Letting Go (Dutty Love)

"Letting Go (Dutty Love)" is a song by American recording artist Sean Kingston. It was produced by Stargate, and features Trinidadian recording artist Nicki Minaj. The song is the second single from Kingston's third studio album,^[1] which is yet to be titled. The song samples Rihanna's "Te Amo" which was also produced by the same production team, Stargate.^[2] To date it has sold more than 377,000 copies.^[3]

Background

The song was produced by Stargate and written by Sean Kingston, Ester Dean, Stargate, Traci Hale, and Nicki Minaj who appears on the track.^[4] With the release of the song, Kingston commented on how proud he was of his song, calling it his strongest single yet.^[5] He stated on his Twitter "Okay, so I never felt so good about ANY of my songs since ‘Beautiful Girls’ but trust me when I tell YOU... ‘Letting Go (Dutty Love)’ is a HIT!"^[5]

The song was released onto iTunes June 21, 2010 on "East Coast Digital Radio-Hip-Hop/Rap Podcast/Blog" for a free download as a podcast.^[6]

Composition

The song samples Rihanna's "Te Amo" which was also produced by the same production team, Stargate.^[2] The song has been described as an "island-tinged" jam that features synthesized dance floor beats and air horn effects.^[1][7] Minaj is featured in the song during the bridge and an additional verse reining in her R-rated commentary on the light-and-fluffy track.^[1] "Letting Go (Dutty Love)" lyrically speaks of about new love, letting go of worries and just having fun.^[1][7] The melody and its backbeat feature the "Dutty, dutty, dutty love love" which has been complimented.^[1] Kingston accentuates a Caribbean drawl atop steel drums and a heavy bassline.^[8]

Critical reception

Rap-Up gave the song a positive review stating "Sound the alarm. Sean Kingston has just entered the race for the song of the summer."^[5] Erika Brooks Adickman of Idolator commented "All in all, we want to slap on some roller-skates and bop our heads to this song on our iPods. Can we place 'Letting Go (Dutty Love)' in the race as Song for the Summer?"^[7]

Music video

A music video for the single was shot over the weekend of June 17, 2010, in Jamaica, directed by Lil X.^[9] Pictures of Kingston and Minaj on the set of the music video leaked onto the internet June 21, 2010,^[10] A sneak peek of the music video was released on Rap-Up on July 29.^[11] The music video premiered on Twitter August 3, 2010.^[12] The video takes place in a dance-hall in Jamaica with a cast of dancers and fire-breathers, including American-Jamaican artist Shaggy. Throughout the video, Kingston and Minaj are seen singing into the camera while dancing on the dance-floor and singing their verses on a stage into an old fashioned microphone. The video ends with Minaj blowing a kiss into the camera.

Charts

Release history

References