"Break Anotha" is the official debut single of

Blake Lewis Blake Colin Lewis (born July 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer and actor who was the runner-up on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. His major label debut album '' A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream)'' was released on December 4, 2007, through ...

, the runner-up on the sixth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...

''. Being the leadoff single from ''

A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) ''A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream)'' is the debut studio album by Blake Lewis, the runner-up on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. It was released in the United States and Canada on December 4, 2007. The first single is " Break Anotha" and was rele ...

'', it was first leaked on October 29, 2007 via phone to fans who had signed up at the artist's web site. The single began to impact the radio on October 30 and was premiered on

106.1 KISS FM 106.1 Kiss FM (106.1 FM) is an adult contemporary music formatted radio station in the Cayman Islands in the British West Indies. The station is owned by dms Broadcasting dms Broadcasting is a broadcasting company operating four radio s ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. It was released on

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on November 13 and officially went for adds on November 20.

Background

The song was cowritten by Lewis, Louis Biancaniello,

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

(

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cel ...

Sam Watters Samuel Joshua Watters (born July 23, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. Watters was a member of the multi-platinum selling 1990s R&B group Color Me Badd and co-authored many of their hits including ...

and produced by Lewis and Tedder. Lewis described the song as " funk/

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

-inspired" and is influenced by certain musicians: His friends have also involved in the production of the song:

Music video

The video of "Break Anotha", which was directed by Sanji, premiered on December 6 on

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds o ...

. Nonetheless, during an interview of Lewis with Jared Cotter on '' The Sauce'' of

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on December 5, a sneak peek of the video has been aired on the show. It was shot against a green screen and "has an interesting concept behind it", which in Lewis' words, "when you open

Rorschach inkblot test The Rorschach test is a projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a pe ...

s, how they have two different sides" and like "ink and water, and different effects behind me that come in".

Responses

The single received generally favorable reviews from fans and critics: * Chuck Taylor of ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' depicted "Break Anotha", which has drawn 76,000 streams on the day it premiered on "

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

First Listen", as "a lightning rod of rock'n'funk, meshing busy, skittish production and enough tempo stops and starts to build one clever three-minute jam", as well as channeling Justin Timberlake "with fluffed harmonic layers and

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

as he sings a rapid-fire lyric about a playa". He felt that "this runner-up is poised to win the big prize: song is a bull's-eye, the stylish 26-year-old has the looks of a teen idol, and clearly, ''AI'' [''

''] fever has never been more prominent" and "the future looks mighty bright for full-length ''Audio Day Dream''". *Ken Barnes of ''USA Today'' commented that the song "sounds like a clever maximizing of Blake's musical inclinations in a contemporary pop context" and "seems to be aimed straight at the Justin Timberlake market, and - with a properly warm radio reception - it could hit the jackpot". *Michael Slezak of ''

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

'' gave the single rave review, thought that it "sounds like it could easily hold its own on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot 100", "not just a 'good for an Idol graduate' kind of single, but instead the kind of track I'd spend money to download" and predicted that it will be a "big hit". *''

Blender Magazine ''Blender'' was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities. It compiled lists of albums, artists, and songs, including both "best of" an ...

'' believed that the single "lives up to the singer's daring reality TV persona" and "is semi-ridiculous, hyperactive and totally different from your typical ''Idol'' fare", giving a rating of 3/5. *

Bill Lamb William Henry Lamb (5 January 1889 – 8 January 1964) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1938 until 1962 and a member of the NSW Branch of the Labor Party and the Lang Labor Party ...

from About.com thought that while "

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

is part of the mix", "Blake's vocals are front and center in the instantly funky mix" and he has "really enjoyed listening to 'Break Anotha'", although he was disappointed by the ''Audio Day Dream'' cover design. "Break Anotha" has garnered reviews from ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', ''

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'' and ''

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'' as well. While the reviewers got a vibe of Justin Timberlake from it, they all predicted that "Break Anotha" will be a successful single. ''The Detroit News'' even went further, writing that Lewis, with "one of the most exciting singles of the year", "will blow Sparks sixth season of ''American Idol''">ordin Sparks, winner on the sixth season of ''American Idol''out of the water, if not in first week sales then in three months' time". However this prediction proved highly incorrect, since as of February 2008 (a full three months after the song's release) "Break Anotha" failed to enter the Hot 100, and failed to reach 100,000 in digital sales, while Sparks' first single "

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing proc ...

" reached the top ten of the Hot 100 and has sold over 1,900,000 in digital sales to date.

Chart performance

"Break Anotha" was released to radio stations on October 30, 2007 and debuted at number 197 on the

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analyti ...

Top 40 chart, reaching an audience of approximately 150,000. Two days after the release, it entered the top 100, reaching an audience of nearly 266,000. The song was not added to radio playlists officially until November 20, 2007 and it reached number 40 as of December 19. "Break Anotha" scored 11,000 downloads its first week, and has to date sold 85,000 in total.Idol Chatter 11-26-2008
/ref> It debuted and peaked on ''

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

at number 85 and

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally start ...

chart at number 97 in the issue of the charts on December 1, 2007. It also debuted and peaked on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

at number ten for chart week December 22, 2007. "Break Anotha" failed to reach the Hot 100.

References

External links

"Break Anotha"
on SayNow
"Break Anotha" premiere
on AOL.com
KJSawka.com
Drummer KJ Sawka Official Website {{authority control Blake Lewis songs 2007 debut singles Arista Records singles Songs written by Ryan Tedder Songs written by Sam Watters Songs written by Louis Biancaniello Music videos directed by Sanji Songs written by Blake Lewis 2007 songs