"Bassline" is a song by American singer

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

, taken from his fifth studio album ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' (2012). It was written by Andrea Simms, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Brown, David Johnson, Robert Calloway, Ronald "Flippa" Colson and Warren "Oak" Felder. The song was produced by Pop Wansel and Dayvi Jae. Musically, "Bassline" is a

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

and electrohop song, which incorporates elements of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

. Instrumentation is provided by a wobble bass and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

esizers. The song contains lyrics about Brown telling a woman to leave the

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 ...

with him. "Bassline" garnered mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

; some reviewers noted it as one of the standout tracks on the album, while others criticized the song's production and lyrics. It also received comparisons to the songs by

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. Her first major success came in 2009 when she was featured on rapper Flo Rida's number-one single, "Right Round". Kesha's music and ima ...

and

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 ...

. Upon the release of ''Fortune'', "Bassline" debuted at numbers 28 and 122 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 UK Singles Chart, respectively.

Development and composition

"Bassline" was written by Andrea Simms, Andrew "Pop" Wansel,

, David Johnson, Robert Calloway, Ronald "Flippa" Colson and Warren "Oak" Felder. The song was produced by Pop Wansel and Dayvi Jae. "Bassline" was recorded by Brian Springer with assistance from Iain Findley. The recordings were later mixed by

Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is an American audio engineer based in California. He won three Grammy Awards: the first for mixing ''Growing Pains'' for Mary J. Blige in 2007, followed by '' El mal querer'' for Rosalía in 2018, and ''Hyperspace'' for Beck in ...

with assistance by Trehy Harris. Musically, "Bassline" is a

and electrohop song, that incorporates elements of

. The song lasts for three minutes and 58 seconds. Instrumentation consists of a wobble bass and

esizers. Melinda Newman of

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

compared "Bassline" to the songs by

and

. Trent Fitzgerald of PopCrush noted that the lyrics are about Brown trying to "convince a hot girl he spots in the club to come back to his crib", in which he sings "Hey girl tell me what you talk / Pretty as a picture on the wall / Hey girl you can get it all / Cause I know you like the way the beat go". Brown also declares, "You heard about my image / But I could give a flying motherfuck who's offended". Hayley Avron of Contactmusic.com noted that a robot voice joins Brown in the

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

"Girls like my bassline". Hazel Robinson of ''California Literary Review'' magazine noted that the word "bassline" is a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

for

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

Critical reception

"Bassline" garnered mixed to negative reviews from

. Sam Wilbur of

AOL Radio AOL Radio was an online radio streaming service available exclusively in the United States. Originally powered by XM Satellite Radio and later CBS Radio and Slacker, the platform offered users access to more than 200 free digital stations. H ...

viewed it as "the best example" of dubstep tracks on ''Fortune'', while Kyle Anderson of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' noted it as one of the album's best tracks. Scott Kara of ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' called the song "irritating" and noted it as "blatant copycat stuff".

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 ...

's Lewis Corner felt that "Bassline" was "a lazy attempt" from Brown. Randall Roberts of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' stated that the worst part of the song is the hook. Hazel Robinson of ''California Literary Review'' magazine was critical of the production and lyrics, labeling it as "bad" and "dodgy".

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 ...

's Andy Kellman noted that Brown "clearly feels more emboldened than ever" on "Bassline".

Chart performance

Upon the release of ''Fortune'', due to digital sales, "Bassline" debuted on the

at number 28 in the issue dated July 14, 2012. It also debuted at number 122 on the UK Singles Chart.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes for ''Fortune'' *Chris Brown – lead vocals,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

*Robert Calloway – songwriter *Ronald "Flippa" Colson – songwriter *Warren "Oak" Felder – songwriter *Iain Findley – assistant recorder *Trehy Harris – assistant mixer *Dayvi Jae – producer *David Johnson – songwriter *Jaycen Joshua – mixer *Andrea Simms – songwriter *Brian Springer – recorder *Andrew "Pop" Wansel – songwriter, producer

Charts

References

{{authority control 2012 songs Chris Brown songs Dubstep songs Electropop songs Songs written by Pop Wansel Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by Oak Felder