"Champion" is a song by British rapper

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...

from Chipmunk's second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Transition'' (2011). It features 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 ...

and was released as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album on 6 February 2011 in the United Kingdom. The song was written by Chipmunk and Chris Brown, and it was produced by

Harmony Samuels Harmony Olakunle David Samuels (born 16 May 1980), also known as H-Money, is an English record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He has produced a multitude of hits for artists such as Brandy, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Ariana ...

. According to Chipmunk, he wants the listeners of the song to "feel like they were born a champion". The song was later added to the international deluxe edition of Brown's fourth album, '' F.A.M.E.'' (2011). The song peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Chipmunk's second highest-charting single.

Background

Speaking in April 2011 to noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis – Assistant Editor of

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as ''NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a r ...

– Chipmunk shed light on the background to the song and Chris Brown's involvement: "That was definitely a big learning experience for me – not just in terms of being an artist, but in terms of life! Because, with Chris being on it, people were saying that they didn't wanna support the track before they'd even heard it! Which meant I really had to engage myself and find the inner strength to say 'Yo, I'm gonna go with this track regardless! Because I know what this song means to me, I know that it means to Chris – and if it's from the heart then it can't go wrong!"

Critical reception

Robert Copsey of ''

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'' gave the song a positive review calling it: "a fist-clenching, anthemic midtempo electro-R&B stomper that ponders the glorious highs and depressive lows of fame", and gave the song 4 stars out of 5.

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 ...

called the track "a fist-clenching empowering R&B stomper".

Chart performance

On 10 February 2011, the song debuted at number fourteen in Ireland. In the United Kingdom, "Champion" debuted at number two on 12 February 2011. It was beaten to the top spot by a margin of less than 5% by

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...

's "

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", each having sold over 90,000 copies.

Remix

The official remix of the song features a new verse by Chipmunk, Chris Brown's verse & chorus and a verse by American rapper

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born in a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his d ...

. The remix was released on 5 February 2011.

Music video

The music video (directed by

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pr ...

) premiered on

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on 23 December 2010. Fellow British rapper

Skepta Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of ...

, makes a cameo. The music video of the song's edited version premiered on

on 18 March 2011.

In popular culture

* The song is featured as the theme of the

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series '' Tough Enough'' on

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. * The song was featured in the tribute montage BBC made of

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World Champion

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, when he won his second World Championship at Japan in 2011. * The song is on the soundtrack of the 2012 football video game ''

Madden NFL 12 ''Madden NFL 12'' is an American football video game based on the National Football League published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It was released on August 30, 2011 in North America and Asia, September 1, 2011 in Australia, and Septemb ...

''.

Track listing

*Digital download #1 # "Champion" (featuring

) (Explicit Version) – 3:58 # "Champion" (featuring Chris Brown) (Clean Version) – 3:59 *CD single / Digital download #2 # "Champion" (featuring Chris Brown) – 3:58 # "Power Trip" – 3:42 *Digital download – Remix #1
# "Champion" (Ready For The Weekend Remix) – 6:00 *Digital download – Remix #2 # "Champion" (Remix featuring Chris Brown &

) – 4:59

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2010 songs 2011 singles Chipmunk (rapper) songs Chris Brown songs Music videos directed by Colin Tilley Song recordings produced by Harmony Samuels Songs written by Eric Bellinger Songs written by Erika Nuri Songs written by Chip (rapper) Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by Harmony Samuels