"Dance Tonight" is a song by American R&B group

Lucy Pearl Lucy Pearl was an American R&B supergroup formed in 1999. The group was composed of Raphael Saadiq (formerly of Tony! Toni! Toné!), Dawn Robinson (formerly of En Vogue), and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (formerly of A Tribe Called Quest). History ...

, written by

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, rapper and bass guitarist, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip (musician), Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the grou ...

, and

Dawn Robinson Dawn Sherrese Robinson (born November 24, 1966) is an American singer and actress best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop group En Vogue, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Following her departure from En Vogue, Rob ...

. It is the first single taken from their self-titled debut album. Serviced to radio on the week of March 27, 2000, as the group's debut single, "Dance Tonight" peaked at number 36 on both the US ''

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 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and the UK Singles Chart, and it reached the top 40 in Canada and the Netherlands. It was nominated to Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group at the

43rd Grammy Awards The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 2000. Several artists earned three awards on the night. Steely Dan's haul ...

(2001) but lost to

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

's "

Say My Name "Say My Name" is a song by American group Destiny's Child from their second studio album, '' The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999). It was written by Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerki ...

Critical reception

'' editor Chuck Taylor wrote of the song, calling "Dance Tonight" a "smooth uptempo track that truly makes you want to dance tonight." He praised the vocal performances of

and

, noting that Saadiq's vocals were "easy to distinguish" and reminiscent of his career with

Tony! Toni! Toné! Tony! Toni! Toné! is an American R&B/Soul band from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s to mid-1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'Wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq (born Char ...

while describing Robinson's backing vocals as "sweet and sensual."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song shows

, and

preparing to go a dance party being held at night. The TV shows all members' past music videos by their groups: Don't Let Go (Love), Find A Way, and Let's Get Down. Interspersed with scenes from the New Line film,

Love & Basketball ''Love & Basketball'' is a 2000 American romantic sports drama film written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood in her feature film directorial debut. The film is produced by Spike Lee and Sam Kit and stars Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. It tel ...

, are scenes from the video, which include Robinson repeatedly being shown

topless Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is known as barechestedness. Social norms around toplessness ...

, putting makeup on in front of a mirror. A later scene shows her getting up in slow motion.

Track listings

UK CD single # "Dance Tonight" – 3:52 # "Dance Tonight" (Linslee Campbell mix) – 4:05 # "Dance Tonight" (Groove Chronicles mix) – 5:27 # "Dance Tonight" (video) – 3:41 UK 12-inch single :A1. "Dance Tonight" – 3:52 :A2. "Dance Tonight" (Groove Chronicles mix) – 5:27 :B1. "Dance Tonight" (Linslee Campbell mix) – 4:05 UK cassette single # "Dance Tonight" – 3:52 # "Dance Tonight" (Linslee Campbell mix) – 4:05 # "Dance Tonight" (Groove Chronicles mix) – 5:27 European CD single # "Dance Tonight" – 3:52 # "Dance Tonight" (Linslee Campbell mix radio edit) – 3:23

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2000 songs 2000 debut singles Songs about dancing Songs written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad Songs written by Dawn Robinson Songs written by Raphael Saadiq Virgin Records singles