"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" is a song by American rapper and singer Pitbull released as the second single from his fourth album, '' Pitbull Starring in Rebelution''. The song samples "75, Brazil Street" by Nicola Fasano and Pat Rich, which itself samples the opening horns riff from "Street Player" by

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. The core is from a song by Dominican rappers

El Cata Edward E. Bello Pou, better known by his stage name El Cata, is a Dominican singer and songwriter, who emerged in the music scene in 1999, born and raised in Barahona, Dominican Republic. Early life Bello is the second son of Maria Luisa Pou ...

and

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

. The title is a reference to Calle Ocho, a street in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. The song premiered on the Miami radio station WPOW. It has also been featured in ''

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'', the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

Kinect Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of fli ...

-based dancing game, '' Dance Dance Revolution X2'' for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

, the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

PlayStation Move-based dancing game ''

SingStar Dance ''SingStar Dance'' is a 2010 competitive karaoke and dance video game for the PlayStation 3, a spin-off of the karaoke ''SingStar'' series. ''SingStar Dance'' was developed by London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The gam ...

'', and in the pilot of '' Suburgatory''. It received a nomination a Latin Rhythm Airplay Song of the Year at the 2010 Latin ''Billboard'' Music Awards.

Composition

"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" is an uptempo syncopated hip hop groove with clear vocals on the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

and a pop

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

while combining

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

synths with a tribal

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

-oriented beat. The song is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

with a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 127 beats per minute and is written in the key of

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

. Pitbull's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...

spans from C₄ to Bb₄. The song is a vocal mix of "75, Brazil Street" by Nicola Fasano Vs Pat-Rich, which itself samples "Street Player" by

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Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews with '' Billboard.com'' editor Michael Menachem giving the single a favorable review: Fraser McAlpine of the BBC also favored it. He said it was meant to be sexy given how Pitbull performed the verses, but is fun and 'more gigglesome than wrigglesome', and wondered if its effect would vary between listeners of different genders:

Chart performance

"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" is Pitbull's first single to become an international hit. The single peaked at number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week, on the week of June 20, 2009 behind the

Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim H ...

' " Boom Boom Pow". The song was Pitbull's highest-peaking single until " Give Me Everything" hit number one; it also became his third top-ten hit. The song also reached number one on the French Singles Chart and number four on the US

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

radio. On November 11, 2009, the single was certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA) for sales of over two million digital copies. As of June 2011, the song has sold 3.2 million digital copies in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the single debuted at number 53 then raising to number 28 the following week; in the third week it reached number 13 and in the fourth week, it reached number nine giving Pitbull his first top-ten single in the UK. The following week it moved up again to number seven, peaking at number four a week later. In Australia, the song peaked at number six on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, making it his first song to hit the top-ten there, while in Spain the song reached number one and has been certified triple platinum with sales of over 120,000 units. In New Zealand, the song peaked at number three and was certified platinum, selling over 15,000 copies.

Music video

The music video was first released on March 9, 2009, by

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and was directed by David Rousseau and Produced by Alexandra Sdoucos. It features Pitbull,

Nayer Nayer Regalado, known mononymously as Nayer, is an American singer. She gained recognition in 2011 after being featured on Pitbull's hit single "Give Me Everything", and releasing her single " Suave (Kiss Me)" featuring Pitbull and Mohombi whi ...

(wearing a

peaked cap The peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. I ...

), and models Sagia Castañeda, Maria Milian, and Angelica Casañas. It has received over 283 million views even though this particular upload is not available for worldwide viewership due to licensing restrictions in certain countries. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" was the number one most viewed music video on YouTube in 2009. The video received 82 million views, easily beating out the second and third most viewed videos both by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

star

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

, "The Climb" (64 million views) and "Party In The USA" (54 million views). The official music video version (without Ultra Music identifiers) was released onto Pitbull's official

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

channel on May 25, 2011. It has received over 3 million views even though this particular upload is not available for worldwide viewership due to licensing restrictions in certain countries. This video was removed from YouTube.

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 2009 singles House music songs Pitbull (rapper) songs Songs written by Pitbull (rapper) Song recordings produced by Lil Jon Dutch Top 40 number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in Romania Number-one singles in Russia Number-one singles in Turkey Macaronic songs Spanglish songs 2009 songs Ultra Music singles Songs written by El Cata Number-one singles in Spain