Video Phone (song)
"Video Phone" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). It was written and produced by Beyoncé, Shondrae Crawford and Sean Garrett. A crunk song, it consists of simple lyrics and hidden innuendos. The lyrics refer to putting up a sexy display to be recorded on a video phone. The song was released as the eighth single from I Am... Sasha Fierce on September 22, 2009, with its remix featuring Lady Gaga being released on November 17.
"Video Phone"
September 22, 2009
- Bangladesh
- PatchWerk
- Silent Sound (Atlanta)
- 3:35 (album version)
- 5:04 (extended remix)
- Beyoncé Knowles
- Shondrae Crawford
- Sean Garrett
- Bangladesh
- The Pen
- Beyoncé
"Video Phone" received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Some noted that Gaga's featured appearance on the song's remix failed to add anything to the tune. The original version charted in the lower regions of charts in Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, while the remix peaked at number 65 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and atop the US Dance Club Songs.
An accompanying music video for "Video Phone" was filmed for the remix. It portrayed Beyoncé and Gaga in a number of costumes, brandishing colorful guns towards men and paying homage to the film Reservoir Dogs (1992) and pin-up legend Bettie Page. It received mixed feedback from critics, who called it uninteresting and felt that it did not present anything new. However, they complimented the costumes and the cinematic homage of the video. The video went on to win the BET Award for Video of the Year.
Chart performance[edit]
Upon release as a single in 2009, "Video Phone" debuted at number 70 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and eventually peaked at 37.[28] I Am... Sasha Fierce became the first album of the 21st century to have seven entries on this chart, following "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "If I Were a Boy", "Diva", "Halo", "Ego" and "Sweet Dreams".[5] On the week ending December 12, 2009, the extended remix of "Video Phone" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 65, due to digital downloads. The song sold 28,000 copies in its first week, 93% of which were for the extended remix though radio stations preferred to spin the original album version.[29] "Video Phone" also became Knowles' fourteenth number-one Hot Dance Club Songs chart-topper. It is also her sixth consecutive chart-topper.[30] According to Nielsen SoundScan, the combined versions of "Video Phone" has sold 287,000 copies as of June 2010.[31]
In Australia, the original version of the song debuted at 89 and peaked at 66 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[32] The remixed version debuted at 40 on November 30, 2009 and peaked at 31 the next week.[33] The original and the remixed version, respectively, both peaked at 29 on the ARIA Urban Chart.[32] In New Zealand, the remixed version debuted at 33 and peaked at 32 after two weeks.[34] In the United Kingdom, the original version of "Video Phone" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at 91, and peaked at 58.[35] The original and remixed version peaked on the UK R&B Chart at 21 and 36 respectively.[36] Across Europe, the remixed version of the song charted outside the official charts in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia).[37] In the Czech Republic, the extended remix of "Video Phone" debuted at thirty-nine on issue date February 17, 2010.[38]
Credits are taken from I Am... Sasha Fierce liner notes.[1]