| "My People" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Presets | ||||
| from the album Apocalypso | ||||
| Released | December 4, 2007 | |||
| Format | CD single, music download, 12" | |||
| Genre | Alternative dance, electropunk, synthpop | |||
| Length | 4:31 (album version) / 3:49 (radio edit) | |||
| Label | FMR/WEA/Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Julian Hamilton, Kim Moyes | |||
| Producer | The Presets | |||
| The Presets singles chronology | ||||
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"My People" is the first single from The Presets' second album Apocalypso. The song was nominated for two ARIA Awards, "Single of the Year" and "Best Video" (Kris Moyes).[1] It won the latter.[2]
On 26 October 2008, "My People" jumped up 38 spots from #52 to #14 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, surpassing its previous peak of #19.
Channel V Australia named the song as the second biggest hit of 2008, behind only "Low" by Flo Rida.
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The song was written by Julian Hamilton about boat people in Australian detention centres. "I wanted to write a song about [...] this horrible phenomenon where people come out here in search of a better life and we lock them up. I felt so horrible about the way we treat these destitute people that I wanted to write a desperate-sounding song – the line 'let me hear you scream if you're with me' could be understood to come from the perspective of someone who is locked up, needing to hear that there are people outside who are behind him and supporting him."[3] Kim Moyes said "In a lot of ways [the song is] a 'mega-mix' of three or four Presets ideas and it's a really glued-together, solid Presets [song]. It's very informed by the touring process and crowd reactions."[4]
Despite its eventual success, the group initially had doubts if radio would play it due to the track's heaviness. Kim Moyes told Rolling Stone Australia "I remember when we played it to our record company and they were like 'we love it but how the heck are we going to get this on the radio?' There were even doubts about how much Triple J would get behind it, let alone any commercial stations."[5]
Will.i.am from American hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas, in an interview with Billboard magazine about their new album The E.N.D., remarked that "the album had been inspired by a trip to Australia, specifically the sound of The Presets' My People. "The energy on the Presets' small little stage was crazy energy. That song My People (he sings the chorus) - that . . . is wild," will.i.am said, ""That's the reason why this record sounds the way it does - my three months in Australia."
On the 26th/27 October, "My People" made its return to the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, peaking higher at number 14. This chart rebound was partly due to The Presets' appearance at the 2008 ARIA Awards a week earlier.
"My People" holds the record for the most weeks spent by an Australian-released single within the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart - 76 weeks or a year and a half.
In 2009, "My People" was sampled by Australian hip-hop artist "Phrase" in his song "Phrase meets The Presets". A music video was also created by DJ Flagrant to accompany it.
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart[6] | 14 |
| Australian ARIA Physical Singles Chart[7] | 22 |
| Australian ARIA Digital Track Chart[8] | 15 |
| Australian ARIA Club Chart[9] | 1 |
| Australian ARIA Australian Chart[10] | 2 |
| Australian Independent Records Singles Chart | 2[11] |
| Country | Chart | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | ARIA End of Year Singles 2008 | #41[12] |
| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Double Platinum[13] | 150,000+ |
Note: Australia radio stations were issued with a 'Radio Edit' (3:49) promo CD single.
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