Beat Down is a song by music producers

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...

and

Angger Dimas Raden Angger Dimas Riyanto (born 1 March 1988) professionally known as Angger Dimas, is an Indonesian electronic musician, DJ and music producer from Jakarta, Indonesia. Angger Dimas student of 34 Senior High School, Jakarta & 68 Junior High Sc ...

, featuring vocals from Australian rapper

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea ( ), is an Australian rapper. Born in Sydney, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 in order to pursue a career in music. She earned public recognition ...

. The song was included on the re-release of Aoki's debut studio album, entitled '' Wonderland (Remixed)'', which was released on July 10, 2012.

Background

Aoki released his long-awaited debut studio album, '' Wonderland,'' on January 10, 2012, featuring guest vocalists and musicians

LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

, Kay,

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and music producer who is the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has collaborated with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants ...

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

aka

Zuper Blahq William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

Wynter Gordon Diana Gordon, formerly known as Wynter Gordon (born August 25, 1985), is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. He ...

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was born in New York City and raised in several Buddhist communities in the northeaste ...

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

Chiddy Bang Chidera Anamege, now known by his stage name Chiddy Bang, is an American rapper from Philadelphia. Prior to its breakup, Chiddy Bang was an American hip hop duo consisting of Anamege, under the stage name Chiddy, and Noah Beresin, under the sta ...

Lovefoxxx Luísa Hanae Matsushita (born February 25, 1984), known by her stage name Lovefoxxx, is the lead singer of the Brazilian indie band Cansei de Ser Sexy ( CSS). Early life and career Lovefoxxx was born in Campinas, Brazil. She is of Portuguese ...

of CSS,

Big John Duncan John Duncan (born August 14, 1958), better known as Big John Duncan, is a Scottish musician who was the guitarist for the punk band The Exploited during their classic lineup from 1979 to 1984.Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discograph ...

(former guitarist of the punk band

The Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1978 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,

), and others, through his record label

Dim Mak The touch of death (or death-point striking) is any martial arts technique reputed to kill using seemingly less than lethal force targeted at specific areas of the body. The concept known as ''dim mak'' (), alternatively () traces its history ...

. A remix album was released shortly after, on July 10, 2012, ''Wonderland (Remixed)'', featuring a new original track that would become the lead single of the project, "Beat Down," with fellow Indonesian electronic producer/DJ Angger Dimas and also featured up-and-coming Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who had been featured on the cover of hip-hop magazine XXL's buzzed-about annual " Top 10 Freshman List" and announced signing a deal with Southern rapper

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

Grand Hustle Records Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an American hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper and record executive T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. The label was distribut ...

Critical reception

Becky Bain of

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

claimed the track is "a solid tune that is ready to pump you up" and complimented Azalea's guest appearance adding that "the Aussie rapper lays down some serious flow." DJ Booth also praised it saying, "If you're a fan of EDM and a lover of 808s and snares, then you'll probably wear out the repeat button after listening to this single. Iggy does surprisingly well with the complex track as she professes that she's well versed in the art of the beat down with lyrics like, "It's a party on your face and I'm about to dance on it"," while

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

drew comparisons to

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was the ...

's 2009 single " Pon de Floor".

Chart performance

While the song only made it to number 44 on the UK Singles Chart, a comparative disappointment compared with Aoki's 2010 single " I'm in the House", featuring

and his 2011 single " No Beef" featuring

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), known professionally as Afrojack (stylized in all caps), is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album ''Forget the World ( ...

and Alyssa Palma, it served as a platform for Azalea, who went on to have three

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

hits in 2014. "Beat Down" first entered the

UK Dance Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the electronic dance music, dance music genre (e.g. house music, house, trance music, trance, ...

at number 21 and the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

at number 13 on June 2, 2012. It reappeared three months later with greater success peaking at number 44 in the UK Singles Chart and number 10 in the UK Dance Chart. A week later, it fell back down to number 22 in the UK Dance Chart.

Live performances and other use

Aoki, Dimas and Azalea have included the track on their live shows setlists regularly since its release, including the rapper's 2014 The New Classic Tour. "Beat Down" was also featured on the 2015 romantic comedy film '' Trainwreck''.

Music video

The official music video, directed by Alex/2Tone o
What You Steal productions
was released on July 19, 2012. Aoki, Azalea and Dimas all make appearances in the visuals.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 singles Steve Aoki songs Iggy Azalea songs Songs written by Iggy Azalea Ultra Music singles Songs written by Steve Aoki Moombahton songs