"Ridin' Solo" is a song by American singer

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

, released as the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his self-titled debut album and produced by J.R. Rotem. The demo originally

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

Bitter Sweet Symphony "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by the English rock band the Verve, released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings and Virgin Records as the lead single from their third album, ''Urban Hymns''. It was produced by Youth (musician), Youth at Olympi ...

" by

the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

, but the sample was not cleared and was subsequently replaced with electronic motifs, which are featured throughout the entire song. On May 16, 2010, "Ridin' Solo" became Derulo's third consecutive top three hit on the UK Singles Chart. It is his third consecutive number-one hit on the

UK R&B Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

and third consecutive top ten hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Critical reception

The song has received generally mixed reviews from critics. Fraser McAlpine of

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Chart Blog gave the song a rating of three stars out of five and went to say that "Jason clearly doesn't have a lisp, his sibilants hiss out from every other word in the song. And he delivers them all perfectly. Nice work otherwise. ''

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 ...

'' said that "Derulo knows how to get the public interested in the hip-hop star again—follow every trend there is". Robert Copsey from

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

gave "Ridin' Solo" three out of five stars and wrote that it "is still another catchy, engaging effort that should keep Derulo near the top on both sides of the pond".

Chart performance

As of April 23, 2014, the single has sold over 3 million digital copies in the US, making it Derulo's third consecutive song to sell more than 3 million copies.

Music video

The music video for "Ridin' Solo" was released on May 2, 2010, directed by

Scott Speer Scott Speer (born June 5, 1982) is an American director and novelist. Life and career Speer was born in San Diego, California. At age 23, he was signed with ''HSI Productions'', and in 2006 Speer received the MVPA Award for ''Directorial Debut ...

. The video depicts Derulo singing about being single after breaking up with his girlfriend. In the first 15 seconds of the video, Derulo is playing a piano and singing "Blind", which is a track of his debut album, with a photo of his ex-girlfriend on the top of the piano. Derulo features in several scenes shot at Lot 613, including one in a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

, several in a

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and his dancing, (at times with backup dancers) on a moving floor (which are actually hidden conveyor belts) in front of a big, colorful

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screen flashing and glowing, sometimes reading "Solo" in block letters. Derulo wears a white jacket with spikes on the sleeves throughout the video in different scenes. In one of the nightclub scenes filmed at Lot 613, a group of girls are seen to be chatting on

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(an Internet dating website) on an

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which was first released. There is a slight difference between the music video and the album version of the song; in the video the line "You told me get my shit together, now I got my shit together, oh" uncensored on the track is replaced by "You told me get myself together, now I got myself together, oh". Some areas of the instrumental have also been altered slightly and it is a few seconds shorter than the album version. This version is also used on many radio stations across the UK. Another radio edit exists which is similar to the video version, except it mutes the explicit lyrics rather than just replace them with other words.

Covers

In April 2012, "Ridin' Solo" was covered by

MC Chris Christopher Brendan Ward IV (born September 2, 1975), better known by the stage name MC Chris (stylized in all lower case), is an American rapper, voice actor, comedian, and writer. He is recognized for his high-pitched voice and for blending hi ...

and included on his 2012 mixtape ''Apple Lung'' with the lyrics changed to " I'm Han Solo", a song created for the 2012 video game ''

Kinect Star Wars ''Kinect Star Wars'' is a ''Star Wars'' video game developed by Terminal Reality and published by LucasArts and Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 that uses the Kinect motion peripheral. The game features four game modes: "Jedi Destiny", the pri ...

'', which inspired Aaron Fraser-Nash's own parody in 2018. The Station parodied "Ridin' Solo" on YouTube as "No Homo".

Track listing

*;CD maxi single # "Ridin' Solo" # "Ridin' Solo" (Acoustic Version) # "Ridin' Solo" (Justin Michael & Kemal Remix) # "Ridin' Solo" (Eddie Amador Club) # "Ridin' Solo" (Mig & Rizzo POP Mix) # "Ridin' Solo" (Video) *;''Ridin' Solo EP'' # "Ridin' Solo" (Acoustic Version) – 3:44 # "Ridin' Solo" (

Eddie Amador Eddie Amador (born 1967) is best known as an international house music producer, remixer and DJ. He penned the song "House Music" in 1997 and is an established icon in house music. Biography Amador's productions in 2011 included "Spirituality" o ...

Club) – 7:59 # "Ridin' Solo" (Justin Michael & Kemal Remix) – 6:17 # "Ridin' Solo" (Ian Nieman Club Mix) – 6:58 *;7th Heaven Remix # "Ridin' Solo" (7th Heaven Club Mix) – 6:42 # "Ridin' Solo" (7th Heaven Radio Edit) – 3:21 *;Promo CD single # "Ridin' Solo" – 3:24

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Jason Derulo 2010 songs 2010 singles Jason Derulo songs Song recordings produced by J. R. Rotem Songs written by J. R. Rotem Music videos directed by Scott Speer Songs written by Jason Derulo Warner Records singles Warner Music Group singles