Break Up (song)
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"Break Up" is a song by American singer
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
from his fourth studio album '' D.N.A.'' (2009). It features and was co-written by
Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...
and
Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler (born March 30, 1979), known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip-hop songs, beginning with Ush ...
, with production and additional writing from Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford. Released by
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on April 28, 2009 as the album's lead single, it was first premiered on the radio station V-103 at March 30, 2009 with Greg Street. The song earned largely positive reviews from music critics, some of whom compared Bangladesh's productions to
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
's " Diva" (2009) and
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's " A Milli" (2008). A major success, "Break Up" reached number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and peaked at number two on the US
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, becoming Mario's fourth top five hit on the chart as well as his biggest hit since " Let Me Love You" (2004), eventually reaching Platinum status in the US. At the 2009 Soul Train Music Awards, it was nominated in the Best Collaboration category.


Background

"Break Up" was written by
Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler (born March 30, 1979), known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip-hop songs, beginning with Ush ...
and Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford, with additional writing from
Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...
. Initially written for a different artist, Mario commented on the track in a 2009 interview: "It’s a club record and every man has experienced this situation before. It's like why would you want to break up with me when you gon' get the same thing with the next man. But, he ain't gon do it as fly as I can. I can't wait to perform it. It's going to be a movie. Look for the movie! We're not calling this a single or a video, we're calling it a movie." He further told ''Singersroom'' the same year: "It’s written in a very different way than I would usually sing or perform a situation like that. It’s written from a male perspective .more like "why," like" why break up when you’re going to have to do the same thing with somebody else (and) start all over again." So it’s definitely a true story."


Critical reception

The song earned largely positive reviews from music critics, although some noted that the drums are simplistic and resemble Bangladesh's previous productions such as
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
's " Diva" (2009) and
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...
's " A Milli" (2008). In his review of parent album ''D.N.A.''
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editor Andy Kellmann noted that song was turning "out to be his fourth album's greatest deviation from the back catalog, carrying a laggard and sparse pulse to back Mario's whiny swagger." '' Now''s Andrew Rennie remarked that the "Bangladesh-produced "Break Up," with Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett, lends the album street cred." DjBooth.net remarkd that "while Gucci Mane's guest verse .might seem unnecessary to some, Sean Garrett's writing and background vocals, together with Bangladesh's repetitive, percussion-heavy beat add up to what could be one of the most widely-spun singles of spring/summer '09!."


Chart performance

"Break Up" first appeared on the US ''
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'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart at number 11, peaking at 10 the following week. It later entered ''Billboard''s
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, peaking at number 2, becoming Mario's fourth top five hit on the chart after " Just a Friend 2002" (2002), " Let Me Love You" (2004) and " Crying Out for Me" (2007). Initially, the song charted on the
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 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 ...
chart at number 17. On the chart week of July 4, 2009, Break Up" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 98. It eventually peaked at number 14, becoming Sean Garrett's highest-charting single up to then as well as Mario's highest-charting since " Let Me Love You" (2004). ''Billboard'' ranked the song third on its 2009 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs year end-chart behind
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's " Blame It" and
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's " Pretty Wings". On July 30, 2020, "Break Up" was certified Platinum by the
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(RIAA).


Music video

A music video for "Break Up," directed by Chris Robinson, was shot in the second week of June 2009 in
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. Large portions of the visuals were filmed in a new complex on the
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. Audra Simmons of R&B girl group RichGirl plays the role of Mario's girlfriend, who wants to break up with him. In the video, it is shown that they argue and he is not a trustworthy boyfriend, as he is seen flirting with another girl in a club. He still tries to look for her, however, remarking in the song that although he cheats, he loves her. Fellow RichGirl member Christina "Brave" Williams also makes a short appearance in which she and Simmons are shown catching Mario in the act with another girl. Model Rosa Acosta also makes an appearance. On July 2, Mario announced on his
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that he would be on BET's video countdown show '' 106 & Park'' to premiere the music video, However, on July 7, it was announced on his website that the video would world premiere exclusively on ''WorldStarHipHop'' on July 9. The video quickly rose on ''106 & Park'': It debuted at number 10, eventually moving to number 7. On July 22, it moved up to number 3 on the countdown. By the end of the week, the video reached number 1. Due its success, "Break Up" was placed at number 7 on BET's ''Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009'' countdown.


Other versions

Various unofficial remixes were made with Mario, Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett still included: one with Bow Wow, another with
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and the last featuring
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and Young Breed. American rapper
Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson
made a freestyle of the song. R&B singer
Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...
released a version called "Wake Up" with changed lyrics.
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...
also did a remix on his '' No Ceilings'' mixtape.


Track listing


Credits and personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of ''D.N.A.''. *Kory Aaron – recording assistance *Mario Barrett – lead vocalist * Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford – producer, writer * Radric Davis – writer * Sean "The Pen" Garrett – guest vocalist, vocal producer, writer *Edward Lidow – mixing assistance *
Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...
– guest vocalist *Fabian Marasciullo – mixing engineer *D.P. Samuels – recording assistance *Miles Walker – recording engineer


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Break Up (Song) 2009 singles 2009 songs Mario (singer) songs Gucci Mane songs Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director) Song recordings produced by Bangladesh (record producer) Songs written by Sean Garrett Songs written by Gucci Mane Songs written by Bangladesh (record producer) Breakup songs