"It Feels So Good" is a song by British singer Sonique from her album '' Hear My Cry''. It was originally released on 9 November 1998 and peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. In May 2000, in the wake of the song's success in the United States, the single was re-released and spent three weeks at number one on the same chart. The song remained in the top 40 for 14 weeks and became the third-biggest-selling single of 2000 in Britain. It has sold over 800,000 copies in the UK as of May 2020. The song also proved successful in many other countries, including the United States, where repeated radio airplay in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

helped it reach number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led Sonique to sign with

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

. In 2017, ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

'' listed the song at number 33 on their list of "The 101 Greatest

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

Songs of the '90s". In 2024, the song was revived in a remix by Matt Sassari and

Hugel Hugel & Fils is a winery in Riquewihr, Alsace, France. Hugel & Fils is one of the major producers of Alsace wine, and has been an important force in the Alsace wine industry in its developments during the second half of the 20th century. Hugel & ...

; the single peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart.

Background and content

Sonique said of the song "It Feels So Good", "It's about this guy whom I really liked years ago, but who didn't return my feelings. For he was very successful and I wasn't — at that time. And he thought that I was in love with his success. This song is just a way of declaring that it was him I liked." The song received widespread acclaim after it was played by a

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

in February 2000. Because of the song's popularity, Sonique was approached by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

executives

Doug Morris Doug Morris (born November 23, 1938) is an American record executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011, as well as Sony Music Entertainment from 2011 to 2017. He is the founder and CEO ...

and

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...

. She was eventually signed to Universal, and her album '' Hear My Cry'' was the first to be released on Universal's new internet-based record label,

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

praised the song, saying that "The hit single 'It Feels So Good' is a dynamite dance-club item, blending straight-ahead dance with flourishes of

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and a sweet, catchy melody. It is a bright, fresh single that sets the stage for an album's worth of similar material, not just because it was the first hit, but because it kicks off the record."

Commercial performance

Previously released in 1998, the song made a brief chart appearance on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number 24 on the chart dated 5 December 1998. It went to remain on the chart for two other weeks, before departing it. It later reappeared at number 91 on the chart dated 27 November 1999. In early 2000, the song was re-released, managing to re-enter straight at number-one, becoming Sonique's first song to top the charts in the United Kingdom. It went to remain at the top position for other two weeks, totalizing three weeks at number-one. It also managed to end third in the year-end chart for 2000. As of May 2020, the song has sold 829,000 chart sales in the UK. The song was a huge hit in the rest of Europe, reaching the top summit of another four countries: Hungary, Norway, Portugal and Romania, as well as the top 10 in over 16 countries. In the United States, the song also saw commercial success, becoming a multi-format hit. It charted simultaneously on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Dance Club Play,

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

, Maxi-Singles Sales and

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

charts. While topping the Dance Club Play chart and reaching the top five on the Mainstream Top 40, it peaked at number eight on the Hot 100 and spent sixth months on the chart.

Track listings

Original release

UK CD1 (1998) # "It Feels So Good" (original 7-inch mix) # "It Feels So Good" (12-inch breakbeat edit) # "It Feels So Good" (Serious remix) UK CD2 (1998) # "It Feels So Good" (7-inch breakbeat edit) # "It Feels So Good" (original 12-inch mix) # "

I Put a Spell on You "I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song recorded by "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins and co-written with Herb Slotkin. The selection became a classic cult song, covered by a variety of artists. It was Hawkins's greatest commercial success, reportedly su ...

" (remastered 12-inch mix) UK 12-inch single (1998) :A1. "It Feels So Good" (12-inch breakbeat edit) :B1. "It Feels So Good" (original 12-inch mix) :B2. "It Feels So Good" (Serious remix) US CD single (1999) # "It Feels So Good" (7-inch breakbeat) – 3:49 # "It Feels So Good" (12-inch breakbeat) – 6:02 Australian CD single (1999) # "It Feels So Good" (original 7-inch mix) # "It Feels So Good" (breakbeat 7-inch) # "It Feels So Good" (Serious remix) # "It Feels So Good" (original 12-inch mix) # "It Feels So Good" (video) Japanese CD single (2000) # "It Feels So Good" (radio edit) # "It Feels So Good" (original 12-inch mix)

Re-release (2000)

UK CD single # "It Feels So Good" (radio edit) – 3:49 # "It Feels So Good" (Can 7 Soulfood club mix) – 7:57 # "It Feels So Good" (The Conductor & The Cowboy's Amnesia Mix) – 8:11 UK 12-inch single :A1. "It Feels So Good" (Can 7 Soulfood club mix) – 7:57 :AA1. "It Feels So Good" (original breakbeat mix) – 6:02 :AA2. "It Feels So Good" ( En-Motion Remix) – 5:52 UK cassette single # "It Feels So Good" (radio edit) – 3:49 # "It Feels So Good" (Can 7 Soulfood club mix) – 7:57 # "It Feels So Good" (Serious remix) – 7:50 European CD single # "It Feels So Good" (radio edit) – 3:49 # "It Feels So Good" (Serious remix) – 7:50

Charts

Weekly charts

Original version

Matt Sassari,
Hugel Hugel & Fils is a winery in Riquewihr, Alsace, France. Hugel & Fils is one of the major producers of Alsace wine, and has been an important force in the Alsace wine industry in its developments during the second half of the 20th century. Hugel & ...
feat. Sonique version

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1998 songs 1998 singles 2000 singles Breakbeat songs Eurodance songs Number-one singles in Hungary Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Portugal Number-one singles in Romania Number-one singles in Scotland Republic Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Sonique (musician) songs Trance songs UK singles chart number-one singles Universal Music Group singles