Breathe

Album: Bittersweet (2003)
Charted: 1 70
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Songfacts®:

  • This features Sean Paul on vocals. The song was originally recorded for the Bittersweet album without the Jamaican dancehall reggae star, but his vocals were added for the single.
  • Blu Cantrell was feeling depressed after a difficult breakup with a boyfriend. She admits in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, "That song is also a snapshot of that relationship. Sometimes you have to step back and give each other space."
  • The song is based around the instrumentation of Dr. Dre's "What's The Difference," which itself heavily samples "Parce Que Tu Crois" by French crooner Charles Aznavour. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above
  • Cantrell was asked by the Metro newspaper December 1, 2003 what it was like working with Dr Dre. She replied: "It was a remix, so I never actually got to meet him. They were his beats, but it was actually produced by another girl, Andrea Martin, and Ivan Matias. If I had to choose, I much prefer the remix to the original."
  • Hype Williams directed the music video, which finds Cantrell and Sean Paul performing against a blue backdrop while cutting to scenes of Cantrell driving recklessly through the streets.
  • British band Years & Years covered this on their 2014 Take Shelter EP.

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