Taio Cruz “Dynamite” charted

Dynamite Taio Cruz

Writer(s): Taio Cruz, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Max Martin, Benny Blanco, Bonnie McKee (see lyrics here) Released: May 30, 2010 First Charted: June 13, 2010 Peak: 2 US, 14 RR, 15 AC, 5 A40, 11 UK, 11 CN, 14 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.2 UK, 11.13 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.4 radio, 346.2 video, 902.41 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter and producer Taio Cruz was born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere in 1980 in London, England. He released his debut album, Departure, in 2008. It reached #17 in the UK, but failed to chart in the United States. However, his follow-up, 2009’s Rokstarr, was a top-ten album in the US. thanks to the singles “Break Your Heart” (#1) and “Dynamite” (#2). The latter was held out from the top spot by Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie.” Dr. Luke and Max Martin wrote the melody for the song and also produced the track. The pair had both worked on #1 hits by Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl”) and Kelly Clarkson (“My Life Would Suck Without You”). Martin was also behind chart-toppers by Britney Spears (“Baby One More Time”) and Pink (“So What”) while Dr. Luke also worked on #1 hits by Avril Lavigne (“Girlfriend”), Flo Rida (“Right Round”), and Ke$ha (“Tik Tok”). The latter also featured songwriting by Benny Blanco, who also worked on “Dynamite.” Bonnie McKee wrote lyrics for the song. She said it “was the dumbest song I had ever written and [I] thought it was going nowhere. And I actually think it was the biggest song I have written so far.” WK She said it was originally intended for Flo Rida. SF Cruz said the song “is about when you go to the club and when you go to a party and when you’re just going out…you got to feel like, ‘I’m just gonna explode.’” WK The song is set in a club, but is “mostly about dancing and having a good time – there are no specific references to drinking, hooking up, or other club-related activity.” SF It helped make it “an all-purpose party track” SF suitable for all ages. Digital Spy’s Nick Levine called it “a suitably Eurohousey club pumper” WK that is “a cheap, tasty, and entirely satisfying banger.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Taio Cruz SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 7/29/2023.