Kiss Kiss (Chris Brown song)
"Kiss Kiss" is a song by American singer Chris Brown featuring vocals and sole production from American rapper T-Pain from the former's second studio album. Written by the two artists, the song was released as the album's second single on September 10, 2007 worldwide. It was later solicited to rhythm crossover radios in the United States on September 11, 2007. "Kiss Kiss" is an upbeat record that incorporates elements of R&B, hip-hop and dance music. The song's lyrics are about getting a woman's attention.
"Kiss Kiss"
The official remix features American rapper Nelly from the hip-hop group St. Lunatics.
"Kiss Kiss" topped the charts in New Zealand and the United States, becoming Brown's second number one single in both countries. It also peaked inside the top ten in Canada and Australia and later earned platinum certifications there. The single, however failed to garner similar success in the European territories, peaking outside the top twenty in Ireland and the United Kingdom and below the top fifty in Sweden and Switzerland.
The music video for "Kiss Kiss" was directed by Brown and Erik White, who directed the music video for his last number one single "Run It!". The video features Brown in personas – a nerd and a jock – and several dance sequences. It earned a nomination at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Choreography". It was nominated for several other accolades at the 2008 BET Awards and the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Background and production[edit]
"Kiss Kiss" was released as the second single from Brown's second studio album Exclusive (2007), after the moderately successful "Wall to Wall" (2007). The song was released to digital retailers worldwide on September 10, 2007, through Zomba Recordings. A day later, on September 11, 2007, Jive Records and Zomba Recordings serviced the song to rhythmic crossover radio in the United States. It was later solicited to contemporary hit radio on October 16, 2007.[2]
"Kiss Kiss" was written by Chris Brown and T-Pain, and produced by the latter.[3] In an interview with Shaheem Reed from MTV News, Brown stated that the first version, which he intended to make a little more adult, was rejected. He said the original line, " She's chunky, chunky/ She's thick, thick" was changed to "She wants that lovey dovey/ That kiss, kiss/ In her mind, she fantasize about getting with me/ 'Cause they hating on me/ They wanna dis, dis, but she's mine, so fine/ And thick as can be" to keep the song "PG-13".[4] The song was recorded at Chalice Recording Studio – a recording studio in Los Angeles, California – by Brian Sumner.[3] Fabian Marasciullo mixed the track with assistance from Chad Jolley at Hit Factory Criteria in Miami, Florida.[3] A remix featuring Nelly in addition to T-Pain was released in November 7.[5]
Composition[edit]
Musically, "Kiss Kiss" mixes elements of hip hop music, R&B and dance, featuring a bouncy drum beat.[6][7] According to the music sheet published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song utilizes styles of urban and R&B music and has a moderate hip-hop tempo of 140 beats per minute.[8] It is written in a key of E♭ minor while Brown's vocals range from B4 to B5.[8] Brown's vocals are Auto-Tuned on some parts of the record. T-Pain performs the song's introduction, backup vocals throughout the track, and a "brief, energized rap verse". Stereogum defined it as a "piece of melodic pop-rap".[9] Lyrically, "Kiss Kiss" is about getting a woman's attention. Nick Levine of Digital Spy said the song features braggadocio, citing the lyric "I got paper girl, the Lamborghini - with the spider seats, you never seen it" as an example.[10]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "Kiss Kiss" was shot at Florida International University's University Park campus, in Miami, Florida. It was directed by Brown and Erik White, who has directed music videos with and for him in the past, including Brown's last number one single "Run It".[11] This video premiered on BET's 106 & Park on August 30, 2007. The music video is also available on iTunes. This song was voted #1 on MTV's 27 Essential R&B Songs of 2007.[12]
The song had its debut on VH1 at #6 on January 5. In the video Brown plays two different versions of himself, a nerd and a jock, both trying to get the attention of a pretty girl who also attends the college. The jock side of Brown is constantly picking on the nerdy Brown around the girl, thinking it will impress her, whereas the nerdy Brown is always being nice to her. In one scene of the video the jock Brown is playing football in a field by the school, while the nerdy Brown is attempting to talk to the girl. The jock Brown seeing this runs and tackles the nerdy Brown to the ground. At the end of the video the two Browns are standing in front of their cars in the parking lot. The girl comes up, passes the jock Brown and kisses the nerdy Brown and proceeds to get in his vehicle, while the jock looks on, bewildered. K. Michelle made a cameo in the video. The music video received a nomination at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Choreography", but lost to Gnarls Barkley's "Run".[13]