"Privacy" is a song by American singer

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 ...

from his eighth studio album, '' Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. After being previewed at the beginning of 2017, it was released by

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as the third single from the album on March 24, 2017. The song is an R&B mid-tempo entirely written by Brown, and produced by David Doman and Jim Stewart, where Brown both sings and raps. The song's lyrical content features the singer's perspective of a lustful sexual encounter. "Privacy" achieved commercial success in English-speaking countries, being certified triple platinum by the

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(RIAA), platinum by

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(ARIA), and gold by the

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(BPI). Its music video was directed by Brown, shot in

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, and released on April 14, 2017.

Background and recording

According to the song's recording engineer Patrizio Pigliapoco, "Privacy" was written and recorded at Platinum Sound Recording Studios, in

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 ...

the night of

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2016, minutes before the ball drop. Pigliapoco said that Brown wrote and recorded "Privacy" in fifteen minutes, and that they “didn't think anything of it either, it was just like another record we have done and that's it. But everyone kept telling him 'this is it'”, which led Brown to select it as his next single. Brown talked about the making of the track in a 2017 interview with

Angie Martinez Angela "Angie" Martinez (born January 9, 1971) is an American radio personality, podcaster, singer, former rapper and actress. Dubbed "The Voice of New York", Martinez is widely known for her 28-year run at New York City station WQHT, Hot 97 ( ...

: “I wrote rivacyin a studio full of girls (...) I was in the booth so you can see the glass, and it was all girls dancing, sexy and all that. They were drinking and all this, I was smoking, drinking and all that. I'm watching through the mirror and I'm like 'man, ain't none of them 'bout to give me nothing, because they all want to have it in private' (...) so I know you're a freak, but I know you want your privacy. That's how I came up with the concept”. On January 4, 2017, Brown previewed two snippets on his

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profile from the songs "Privacy" and "Tell Me What to Do", that were unreleased songs planned to be on his upcoming eighth studio album, ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. On January 10, 2017, Brown posted a video of himself and rapper Casanova dancing to "Privacy" in his

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

. It was later announced in February that "Privacy" would've been released as the next single from ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. The single was released on March 24, 2017, after being premiered on

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on the same day.

Composition

"Privacy" is an R&B mid-tempo entirely written by Brown, and produced by David Doman, with additional production done by

keyboard player A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

Jim Stewart. In the song Brown sings the first two verses and the chorus, rapping on the third verse. According to ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', the sexual content of the song "shelves innuendos for straightforward, explicit lyrics". ''

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 ...

'' commented that "Privacy" is "soaked in the joys of sex and lust". The song contains an

interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...

of the 1997

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

song "Tight Up Skirt" by Red Rat in the first part of the

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Music video

On March 24, 2017, Brown uploaded the audio for "Privacy" on his

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and

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account. 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 was directed by

and shot in

on March 27, 2017. The music video was released on April 14, 2017 on Vevo.

Synopsis

The neon-colored, dance-filled music video starts off in a Casino, where Brown walks through and even dances on tables as gamblers look on. Once he enters an elevator, a girl catches his eye. He follows her to a mystical room full of female dancers and a cosmic sky, executing an erotic dance sequence with a few of the girls, and then switching outfits to a black and white stripped dress shirt, black tie, jeans and matching hat, when he performs some solo moves. At the end Brown is transported back to that hotel elevator. This time, he walks out with the girl he had been searching for, holding hands, and looking at the camera with a knowing smile.

Live performances

Chris Brown performed the track during 2017 Bet Awards, and also during a charity concert organized by Tidal, and during a free pop-up concert in

few days before the release of his album ''Heartbreak on a Full Moon''. The song was included on the setlists of all Brown's tours after its release, including " The Party Tour", " Heartbreak on a Full Moon Tour", " Indigoat Tour", " Under the Influence Tour" and " The 11:11 Tour".

Track listing

*Digital download #"Privacy" – 3:40

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

– vocals, composer * d.a. doman – producer, composer *Patrizio Pigliapoco – recording engineer *Jim Stewart – composer *Tom Coyne – mastering engineer *Jaycen Joshua – mixing engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Chris Brown singles 2017 singles 2017 songs Chris Brown songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by D.A. Got That Dope