Beat It

Album: Back 2 Life (2012)
Charted: 52
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Songfacts®:

  • This single from Sean Kingston's Back 2 Life album features a beat by record producer Nic Nac, whose previous prominent credit was Ray J's "I Hit It First." The song was premiered exclusively on the Lift Off with J Cruz radio show at Power 106 on March 12, 2013.
  • The song features contributions from Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa. Kingston told Complex magazine how it came together: "Chris was doing a mural in my house," he explained. "He came over to do a painting in my house, I had just moved in. He came over, he started his painting. And throughout my house I was blasting 'Beat It' through the surround sound. He was like, 'Yo, that record is hard. What record is that?' I was like, 'This is going to be my first single, bro.' He was like, 'Yo I want to be on it.'"

    "And it just made sense," continued Kingston, "because when I wrote it, he influenced the song. He had a song on his first record called, 'Ya Man Ain't Me.' It's a similar thing, and I made it into a hook, did the verses, and he got on it. It was a blessing. We went to the studio, knocked it out that day. Chris told me his opinion, he was like, 'Yo, this is a hit record, but I think you should have a rapper to give it an edge. Me and you are both singers, put a little rapper part in.' I was like, 'Ok, I get where you're going but who's going to be the right fit?' And it just made perfect sense for Wiz."

    "Ya Man Ain't Me" was a track from Chris Brown's 2005 eponymous debut album. The opening line of "Beat It," "He ain't fly enough, he don't even drive," was taken from it.

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