"Toto" is a song by New Zealand band

Drax Project Drax Project is a New Zealand pop and R&B band that formed in Te Aro, Wellington in 2014. Recording a mix of jazz, R&B and pop music, the band came to prominence in 2017 with the single " Woke Up Late", which was certified triple platinum by RIA ...

. Inspired by vocalist Shaan Singh quitting their full-time jobs to pursue music, "Toto" was released as the second single from the ''

Noon Noon (or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for meridiem, literally 12:00 noon), 12 p.m. (for post meridiem, literally "after noon"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour clock) or 1200 ( military time). Sol ...

'' EP in August 2018. The song was a commercial success, becoming platinum certified in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

Background and composition

The song was written by the band the day after the band members quit their full-time jobs to pursue music. While not directly inspired by the 1982 song "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

" by

Toto Toto may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets * Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' * Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns'' Characters of agency * a ...

, the band references "Africa" in the song's lyrics, and wanted to recreate the same joyfulness present in "Africa". The first stanza of the song's lyrics are a direct quote by vocalist Shaan Singh, who was describing his day to a friend. The band performed the song live before deciding on a finished version of the song's lyrics. Due to a fan's strong response to the song, the band were convinced to leave the song as it was, and release the song on the ''Noon'' EP.

Release

The song was first unveiled as a track on the ''

'' EP, which was released on 8 June 2018. A month later on 13 August, the song was announced as the band's next single. "Toto" was later featured in the band's debut album ''

''. A music video was produced for the song, a dance rehearsal video made in collaboration with

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

, that does not feature members of the band. The single climbed the charts in October 2018, and was certified platinum in 2019.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *Devin Abrams – producer *Matt Beachen – drums, songwriter *Simon Gooding – engineer *Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer *Ben O'Leary – bass guitar, songwriter *Sam Thomson – bass (vocal), songwriter *Shaan Singh – vocals, songwriting

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Drax Project songs New Zealand songs