"Genius" is the debut single by pop music supergroup
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
, released on 3 May 2018. It is from the group's 2019 debut studio album, ''
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
''. The song was written by
Sia,
Labrinth
Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...
,
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...
and
Jr Blender, and produced by the last three with Gustave Rudman. The song impacted the US alternative radios on 19 June 2018. The song is featured in the video games ''
FIFA 19
''FIFA 19'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and released by Electronic Arts on 28 September 2018 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows. It is the 26th install ...
'' and ''
FIFA 23
''FIFA 23'' is a football video game published by EA Sports. It is the 30th and final installment in the ''FIFA'' series that is developed by EA Sports, and released worldwide on 30 September 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation ...
'' by
EA Sports
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
.
The single was accompanied with a "psychedelic" animated music video directed by
Ben Jones, featuring art by Gabriel Alcala. A remixed version of "Genius" featuring American rapper
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 ...
was released in January 2019.
Composition
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...
said the song has an "eclectic, loosely Caribbean production".
''
Dancing Astronaut
Dancing Astronaut is an American media platform founded in 2009 that primarily covers the electronic dance music industry. The website covers concerts and festivals, reports on entertainment news, reviews music, and publishes original content syn ...
'' described the song as "
Labrinth
Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...
and
Sia swapping syncopated versework over a characteristically catchy hip-hop lite Diplo beat."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' called it "a distinctly Diplo
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
drop".
Lyrically, the song references
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
,
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
,
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...
, and
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
.
[
]
Music video
Produced by the company Bento Box Entertainment
Bento Box Entertainment, formerly known as Bento Box Animation, is an American animation studio and entertainment company located in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2009 by executive producers Scot ...
, illustrated by Gabriel Alcala and directed by Ben Jones (creator of '' The Problem Solverz'' and '' Stone Quackers''), "Genius" is a surreal animated cartoon, influences from an American Pop Artist, Peter Max
Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...
and Heinz Edelmann
Heinz Edelmann (20 June 1934 – 21 July 2009) was a Czech-German illustrator and designer. His art direction and character designs for the Beatles' 1968 animated film '' Yellow Submarine'' brought him additional recognition around the world. ...
, who designed for the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
's animated musical film, '' Yellow Submarine''. Characters are 2D, boldly colored caricatures of LSD members and anthropomorphic animals. Historical geniuses such as 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 ...
and Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
are also referenced, depicted as humanoid mice (mice being a recurring motif in LSD animations). The scenes follow a psychedelic, non-chronological storyline lightly tied to the lyrics, and symbolic animals such as three-eyed tigers and human-like mice are present throughout the video.
Track listing
*Digital download – Banx & Ranx
Banx & Ranx are a music production duo from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed in 2014. Members Soké (real name Zacharie Raymond) and KNY Factory (real name Yannick Rastogi) are producers, songwriters and remixers. They are currently signed to ...
Remixes
#"Genius" (Banx & Ranx Remix) – 2:57
#"Genius" (Banx & Ranx Reggae Remix) – 3:14
*Digital download
#"Genius" (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 ...
Remix) (featuring Lil Wayne) – 2:42
Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
* Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...
– production, programming
* Labrinth
Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...
– production, engineering, programming
* Jr Blender – production, programming
* Gustave Rudman – production
* Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...
– mix engineering
* Chris Galland – mix engineering
* Randy Merrill – master engineering
* Bart Schoudel – engineering
* Luke Dimond – engineering
* Robin Florent – engineering assistance
* Scott Desmarais – engineering assistance
Charts
Certifications
Lil Wayne remix
"Genius (Lil Wayne Remix)", featuring American rapper 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 ...
, was the first official remix of "Genius". It was released on January 17, 2019, by and featured on LSD's debut studio album, ''LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
'' (2019).
Music video
On January 17, 2019, the official music video of "Genius" (Lil Wayne Remix) was released on the official Vevo
Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
channel of the group.
Remix personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
* 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 ...
– guest vocals, lyrics
* Sia Furler – lyrics, composition
* Timothy McKenzie – composition
* Philip Meckseper – composition
* Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...
– production, programming, composition
* Labrinth
Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...
– production, engineering, programming
* Jr Blender – production, programming
* Gustave Rudman – miscellaneous production
* Manny Galvez – recording engineering
* John Hanes – mix engineering
* Serban Ghenea – mix engineering
* Randy Merrill – master engineering
* Bart Schoudel – engineering
* Luke Dimond – engineering
* Robin Florent – engineering assistance
* Scott Desmarais – engineering assistance
See also
* Diplo discography
* Labrinth discography
* Sia discography
References
{{authority control
2018 debut singles
2018 songs
2019 singles
Animated music videos
Columbia Records singles
LSD (group) songs
Number-one singles in Israel
Song recordings produced by Diplo
Song recordings produced by Labrinth
Songs written by Diplo
Songs written by Jr Blender
Songs written by Labrinth
Songs written by Sia (musician)