"Can't Hold Us" is a song written and performed by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

duo

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were an American Hip hop music, hip hop duo from Seattle, Seattle, Washington, formed in 2009 by rapper MacklemoreTrust, Gary (2013)Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Can't Hold Us' Makes Hot 100 History, ''Billboard (magazine), B ...

featuring American singer

Ray Dalton Raymond Adrien Dalton (born May 10, 1990) is an American singer based in Seattle, Washington. He began his career as a gospel and R&B singer. Dalton gained prominence as the featured artist on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 2011 song "Can't Hold Us" ...

, originally released on August 16, 2011, as the second single from the duo's debut album '' The Heist'' (2012). The song was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, gaining more attention in 2012 and 2013. In May 2013, it reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it their second number-one hit in the United States. It is also their third consecutive number-one single in Australia. The music video was nominated for Best Music Video at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...

in 2014. The song was also listed as "The Most-Streamed Song of 2013" by

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Composition

The song runs for 4 minutes and 18 seconds and is in the key of

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

, with a fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 146

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

Critical reception

"Can't Hold Us" received critical acclaim. ''

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore reports that ...

'' named it as "Song of the Week". Lewis Corner of ''

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 ...

'' gave the song four stars out of five, praising its "infectious, soul-soaked piano line and beats more vibrant than Rio de Janeiro's finest carnival floats". Writing for ''The Edge'', Hannah Mylrea rated the song 9/10 and complimented the duo's dynamism, deeming it "another massive summer hit". ''

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 David Jeffries also gave it four stars out of five and wrote: "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis combine the handclapping, foot-stomping, and propulsive rhythms of old-fashioned gospel music with an infectious, uplifting chorus that could have been ripped straight out of

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

's playbook...this motivational, "this is the moment" number is identifiably and lovably Macklemore."

Commercial performance

Due to the major international success of the duo's "

Thrift Shop "Thrift Shop" is a song written and performed by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring vocals from American singer Wanz, released in 2012, as the fourth single from the former's debut studio album, '' The Heist'' (2012). The lyr ...

", there was a resurgence in sales of their previous singles and their album ''The Heist''. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 187 on March 17, 2013, climbing up to number 53 the following week. It eventually peaked at number three on the chart. In Australia, "Can't Hold Us" became Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' third consecutive number-one single after "Thrift Shop" and "

Same Love "Same Love" is a song by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, released as the third single from their 2012 debut studio album, '' The Heist''. The track, featuring vocals by Seattle-based singer Mary Lambert, talks about the issue of ...

", reaching the top of the chart on March 25, 2013. In the United States, the song became a sleeper hit, and following a performance of the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', the song cracked the top 10 at number 7, becoming the duo's second top 10 hit, following the number-one single "Thrift Shop". "Can't Hold Us" reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 during the chart issue May 18, 2013. They became the first duo to place their two debut singles atop the chart. They also became the fifth act to place their two debut singles atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, following

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

with "

Vision of Love "Vision of Love" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, recorded for her eponymous debut studio album (1990). It was written by Carey and Ben Margulies. After being featured on Carey's demo tape for Columbia Records, t ...

" and "

Love Takes Time "Love Takes Time" is a song recorded by American singer Mariah Carey for her eponymous debut studio album (1990). Written by Carey and Ben Margulies, while produced by Walter Afanasieff, the song was released as the second single from the al ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

with "

Genie in a Bottle "Genie in a Bottle" is a song by the American singer Christina Aguilera from her debut studio album, ''Christina Aguilera'' (1999). Pam Sheyne, Steve Kipner, and David Frank wrote the track; the latter two produced it. The singer herself also ...

" and " What a Girl Wants",

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

with " Just Dance" and " Poker Face" and

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

with " Just the Way You Are" and "

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". The song stayed at number one for five consecutive weeks before being surpassed by

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 single " Blurred Lines" (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams), which peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, received ...

's "

Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rapper T.I. and American musician Pharrell Williams from Thicke's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the a ...

". As of December 29, 2013, the song had sold 4,383,000 downloads in the United States, with 4,260,000 sold in 2013, making it the eighth best-selling song of the year.

Music video

Macklemore premiered the music video for "Can't Hold Us" on April 17, 2013. The video was directed by

Ryan Lewis Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American musician and record producer based in Seattle, Washington. Along with producing his own album, ''Instrumentals'', Lewis produced the albums ''The VS. EP'' (2009), '' The Heist'' (2012), and ...

, Jason Koenig and

Jon Jon Augustavo Jonathan Augustavo, better known as Jon Jon or Jon Jon Augustavo, is an American filmmaker, commercial director, and music video director who has written and directed works for artists including Macklemore, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mike Posner, Al ...

, and shooting took place for 17 days, on 2 continents and 16 different shoots, ranging from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at Cathedral Cove where scenes for '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'' were also shot. Several prominent parts were filmed on the

tall ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...

Lady Washington ''Lady Washington'' is a ship name shared by at least four vessels. The original sailed during the American Revolutionary War and harassed British shipping. Another vessel was used as a merchant trading vessel in the Pacific. A somewhat update ...

''. The video won two

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

s for Best Hip-Hop Video and Director of Photography Jason Koenig, and Mego Lin won Best Cinematography, the video was nominated for Best Direction and Best Editing Nomination to Jason Koenig and Ryan Lewis. It also was placed at No. 12 on BET Notarized Top 100 in 2013. It was nominated for Best Music Video at the 2014 Grammy Awards. It reached 1 billion views in December 2022.

Usage in the media

In May 2012, the song was re-released and featured in an International TV commercial for Miller Genuine Draft, created by the advertising agency me&lewis ideas. In early 2013, the song was used in a U.S. television commercial for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Outlook.com Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft. It also provides a webmail interface accessible via web browser or mobile apps featuring mail, Calendaring software, calendaring, Address book, contacts, and ...

webmail service. The song was also used in the background of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's ''College GameDay'' commercials, the March 2013 premiere episode of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' The Real World: Portland'', in commercials for the movie ''

R.I.P.D. ''R.I.P.D.: Rest in Peace Department'', or simply ''R.I.P.D.'', is a 2013 American supernatural action comedy film starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. The film was directed by Robert Schwentke and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi bas ...

'' and in the trailer for the film '' Grudge Match''. It is featured on the soundtrack for the 2013 film on

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

titled '' Jobs'' and the American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

video game '' NBA 2K14''. The song is featured on the

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

dance game '' Just Dance 2014'' as

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

. On July 2, 2013, mash-up artist DJ Earworm released a summer mash-up, incorporating "Can't Hold Us" with 10 other songs that became popular in summer 2013. In late 2013, the chorus from the song was used in an ad campaign for the opening of the Graton Resort & Casino in Northern California. The song was also used in

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

's ''

Rewind Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogous operatio ...

'' video for 2013. The song's segment in the video featured YouTube personalities including

The Slow Mo Guys ''The Slow Mo Guys'' is a science and technology entertainment web series from Thame, England, created and owned by Gavin Free, starring himself and Daniel Gruchy. It has been described as the biggest channel for slow motion videos on YouTube ...

Smosh Smosh () is an American YouTube sketch comedy-improv collective, independent production company, and former social networking site founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. In 2002, Padilla created a website named "smosh.com" for making Flas ...

, KassemG, CorridorDigital,

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967), known professionally as Jimmy Kimmel, is an American television host, comedian, writer, voice actor, and producer. He has been the host and executive producer of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-n ...

Freddie Wong Freddie Wong (born September 13, 1985) is an American internet celebrity, filmmaker, VFX artist, podcaster, and competitive gamer. Wong has participated in at least three YouTube channels; with ''RocketJump'', his production company's main chan ...

, and Macklemore himself accompanied by Grover from

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

. The song was also used in ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs Live television, live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show fe ...

s 2012 Slammy Awards for the Match of the Year nominations. The song was used in a 2012 video by FaZeClan titled "FaZe ILLCAMS – Episode 37". During the 2012 Seattle Seahawks season, the song became the official touchdown song for the team thanks to big fan coach

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach for the NCAA's ...

. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, also big supporters of the Seahawks, performed "Can't Hold Us" along with "

" during the NFC Championship game halftime show at CenturyLink Field on January 19, 2014. When the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

started to use the song during games, Macklemore took issue with the team as they had controversially relocated from Seattle when they were formerly the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

. The song was used in the trailer of the 2013 film '' Jobs''. On March 17, 2014 Season 2 Episode 3 of the A&E TV show '' Bates Motel'', "Can't Hold Us" was featured in a scene as music in the background. On December 13, 2014 Season 11 player

Fleur East Fleur East (born 29 October 1987) is an English singer, songwriter, rapper and presenter. East competed on the second series of ''The X Factor'' in 2005 as part of the girl group Addictiv Ladies but was unsuccessful. In 2012, she signed with ...

sang the song at ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' final. In 2014, the song was also used in the comedy film ''

Horrible Bosses 2 ''Horrible Bosses 2'' is a 2014 American crime comedy film directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders and John Morris (filmmaker), John Morris. A sequel to 2011's ''Horrible Bosses'', the film features Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeiki ...

''. The song was also used in the third trailer of '' Ice Age: Collision Course''. The song was used in season 5, episode 12 of '' 90210'', when Liam was fighting in the gym. The song is also used in the 2016 film '' Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life.'' The song was also used for Canada, Mexico and United States' Joint Bid for the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...

. The song is used as the theme song for the Brodozer monster truck on the

Monster Jam Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some addition ...

circuit. Macklemore performed the song during

MLS Cup 2019 MLS Cup 2019 was the 24th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 10, 2019, at Lumen Field, CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, United States. The association football, soc ...

, which was held at CenturyLink Field. Macklemore himself performed the song with the Detroit Youth Choir on the season 14 finale of

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

(The Detroit Youth Choir also performed the song in the audition and the finals. This came after performing with the Ndlovu Youth Choir and

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (; born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He first received international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track " I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his De ...

performing his version of the

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

song "

Higher Love "Higher Love" is a 1986 song by English singer Steve Winwood. It was the first single released from his fourth solo LP, '' Back in the High Life'' (1986). It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood. Th ...

" with posthumous vocals from

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

) The song was formerly used by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

during the seventh inning stretch at

T-Mobile Park T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof ballpark in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the w ...

. It was previously played after every home run. The song was used in the

roll call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

for Washington state at the

2024 Democratic National Convention The 2024 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention in which delegates of the Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party voted on their party ...

Track listing

* Digital download *# "Can't Hold Us" – 4:10 *# "Can't Hold Us" (instrumental) – 4:10 * 7-inch single *# "Can't Hold Us" – 4:10 *# "Make the Money" – 3:45 * CD single (Germany) *# "Can't Hold Us" – 4:10 *# " Wings" – 3:45.

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Awards and nominations

Release history

References

{{authority control 2011 songs 2011 singles 2013 singles Macklemore songs Ryan Lewis songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Sweden Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in Poland Songs written by Macklemore Songs written by Ryan Lewis Songs written by Ray Dalton Elektra Records singles Seattle Mariners Seattle Seahawks UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles