"Downtown" is a song by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring fellow American musicians Eric Nally of Foxy Shazam, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz. The song was officially released on August 27, 2015, as the lead single from the duo's second studio album This Unruly Mess I've Made (2016). A music video for the song was uploaded to Ryan Lewis' YouTube channel on the day of the song's release.
"Downtown" | ||||
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Single by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz | ||||
from the album This Unruly Mess I've Made | ||||
Released | August 27, 2015 | |||
Recorded | July 2015 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Hip hop | |||
Length | 4:54 | |||
Label | Macklemore LLC | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis singles chronology | ||||
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Kool Moe Dee singles chronology | ||||
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Background
editOn the song Macklemore said, "Ryan [Lewis] made a beat on the road called 'moping around,' I got the beat, I thought it said moped." "Coincidentally we had both purchased mopeds for being on the road so we could go around, leave the venues that we were performing at, and I wrote a song about mopeds, which now a year and a half later is out in the world."[1]
Critical reception
editAXS described the song as a sequel to the duo's successful single "Thrift Shop",[2] while USA Today called it "a hip hop recreation of Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson's 'Uptown Funk'."[3] It came at #18 on the annual Triple J Hottest 100 for 2015.[4] However, Time named "Downtown" the sixth-worst song of 2015.[5]
Chart performance
editIn the United States, "Downtown" debuted at number 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated September 12, 2015.[6] Its chart debut was fueled by sales of 11,000 digital downloads in its first two days, along with 886,000 domestic streams during the same period, nearly all from views of the song's music video.[7] The next week, following its first full week of availability and a performance at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, the song jumped to number 18 with the week's largest gain in digital download sales,[8] having sold 95,000 copies and logged 5.7 million streams for the week.[9] It has since peaked at number 12.[10] As of November 2015, "Downtown" has sold 772,000 copies domestically.[11] Macklemore and Ryan Lewis also performed the song live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 9, 2015.[12]
In Australia, "Downtown" entered the Australian Singles Chart at number nine as the second highest debut on the week commencing September 7, 2015.[13] The song rose to number two on the week commencing September 14, 2015.[14] On the week commencing October 5, 2015, "Downtown" replaced Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?" at number one after being blocked from the position for three weeks,[15][16] becoming Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' fourth number one single in the country.[17] It has since been certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[18]
Music video
editThe official music video for the song was uploaded on August 27, 2015, to Ryan Lewis' YouTube channel. It was directed by Macklemore, Lewis, and Jason Koenig, and was filmed in Spokane, Washington.[19] Ken Griffey Jr. is featured in the music video. As of July 2024, it has over 244,000,000 views on YouTube.
In popular culture
editMedia
edit"Downtown" was used in the movie trailers for Dirty Grandpa and The Secret Life of Pets.
In July 2018, the Seattle Police Department created a music video set to "Downtown" as part of a lip-sync video competition between police departments across the United States that was popular at the time.[20]
This was used in 2018 film Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, the song was sung by a group of Fish Men in the film.
Track listing
editNo. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Downtown" (featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz) | 4:52 |
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
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Certifications
editRegion | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[61] | 5× Platinum | 350,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA)[62] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI)[63] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[64] | Platinum | 15,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[65] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[66] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ / 772,000[11] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
editRegion | Date | Label | Format |
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Worldwide | August 27, 2015 | Macklemore LLC | Digital download[21] |
References
edit- ^ Garibaldi, Christina (4 September 2015). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis purchases mopeds to get around". MTV. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
- ^ Pankey, William (August 27, 2015). "Watch Macklemore attempt to re-create 'Thrift Shop' with new video 'Downtown'". AXS. AEG Worldwide. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ^ McDermott, Maeve (August 27, 2015). "What exactly is going on in 'Downtown', Macklemore's bizarre new song?". ENTERTAiNTHiS!. USA Today Life. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ^ "1-100 List - Hottest 100 2015 - triple j". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 January 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ "Top 10 Worst Songs". Time. December 1, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ "The Hot 100: The Week of September 12, 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Mendizabal, Amaya (September 1, 2015). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Downtown' Debuts in Top 30 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "The Hot 100: The Week of September 19, 2015". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Mendizabal, Amaya (September 9, 2015). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Downtown' Cruises Up the Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ a b "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Hot 100 Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ^ a b Mansell, Henry (November 21, 2015). "Hip Hop Single Sales: Drake, Justin Timberlake & The Weeknd". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
- ^ Downtown - macklemore and ryan lewis live. YouTube. 9 September 2015.
- ^ "Justin Bieber makes #1 debut with 'What Do You Mean'". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ "?pos=17 "Justin Bieber holds onto #1 with 'What Do You Mean?". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from "?pos=17 the original on October 29, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ "Justin Bieber still at #1 with platinum single 'What Do You Mean?'". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ "Justin Bieber makes four weeks at #1 with 'What Do You Mean?'". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
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- ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart| Australia's Official Top 50 Songs - ARIA Charts". Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
- ^ "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Downtown (Official Music Video)". YouTube. August 27, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ^ "Watch: Seattle police lip-sync Macklemore's 'Downtown' as part of viral video challenge". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ a b "Downtown (feat. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee & Grandmaster Caz) - Single by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis". iTunes. August 27, 2015. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
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