"Dance wiv Me" is a single by British rapper

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...

, from his fourth studio album, ''

Tongue n' Cheek ''Tongue n' Cheek'' is the fourth studio album by British rapper Dizzee Rascal. The album was released on 20 September 2009 and includes the number one singles, " Dance wiv Me", " Bonkers", "Holiday" and " Dirtee Disco". It has been certified p ...

''. It was released on 30 June 2008 and features guest vocals from Scottish musician

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

and British R&B singer Chrome. The extended mix of the song also appears on Harris' second studio album, '' Ready for the Weekend''. "Dance wiv Me" mixes Rascal's usual

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust Music * Grime music, a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * "Grime", a 2023 song by Macklemore from ''Ben'' * "Grime", a 2024 song by Kittie from ''Fire ...

style with

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

from Harris and R&B from Chrome. Rascal and Harris recorded their respective verse and main hook parts separately, sending their parts back and forth over the phone, while Chrome recorded the pre hook/bridge vocals in the studio with Rascal. The song was produced by Harris, who also sings the chorus. The song debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed there for four weeks – making it Rascal's first ever number one. It became the 12th biggest-selling single in the UK in 2008. Rascal, Chrome and Harris performed an

impromptu An impromptu (, , loosely meaning "offhand") is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ''ex tempore'' improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano. According to ''Allgeme ...

acoustic version of "Dance wiv Me" for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as part of the

Glastonbury Festival 2008 The 2008 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 27 to 29 June 2008. New features * The John Peel stage doubled in size and had a screen outside it to watch bands. * There was a new 'Shangri-La' area that replaced L ...

coverage. The song was played in an episode on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series, ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

''. British rock group Keane mashed-up this song with "

Another One Bites the Dust "Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British Rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album ''The Game (Queen album), The Game'' (1980). It was a worl ...

" by

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

at Radio 1 Live Lounge as "Another One Bites the Dizzee".

Writing and recording

In December 2007, Calvin Harris announced a new record with Dizzee Rascal. In an interview with

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known professionally as Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1 and has since been presenting her weekd ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, Rascal explained that the collaboration with Harris came after they had met during

Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different l ...

in 2007. Rascal told Harris that the latter's single " Acceptable in the 80s" had got him excited about music again and that he would love to make a track with him.

"Dizzee texted me, saying he'd done this
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
over someone else's music, but his verse was too good for their music, so could he do it with me instead? So I spent a long time on it, to make sure it lived up to his expectations. I sent him the track, and he called me at 2 in the morning to say it was amazing, so I knew it was good."

The song's lyrics were written and recorded by Rascal with extra vocals recorded by Chrome. Harris produced the music separately from Rascal and Chrome and later sent the track to Rascal's studio for completion.

"Me and Calvin met and we exchanged numbers. We never actually met once to actually make the tune, we did it back and forth over the phone. It was good, we were just like over the phone, 'What about changing that hook a bit?' Chrome was the only one that came in the studio but it was good working with him because we've done a few things in the past."

Release and reception

"Dance wiv Me" represented a change for Rascal from his

roots to a more

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

-oriented sound. It was first released as a download single in the UK on 30 June 2008 and in physical format one week later. The song was Rascal's first single on his own Dirtee Stank Recordings record label, released after he had split from his former label,

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

, who did not want to release the track themselves. "Experimenting with dance music is a good way for British rappers to get on the radio and into the charts. Some people might see this as me selling out but no way. Every track I write I try to make different from the last and as my profile has risen with all the festivals and live shows I've done, I've wanted to experiment more."

Chart performance

On its first week of release, "Dance wiv Me" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and remained top of the chart for four-consecutive weeks becoming both Rascal and Harris' first number one in the UK. The song was the UK's 12th highest-selling single of 2008.

Music video

The music video for "Dance wiv Me" depicts Dizzee Rascal and Chrome in a night club with Calvin Harris as the bar man. The video also features '' Big Brother 14'' contestant Gina Rio.

Track listings

*Download single: # "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Mix) – 3:25 *Maxi CD / 12-inch single: # "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Mix) – 3:25 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Extended Mix) – 4:22 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Niteryders Remix) – 5:12 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Agent X Remix) – 4:25 *Download single (live): # "Dance Wiv Me" (Live at iTunes Festival) – 3:37 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Live at Glastonbury) – 4:10 *German single: # "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:25 # "Dance Wiv Me" (DJ Frizzo Remix) – 4:04 *US single 1: # "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:25 # "Dance Wiv Me" (DJ Rap Remix) – 4:22 # "Dance Wiv Me" ( Dirty Vegas Remix) – 5:12 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Jason Nevins Remix) – 4:25 *US single 2: # "Dance Wiv Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:25 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Extended Mix) – 4:22 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Shazam Remix) – 5:44 # "Dance Wiv Me" (The Aston Shuffle Remix) – 6:14 # "Dance Wiv Me" (Jason Nevins Extended Mix) – 6:47

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Acoustic performance from BBC Glastonbury 2008 site
{{authority control 2008 singles 2008 songs Dizzee Rascal songs Calvin Harris songs Songs about dancing Song recordings produced by Calvin Harris Songs written by Dizzee Rascal Songs written by Calvin Harris UK singles chart number-one singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles