| "Let's Get It Started" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Dante Santiago | ||||
| from the album Elephunk | ||||
| Released | June 22, 2004 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | January 29–September 17, 2002 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop, funk | |||
| Length | 3:34 ("Let's Get Retarded") 3:39 ("Let's Get It Started") |
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| Label | A&M, will.i.am, Interscope | |||
| Writer(s) | Will Adams; Allan Pineda, Jaime Gomez, Terence Yoshiaki, Michael Fratantuno, George Pajon, Jr. | |||
| Producer | will.i.am | |||
| The Black Eyed Peas featuring Dante Santiago singles chronology | ||||
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"Let's Get It Started", (originally titled "Let's Get Retarded" in the 2003 original), appears on The Black Eyed Peas' 2003 album Elephunk. It is the fourth single from the album. When it was released as a single in 2004, the song was remixed to differ in lyrics & beats from the 2003 original.
The song was included on the soundtrack for the 2006 romantic comedy It's a Boy Girl Thing. The song was STAR World's first SID. It gained popularity as the theme song for the 2004 NBA Playoffs on ABC and was performed live at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was featured in the film White Chicks. It was used in UK advertisements for the game The Urbz: Sims in the City. The song was remixed for The Black Eyed Peas' fifth studio album The E.N.D. as "Let's Get Re-Started", it was also featured on their remix album The E.N.D. Summer 2010 Canadian Invasion Tour: Remix Collection, it was the only remix on the album which original song wasn't taken from The E.N.D.
"Let's Get it Started" won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 2005 Grammy Awards, and was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap Song.
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The introduction of the song is a homage to Alicia Keys' 2001 single "Fallin'". The song also samples the single "Bass Is Loaded" by Leaders of the New School.
The song's initial lyrics endured some controversy upon release. 'Retarded' is a sometimes derogatorily used term to describe those with mental retardation. This made the original version of the song difficult to play on most radio stations and at sports games. In 2004 the song's lyrics were edited and the re-released single "Let's Get It Started" found its way onto radio airwaves, movie soundtracks, and video games.
The music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, takes place in a nighttime setting in an urban area. It features The Black Eyed Peas, particularly will.i.am, performing energetic dances while singing the song, while varying objects in the background (including a grand piano) smash against the ground in real-time, slow and fast motion, and in reverse. The choruses feature the band on stage singing to a large crowd.
The video went to #34 on "MuchMusic's 50 Most Controversial Videos" for its original song title.
"Let's Get It Started" was the first song to sell 500,000 downloads in the United States meaning that it was once the best-selling digital song of all time. That title now belongs to their song "I Gotta Feeling", which recently was the first song to cross the 7,000,000 downloads. "Let's Get It Started" has so far sold 2,000,000 copies as of May 2009.[1]
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[2] | 2 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[3] | 18 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] | 22 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)[5] | 24 |
| Denmark (Tracklisten)[6] | 17 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[7] | 2 |
| France (SNEP)[8] | 7 |
| Germany (Media Control AG)[9] | 18 |
| Hungary (Dance Top 40)[10] | 1 |
| Italy (FIMI)[11] | 12 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[12] | 15 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ)[13] | 6 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[14] | 11 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 21 |
| US Pop Songs (Billboard)[16] | 4 |
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