T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)

"T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"
Single by will.i.am featuring Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger
from the album #willpower
Released November 20, 2011 (2011-11-20)
Format Digital download, CD single
Recorded 2010
Genre Electro hop
Length 4:47 (Single Version)
4:07 (Radio Edit)
Label Interscope
Writer(s) William Adams, Jr., Jennifer Lopez, Michael Jagger, Dallas Austin, Jimmy Iovine
Producer Audiobot, Dallas Austin, Jimmy Iovine, will.i.am
will.i.am singles chronology
"Free"
(2011)		 "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"
(2011)		 "Great Times"
(2012)
Mick Jagger singles chronology
"Miracle Worker"
(2011)		 "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"
(2011)
Jennifer Lopez singles chronology
"Papi"
(2011)		 "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"
(2011)

"T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" is a song by American rapper will.i.am, featuring vocals from Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez, released as the first official lead single from his upcoming fourth studio album, #willpower. The song was released via the iTunes Store on November 20, 2011, just hours after it's debut at the American Music Awards. The music video for the song was released on December 12, 2011. The single will receive an official release on January 20, 2012.[1]

Contents

Background

will.i.am first announced the song via his Twitter account, before announcing it via various online media.[2] Links to a demo version of the song were made available via Dipdive[2] and Google+.[3] On November 18, Will released the cover art for the single, using it as his Twitter avatar and background.[4] The song was premiered live on November 20, 2011, live at the 2011 American Music Awards at the Nokia Theater. The performance included will.i.am and Lopez performing live, and Jagger performing via video link.[5] The song was made available on iTunes immediately following the AMA performance.[5] The song was produced by Audiobot, Dallas Austin and will.i.am[5], as well as Jimmy Iovine.[6] will.i.am originally presented the track to Iovine without the featured artists, as a finished work, and was caught off guard by his request to add performers to the song. In response, he threw out Jagger's name among possible collaborators because he thought it would never happen.[6] Iovine produced Jagger's vocals. It was the first time Iovine had produced in decades.[6] Immediately after the AMA performance, will.i.am thanked Fighting Gravity via Twitter.[7] will.i.am also performed the song live at the American Giving Awards on December 10. Neither Lopez or Jagger appeared.[8][9]

Music video

Will.i.am tweeted that a portion of the video was filmed on October 17, 2011 in Los Angeles.[10] On October 24, he tweeted that he had hurt himself during filming.[11] Lopez filmed her part in the video on and around October 30, 2011.[12] After the song's November 20 AMA debut, MTV reported that the video, which was shot both in Los Angeles and in London, was expected to premier before the end of November.[5] The video was directed by Rich Lee.[5] Will released the music video on December 12 with a link to google+.[13] A few hours later Jagger tweeted that the official debut of the music video would occur that evening on Extra.[14] Lopez tweeted a link to the video on December 14 on Vevo.[15]

Critical reception

A critic at RyanSeacrest.com described the video as "out of this world – literally".[16] Ryan Seacrest tweeted: "the new @iamwill @JLo @MickJagger video requires u set your computer to warp speed".[17] Entertainment Weekly put it in their list of the worst songs of 2011. The song debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #36 for the chart week of December 10, 2011 with 70,000 copies sold.[18] The song also debuted at number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100 the same week.[19]

Tracklisting

Digital download
  1. "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)" - 4:47
CD single[20]
  1. "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)" (Radio Edit) - 4:07
  2. "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)" (Soundclash Mix) - 6:43

Charts

Chart (2011-12) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[21] 57
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 10
US Billboard Hot 100 36
US Billboard Pop Songs[22] 38

Release history

Region Date Format
United States November 20, 2011 (2011-11-20) Digital Download[23]
December 6, 2011 (2011-12-06) Top 40/Mainstream radio[24]
Germany January 7, 2012 (2012-01-07) Digital Download[25]
January 20, 2012 (2012-01-20) CD single[26]

References

  1. ^ http://www.amazon.de/T-H-Hardest-Ever-2-Track-Will-I-Am/dp/B006OG4KX2/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1325413704&sr=1-2
  2. ^ a b Will.i.am (2011-11-19). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/138038014021607424. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  3. ^ Will.i.am (2011-11-19). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/138040116622012416. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  4. ^ Will.i.am (2011-11-18). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/137665192661225473. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  5. ^ a b c d e Dinh, James (2011-11-21). "will.i.am And Jennifer Lopez Glow In The Dark At AMAs: Mick Jagger also appeared via video screen for debut performance of 'T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever.)'". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674729/will-i-am-jennifer-lopez-amas.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  6. ^ a b c Baltin, Steve (2011-11-20). "Exclusive: Will.i.am on How He Got Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez for New Single: Black Eyed Peas architect to debut "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" with J.Lo on American Music Awards tonight". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-will-i-am-on-how-he-got-mick-jagger-and-jennifer-lopez-for-new-single-20111120#ixzz1eImN25yS. Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  7. ^ Will.i.am (2011-11-20). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/138511287662546944. Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  8. ^ Stelter, Brian (2011-12-09). "For Chase, a TV Show to Promote Its Charity". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/business/media/jpmorgan-is-promoting-its-charity-on-nbc-show.html. Retrieved 2011-12-18. 
  9. ^ The Black Eyed Peas (2011-12-10). "@bep status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it#!/bep/statuses/145627742224908288. Retrieved 2011-12-18. 
  10. ^ Will.i.am (2011-10-19). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/126420321149521920. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  11. ^ Will.i.am (2011-10-24). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/128428281782468608. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  12. ^ Will.i.am (2011-10-29). "@iamwill in reply to @JLoID". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/130504991537512449. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  13. ^ Will.i.am (2011-12-12). "@iamwill status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/iamwill/status/146168281085116416. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  14. ^ Mick Jagger (2011-12-12). "@MickJagger status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/MickJagger/status/146377292774510592. Retrieved 2011-12-13. 
  15. ^ Jennifer Lopez (2011-12-14). "@JLo status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/JLo/status/147150771685818369. Retrieved 2011-12-18. 
  16. ^ Mitchell, Allison (2011-12-12). "Will.i.am Releases Stellar Music Video for ‘T.H.E.’ Ft. Jennifer Lopez & Mick Jagger [VIDEO"]. RyanSeacrest.com. http://ryanseacrest.com/2011/12/12/will-i-am-releases-stellar-music-video-for-t-h-e-featuring-jennifer-lopez-mick-jagger-video/. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  17. ^ Ryan Seacrest (2011-12-12). "@RyanSeacrest status". Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/RyanSeacrest/status/146308456792588288. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  18. ^ Trust, Gary (2011-11-30). "Rihanna Remains Atop Hot 100, American Music Awards Spur Gains". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/news/rihanna-remains-atop-hot-100-american-music-1005585552.story. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  19. ^ "Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. 2011-12-10. http://www.billboard.com/charts/canadian-hot-100#/charts/canadian-hot-100?chartDate=2011-12-10. Retrieved 2011-12-06. 
  20. ^ http://www.amazon.de/T-H-Hardest-Ever-2-Track-Will-I-Am/dp/B006OG4KX2/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1325413704&sr=1-2
  21. ^ http://ariacharts.com.au/pages/chartifacts.htm
  22. ^ http://www.billboard.com/column/chartbeat#/column/chartbeat/chart-highlights-justin-bieber-jingles-onto-1005734752.story
  23. ^ "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever) [feat. Mick Jagger & Jennifer Lopez] - Single". Apple Inc.. 2011-11-20. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/t.h.e-the-hardest-ever-feat./id481538740. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  24. ^ "CHR/Top 40". RadioandRecords.com. http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=12/06/2011&Format=1. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  25. ^ "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever) - Explicit Version von Jennifer Lopez, Mick Jagger, Will.I.Am zum Musik Dow] - Single". musicload.de. 2011-12-30. http://www.musicload.de/jennifer-lopez-mick-jagger-will-i-am/t-h-e-the-hardest-ever/musik/single/11687066_4?cck=AAAAAQ... Retrieved 2011-12-30. 
  26. ^ http://www.amazon.de/T-H-Hardest-Ever-2-Track-Will-I-Am/dp/B006OG4KX2/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1325413704&sr=1-2

External links

will.i.am
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
"I Got It from My Mama" · "Heartbreaker" · "One More Chance"  · "I'm in the House" · "Check It Out" · "Dance" · "Forever" · "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"  · "Great Times"
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Jennifer Lopez singles
On the 6
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J to tha L–O!: The Remixes
This Is Me... Then
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Como ama una Mujer
Brave
Love?
Featured singles
"El Ultimo Adios (The Last Goodbye)" · "What's Going On" · "Control Myself" · "This Boy's Fire" · "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"
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