present on the main single.
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[edit] Background and writing
After the filming of Dreamgirls was wrapped in April 2006, Beyoncé spent three weeks in the month of May recording for her upcoming album without informing her label or her management. The singer claims that the album was wrapped without anyone from her label or management knowing about it (yet somehow her father, Mathew Knowles is still listed as executive producer on the album, which is an impossible feat, if he never knew about the recordings). Beyoncé decided to stick to a formula that worked well for her when it came to concieving this song. She was looking for something similar to the first single off of her first album Dangerously in Love, to be issued as the first single by the summer of 2006. With similar melodies, lyrics, bass, tone, and even the same rapper featured on it, "Deja Vu" was quickly concieved. Upon its release, many noted the similarities it shared with "Crazy in Love".
[edit] Music video
The music video for “Deja Vu” was directed by Sophie Muller and was shot on various locations in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 16, 2006. The video premiered on July 12, 2006 on MTV's TRL, although it was already available for viewing at MTV Overdrive.
The next day, Beyoncé talked about "Deja Vu"'s video on MTV's Total Request Live. She stated that the main inspiration for her choreography was Josephine Baker. She told another interviewer that Tina Turner was another inspiration for the intense choreography. During the making of the video for "Deja Vu", Beyoncé recalled being in swamps dodging alligators, snakes and bees. She revealed that she "decided to go to Louisiana because it has a soul that a studio can't give you. We were in the swamps. Literally, there were alligators, snakes, bees, and wasps. It was 105 degrees. All of that sweat in the video is real. That's not some spritzer. That's real." The video and the song itself won two MOBO awards in United Kingdom for "Best Video" and "Best Song" respectively.
[edit] Chart performance
The song leaked on June 13, 2006, and instantly debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at sixty-nine, after only two days of radio airplay. Afterwards it jumped from number sixty-nine to number twelve on that particular chart, eventually moving to number one. "Deja Vu" debuted at number forty-four on the Hot 100, on which it peaked at number four, making it her seventh consecutive mainstream single to make the top four on the chart. However, it was at the time the lowest charting release from any of Knowles' solo studio albums, and did not reach #1 as her previous album's lead single- and her previous single, "Check On It"- did. The song also began to rapidly fall down the charts [1] which caused her record label to swiftly release "Ring The Alarm" as a follow-up, which reached number 11. Nonetheless, B’Day still debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, even selling more copies in its first week than "Dangerously In Love" had done. "Deja Vu" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Single Sales Chart after being released on August 15, 2006.
In United Kingdom, despite the official release in August, it received heavy attention from radio stations. BBC Radio 1 qualified Knowles to the "B list" of their playlist after only a week of radio release and before a video had been broadcast. It was promoted to the "A list" on July 19, 2006, a month prior to the single release.[1] The song was released on iTunes on July 25, 2006 and went to number one within a day, spending a full week at the top spot.
The single peaked at number one on the Official UK Singles Chart and was the highest climber inside the top forty, moving up twenty places from the previous week when only the song's downloads were counted. It replaces Shakira's four-week run at the top spot with "Hips Don't Lie". However, "Deja Vu" had a relatively short chart duration in UK. It was Beyoncé's second song to top the UK singles chart as a solo artist after "Crazy in Love" in 2003. Counting her career with Destiny's Child, this was her fourth number-one single in the UK. Sales of the single in the UK now stand at 117,500 copies.
[edit] Charts
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[edit] Notes
- ^ www.bbc.co.uk/. "Deja Vu" release in the United Kingdom. July 19, 2006.
- ^ a b www.musicsquare.net/. World singles chart. Since July, 2006.
- ^ a b www.allmusic.com/. U.S. Billboard charts. Since July, 2006.
[edit] External link
- Beyoncé music videos — watch "Deja Vu" at LAUNCHcast
| Preceded by "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean |
UK Singles Chart number-one single August 28, 2006 - September 03, 2006 |
Succeeded by "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake |
| Preceded by "Shoulder Lean" by Young Dro featuring T.I. |
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one single September 2, 2006- September 9, 2006 |
Succeeded by "Pullin' Me Back" by Chingy featuring Tyrese |
| Beyoncé Knowles |
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| Discography |
| Studio albums: Dangerously in Love (2003) • B’Day (2006) |
| DVDs: Live at Wembley (2004) • B’Day Anthology Video Album (2007) |
| Singles: "Work It Out" • "Crazy in Love" • "Baby Boy" • "Fighting Temptation" • "Me, Myself and I" • "Naughty Girl" • "Dangerously in Love" • "Check on It" • "Deja Vu" • "Ring the Alarm" • "Irreplaceable" • "Listen" • "Beautiful Liar" |
| Other songs: "I Got That" • "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" • "Hollywood" • "Upgrade U" |
| Related articles |
| Filmography • Awards and nominations • Destiny's Child • Solange Knowles • Jay-Z • Columbia • House of Deréon • B'Day World Tour |
