It's My Birthday

"It's My Birthday"
Single by will.i.am and Cody Wise
Released	May 27, 2014
Recorded	2014
Genre	Electro-hop tamil worldbeat
Length	4:14
Label	Interscope[1]
Writer(s)	William Adams A. R. Rahman Keith Harris Cody Wise
Producer(s)	will.i.am DJ Ammo
will.i.am singles chronology
"Feelin' Myself" (2013) "It's My Birthday" (2014) "Home" (2014)
Cody Wise singles chronology "It's My Birthday" (2014) "I'm So Excited" (2014)

"It's My Birthday" is a song by American hip hop recording artist and DJ will.i.am and American singer Cody Wise, who is signed to Interscope Records through will.i.am's imprint.^[2] The song was recorded in 2014 and released as a single on May 27, 2014. It is heavily based on the Tamil song "Urvasi Urvasi", from the 1995 Tamil film Kadhalan, composed by the Indian composer A. R. Rahman.

"It's My Birthday" topped the charts in the United Kingdom, becoming will.i.am's tenth chart-topper there (including five as a member of The Black Eyed Peas). The song also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, as well as the top 30 in Belgium, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland.

Background

The song was co-written with A. R. Rahman, composer of "Urvasi Urvasi" and double time oscar winner from the 1994 Tamil Indian film Kadhalan. "It's My Birthday" also samples the popular Jamaican songs "Pull Up to Mi Bumper" by Konshens & J Capri, "Fi Di Jockey" by Aidonia and Bounty Killer chanting 'Big Ship Sailing'.

Critical reception

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave the song a moderate review stating, saying: "The final result doesn't wander too far away from his recent successful offerings, but with a hint of the new here and there, will.i.am proves once again he can have his cake and eat it whether it's his birthday or not." ^[3]

Chart performance

"It's My Birthday" topped the charts in the United Kingdom―where will.i.am appears as a coach on The Voice UK―becoming will.i.am's tenth chart-topper there (including five as a member of The Black Eyed Peas), as well as Wise's first chart success in that country. "It's My Birthday" also became the second Rahman-related song to peak inside the top ten of the charts in the United Kingdom, the first being "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" alongside The Pussycat Dolls which peaked at number three there in April 2009. "It's My Birthday" also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, as well as the top 30 of the charts in Belgium, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland.

Music video

The music video was uploaded to YouTube on May 28, 2014, using the Apple and Twitter software Vine. The video also features popular Viners such as Alphacat, Jerry Purpdrank, Liane V, King Bach and DeStorm Power. The video was credited to Interscope Productions and Maker Studios artists.

Live performances

will.i.am and Wise performed the song in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2014, appearing on the fourth semi-final of the eighth season of Britain's Got Talent. On July 21, 2014 the duo performed it with virtual body doubles on The Voice Australia, which was said to be "one of the biggest performances of the whole night".^[4] On July 29, 2014, they sang it on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[5] They appeared on Good Morning America the next day.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[6] 4 Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[7] 34 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders Urban)[7] 25 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[8] 71 France (SNEP)[9] 167 Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 41 Ireland (IRMA)[11] 25 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 16 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[13] 2 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[14] 58 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[15] 1 UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[16] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Australia (ARIA)[17] 74 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[18] 51 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Australia (ARIA)[19] Platinum 70,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 400,000 ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
United States[1][21]	May 29, 2014	Digital download	Interscope Records
	June 24, 2014	Rhythmic contemporary
United Kingdom[22]	July 6, 2014	Digital download

References

1. "It's My Birthday (feat. Cody Wise) – Single by will.i.am". iTunes Store (US). Apple. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
2. "This Week's Fresh Music Top 20". 8 June 2014. 4Music. Missing or empty |series= (help)
3. Corner, Lewis (July 3, 2014). "will.i.am ft. Cody Wise: 'It's My Birthday' single review". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
4. "Will.I.Am and Cody Wise perform 'It's My Birthday' LIVE on The Voice Finale!". Take 40 Australia. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
5. Payne, Chris. "Will.i.am & Cody Wise Talk Making of 'It's My Birthday' on 'Fallon' & Jam With the Roots". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
6. "Australian-charts.com – will.i.am & Cody Wise – It's My Birthday". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
7. "Ultratop.be – will.i.am & Cody Wise – It's My Birthday" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
8. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201431 into search. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
9. "Lescharts.com – will.i.am & Cody Wise – It's My Birthday" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
10. "Offiziellecharts.de – will.i.am & Cody Wise – It's My Birthday". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
11. "Chart Track: Week 28, 2014". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
12. "Charts.org.nz – will.i.am & Cody Wise – It's My Birthday". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
13. "Archive Chart: 2014-07-19". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
14. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201432 into search. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
15. "Archive Chart: 2014-07-19" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
16. "14, 2014/ Archive Chart: July 14, 2014" UK R&B Chart.
17. "ARIA Top 100 Singles 2014". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
18. Copsey, Rob (December 31, 2014). "The Official Top 100 Biggest Songs of 2014 revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
19. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
20. "British single certifications – will.i.am – It's My Birthday". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 19, 2015. Enter It's My Birthday in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
21. "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014.
22. "It's My Birthday (feat. Cody Wise) – Single by will.i.am". iTunes Store (GB). Apple. Retrieved June 12, 2014.