Powerful

Album: Peace is the Mission (2015)
Charted: 54 83
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This dancehall anthem features vocals from English singer Ellie Goulding and roots reggae crooner Tarrus Riley. Speaking to NME of this track, formed around a beat called 'Powerful,' Diplo said: "It was a good beat name, 'cos that was the hook, immediately. It's sick. When you hear it you'll be like, Wow. Major Lazer did a waltz song, with a reggae artist."
  • Diplo told Radio.com the story of the song: "That record went through a lot of different steps," he said. "We treat all of our songs like DJs and remix them ourselves. We try things out of the ordinary, because people expect Major Lazer to have a very progressive sound with the production."

    "The hook came from working with [Jamaican artist] Tarrus Riley," Diplo continued. "The name of the beat was "Powerful," and the one thing about Jamaican artists is once you have a name for a beat, that's gonna be the lyrics of the song, so you have to be really careful. Luckily, that was a good title. We wrote the lyrics with a girl named IIlsey [Juber], who's a really awesome songwriter."
  • Asked how he hooked up with Ellie Goulding for the song, Diplo replied: "Ellie had been hitting me up around that time wanting to work with Major Lazer, so I sent her this demo. She was like, 'whoa, this is the perfect record for me to do with you guys.' She changed some bits around and did that awesome bridge for us. Then I had my boy Switch, who was one of the original members of Major Lazer, do some drum productions on it and Skrillex added some touches."
  • The song's music video co-stars Goulding and Riley as a pair of suddenly telekinetic diner patrons who team up to literally turn the eatery on its head.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Petula Clark

Petula ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Petula talks about her hits "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway," and explains her Michael Jackson connection.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Gary Lewis

Gary LewisSongwriter Interviews

Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.

Michelle Branch

Michelle BranchSongwriter Interviews

Michelle Branch talks about "Everywhere," "The Game Of Love," and her run-in with a Christian broadcasting network.

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"They're Playing My Song

When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.