Leavin' (Jesse McCartney Song)
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"Leavin'" is a song by American singer-songwriter Jesse McCartney, released as the lead single from McCartney's third studio album '' Departure'' (2008). Written and produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, with additional writing by James Bunton and Corron Ty Cole, "Leavin'" was sent to U.S. mainstream radios on March 10, 2008.FMQB Available for Airplay
Retrieved February 17, 2008
Namesake of the album's title, "Leavin'" was considered a departure from McCartney's youthful image in favor of adult-oriented subject matter, vocal delivery and production. Lyrically, the song finds McCartney admiring a female's backside with plans to steal her from her current beau. Sonically, the song is pop with an electro production style and sound effects from digital watches, alarm clocks and kitchen timers. Its
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 ...
shows the singer admiring a model before kissing her at the end. "Leavin'" remains McCartney's biggest hit single in the United States, reaching number one on the ''
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''
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
chart and peaking within the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; it sold over three million digital downloads and received triple platinum certification by
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA). Worldwide, it entered the top 20 in Canada and became a top-40 hit in France, Ireland, and Scotland.


Background and release

After achieving a younger audience with his first two albums, '' Beautiful Soul'' (2004) and '' Right Where You Want Me'' (2006), Jesse McCartney announced that his third studio album "gonna be a shock to a lot of people," saying: "Sonically, it will sound like a 2007 record but with that '80s bigness to it. People won't even realize who is singing some of these songs." He also revealed that the album is "certainly a little bit more urban-influenced, I worked with people really well known in that area of music, they gonna see a lot of growth, obviously with the first single." "Leavin'" was first released on radio, on March 10, 2008. Later, the single was released on April 22, 2008, following the UK release on June 9, 2008. On August 26, 2008, an acoustic version of the song was made available on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
and other outlets. The acoustic version was sung by McCartney with Rich Berra of the Johnjay and Rich Morning Show, a radio show broadcast across
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, Portland and
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. Proceeds from the downloads benefitted the radio duo's Christmas Wish Foundation or CWF.


Composition

"Leavin'" was written and produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, while James Button and Corron Ty Cole co-wrote the track and Kuk Harrell produced McCartney's vocals. The song is considered a departure from McCartney's old style of
teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...
, with a more urban-influenced sound. "Leavin'" is a pop song, with electro production. Written in the key of
A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...
, it has a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 79.255 beats per minute, with McCartney's vocals spanning from the low-note of E4 to the high-note of C6. Lyrically, "Leavin'" sees the singer eyeing a female's backside with plans to steal her from her current beau. The song starts with stabbing, near-industrial beats.
Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...
played the song with a few edits, changing the line, "Man, that thing you got behind you is amazin'" to "Man, the way you make me feel is so amazing", and "take you out and let it rain" to "turn around and look again". It is featured on '' Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 11''.


Critical reception

"Leavin'" received generally favorable reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
. Nick Levine of ''
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'' gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, writing that 'Leavin' "is the musical equivalent of McCartney's first tuft of chest hair, a hard-edged crunk gem that wouldn't sound out of place on an Usher or
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 ...
album. Combining smooth, radio-friendly choruses with trendy electro production from Tricky and The Dream, it makes McCartney sound fresh and a little bit sexy without scaring off the milk 'n' cookies brigade."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of ''
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 ...
'' picked the song as a standout track on ''Departure''. Gian F. of ''The Muse's Muse'' praised the track, writing that "it gives you a glimpse into the more refined, confident, and aggressive Jesse who showcases increased ranged and improved vocal agility." Alex Macpherson of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' called it a "sharp crunk song with fantastic hook." However, Graham Drummond of ''Click Music'' called it "over-produced and lacking any lyrical value."


Chart performance

"Leavin'" debuted at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart of May 10, 2008, making it McCartney's highest debut on the chart and highest charting-single of his career. In its second week, the song rose to number 10, becoming his first and only top-10 hit in the United States. Artist Chart History: Jesse McCartney '' Billboard.com''. Retrieved June 24, 2008. It stayed at its peak position for three non-consecutive weeks. The song managed to top the Pop Airplay chart; his first and only number-one and second top-10 single. On the ''Billboard''
Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles ...
, the song peaked at number 2, while it also topped the
Hot Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set list ...
chart. "Leavin'" also managed to peak at number-one (remaining at the top for six consecutive weeks) on ''
American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...
'' hosted by Ryan Seacrest. "Leavin'" holds the record for spending the second most weeks at No. 1 in 2008 on the ''American Top 40'' behind
Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...
' " Bleeding Love" which was also co-written by Jesse McCartney. The song has been certified 3xPlatinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
for equivalent sales of 3,000,000 units in the United States. Elsewhere, "Leavin'" charted moderately, only reaching the top 20 in Canada. In France, "Leavin'" peaked at number 32, while in Australia, it debuted and peaked at number 49, remaining on the
ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...
only for one week, becoming his lowest charting-single there. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 48 on the UK Singles Chart, while in
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, it performed poorly at number 97.


Music video

Tommy2 confirmed that the music video for "Leavin" was shot on February 17, 2008, and was directed by Sanji, who also directed his " She's No You" video. The video premiered on March 7, 2008. It begins with Jesse and a lady played by the actress Niki Huey sitting in the chairs opposite each other. Jesse is wearing an unbuttoned shirt and she is wearing a long-sleeved shirt and panties. After staring at each other, Niki gets up and climbs suggestively onto Jesse's lap. The second verse has Jesse wearing only pants and Niki is wearing a bra and underwear, rolling around, frolicking on a mattress. The video ends with Jesse and Niki are kissing in the car. Throughout the chorus, Jesse is shown in a bluish-white room.


Formats and track listings

Australian CD – single # "Leavin'" (Single Version) # "Leavin'" (The Bimbo Jones Radio Edit) # "Leavin'" ( MSTRKRFT Remix) EU iTunes Download 1 – EP # "Leavin'" (Radio Edit) # "Oxygen" # "Think About It" EU iTunes Download 2 – Single # "Leavin" (Album Version) # "Bleeding Love" EU iTunes Download 3 – Single # "Leavin" (Radio Edit) # "Leavin" (The Bimbo Jones Radio Edit) UK CD – Single # "Leavin'" # "Leavin'" (The Bimbo Jones Radio Edit) UK iTunes Download 1 – Single # "Leavin'" (Radio Edit) # "Leavin'" (MSTRKRFT Remix) UK iTunes Download 2 – Single # "Leavin'" (The Bimbo Jones Radio Edit) UK iTunes Download 3 – EP # "Leavin'" (Radio Edit) # " Bleeding Love" # "Leavin'" (Ralph Rosario Radio Edit) # "Leavin'" (Albert C Reggaeton Radio Mix) UK iTunes Download 4 – EP # "Leavin'"(Album Version) # "Leavin'" (MSTRKRFT Remix) # "Leavin'" (Video Download)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References


External links


Jesse McCartney's official website

"Leavin'" official music video
{{Authority control 2008 singles 2008 songs Jesse McCartney songs Hollywood Records singles Music videos directed by Sanji (director) Song recordings produced by Kuk Harrell Song recordings produced by Tricky Stewart Songs written by The-Dream Songs written by Tricky Stewart