"Jungle" is a song by American rock band

X Ambassadors X Ambassadors (also stylized XA) are an American pop rock band from Ithaca, New York, that consists of lead vocalist Sam Harris, keyboardist Casey Harris, and drummer Adam Levin. Russ Flynn is a touring member who plays guitar and bass. Their m ...

and British blues rock singer Jamie N Commons. It was released as a single on 18 December 2013 by KIDinaKORNER and

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The track appeared on X Ambassadors' 2014 EP '' The Reason'' and their 2015 studio album ''

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

''.

Composition

"Jungle" has been described as an "amped up"

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and electronic song, as well as a "rock-heavy, upbeat track". The song features "a drum-beat reminiscent of

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 ...

's '

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...

. Jeff Benjamin of Fuse compared it to an

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...

track, stating it "is full of Alex a Kids booming electronic-rock percussion, but with soulful humming and bluesy belting in place of Dragons singer Dan Reynolds' signature shouty approach." "Jungle" was co-written by X Ambassadors, Jamie N Commons,

Alex da Kid Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British music producer from Wood Green, London. He has gained recognition for producing several hit singles for artists of multiple music g ...

and Mike Del Rio. Alex da Kid and Mike Del Rio also produced the song. Speaking about the goal of the song in a ''

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 ...

'' interview,

stated, "It was my goal to write and produce an anthemic song that would resonate with anyone that has grown up in or been around underprivileged surroundings." In an interview with ''

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'', X Ambassadors member Sam Harris commented on the writing process: "I had written a hook for it, and Alex had the beat. I thought he was gonna put a rapper on it, but then he gave it to Jamie, and Jamie wrote these great verses on it." According to Sam Harris, the negative experiences that his brother and bandmate Casey Harris had encountered as a blind person after relocating to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

served as an inspiration for the song.

Release and reception

"Jungle" was made available for digital download on 18 December 2013 by KIDinaKORNER and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. Jason Warshof of Ithaca.com described the song as a "thumping, gritted-teeth anthem". Harlew Brown of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' called it "a soulful heavy hitter". Andy Gensler of ''

'' regarded it as a "pounding, foot-stomping

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

beat", noting that it sounds like "

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...

with a shotgun, holding up a guttural-sounding blues vocal."

Music video

The official music video for the song was exclusively premiered on 16 June 2014 on the website of ''

'' magazine. It was co-directed by Emile Rafael and

. The video features members of various subcultures in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. AXS contributor William Pankey described it as "a fly-covered, grubby slice of life centered around the piss-stained, impoverished streets of Los Angeles."

Live performances

X Ambassadors and Jamie N Commons included the song on the setlist for their Into the Jungle U.S. Tour, which lasted from 30 September to 18 October 2014. On 31 January 2017, X Ambassadors performed "Jungle" alongside "Collider" at the Opening Night celebration of

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

Minute Maid Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

, Houston.

Remixes

Jay-Z remix

On 14 June 2014, a remix version featuring a rap segment by American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

debuted during Game 5 of the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

between

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

and

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. On the same day, the remix was made available exclusively on Beats Music, before it was released as a single for digital download on 23 June. The remix was commissioned as part of an advertising campaign by

Beats Electronics Beats Electronics, LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, Beats by Dre or simply Beats) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded in 2006 by the music producer Dr. Dre and ...

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. In a

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

interview, X Ambassadors singer Sam Harris commented on the background of the remix version: "Our producer calls me up out of the blue. He's like, 'Hey, guess what? I got Jay-Z to do a remix of "Jungle"!' Came out of nowhere." One of the interludes on X Ambassadors' album ''

'', titled "Good News on the Remix", features a recording of the conversation between Sam Harris and the producer discussing Jay-Z's remix. The lyrics of the additional verse contain references to Brazilian

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

as well as several films, including ''

A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age crime film, crime drama film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale (p ...

'' (1993), ''

Training Day ''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers followed over a 24-hour period ...

'' (2001) and '' City of God'' (2002). Colin Stutz of ''

'' stated that while the remix "isn't much different from the original", Jay-Z "gets his point across, going nonstop for more than a minute straight", with "a heavy hitting verse". According to Colin Joyce of ''

'', the rapper "manages to transform the bombastic single into stadium-sized banger".

Usage in media

The song was used as the official theme for

WWE Battleground WWE Battleground, known as NXT Battleground for 2023 and 2024, is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based promotion. The event was established in 2013 and was held annually until 2017 for WWE's main roster. It was t ...

in 2014 and in the emd credits of Hitman: Agent 47 in 2015. "Jungle" was used in a five-minute promotional video titled "The Game Before the Game" by

, released in June 2014 for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

and intended to promote Beats by Dre's redesigned Solo2 headphones. Directed by Nabil Elderkin, the advertisement features, among others,

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona's you ...

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

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 ...

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

and

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

. Speaking about the selection of "Jungle" for the campaign, Beats by Dre's chief marketing officer Omar Johnson told ''

'' magazine, "We had a really huge track from a really huge artist. The moment we heard this song, we literally said 'nope, that's the right song. ''Billboard'' placed the track at number three in its list of the Top 10 Songs From World Cup Spots. The song was featured in a trailer for the second season of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

web television series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

''. It was also used in trailers for the films ''

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 ...

'' (2014) and ''

Project Almanac ''Project Almanac'' is a 2015 American found footage science fiction film directed by Dean Israelite in his directorial debut, and written by Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman. The film stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner ...

'' (2015) and the video game '' Battlefield Hardline'' (2015). It appeared in the crime thriller television series ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...

''. In April 2015, a promotional video featuring the cast of '' Pitch Perfect 2'' and basketball player Kyle Lowry was released for the

2015 NBA Playoffs The 2015 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2014–15 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeating the Eastern Conference champion Cleve ...

. The video featured an

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 ...

cover version of the track, with

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, List of awards and nominations received by Anna Kendrick, her accolades include nominations for an Aca ...

performing as lead vocalist. "Jungle" also appeared in a television commercial for the video game '' Deus Ex: Mankind Divided'' (2016). A remix version of the song by

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...

was used in a launch trailer for the video game '' Injustice 2'' (2017). The song was included on the soundtrack of the basketball simulation video game '' NBA 2K18'' (2017). The song was used in the latest spot of Ahora Noticias, a chilean news network on Channel Mega. A cover of the song by

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...

was used in a January 2021 advertisement of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

in Indonesia.

Controversy

On 25 November 2016, a copyright lawsuit was filed by Songs Music Publishing, LLC in the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (in case citations, M.D. Tenn.) is the federal trial court for most of Middle Tennessee. Based at the Estes Kefauver Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Nashville ...

against German automobile manufacturer

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

and the Cramer-Krasselt advertising agency which alleged that one of the company's advertisements for the sports car Porsche 718 Cayman "copies several quantitatively and qualitatively important portions of 'Jungle. According to the complaint, the defendants copied the original drum rhythms, organ stabs and background vocals from the song, which together "negates any suggestion of independent creation".

Track listing

*;Digital download # "Jungle" – 3:09 *;Digital download – remix # "Jungle" (Remix) (feat.

) – 3:27 *;Digital download – ''Remixes'' # "Jungle" (Great Good Fine OK Remix) – 3:06 # "Jungle" (KDrew Remix Edited) – 3:12 # "Jungle" (KDrew Remix Extended) – 3:43 *;Digital download – ''The MADE Edit'' # "Jungle" (The MADE Edit) – 4:34

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{authority control 2013 songs 2013 singles Jay-Z songs X Ambassadors songs Jamie N Commons songs Song recordings produced by Alex da Kid Songs written by Alex da Kid Kidinakorner singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Jamie N Commons