"Ray Charles" is a single released from

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

group

Chiddy Bang Chidera Anamege, now known by his stage name Chiddy Bang, is an American rapper from Philadelphia. Prior to its breakup, Chiddy Bang was an American hip hop duo consisting of Anamege, under the stage name Chiddy, and Noah Beresin, under the sta ...

. It was released in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on November 14, 2011 as a digital download as the second single from their debut studio album ''

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

''. The song is a homage to the musician of the same name. Outside of the United States, "Ray Charles" was a hit in the British Isles, peaking within the top 20 of the charts in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the song peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Ray Charles" was first released onto

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on January 5, 2012. It was directed by Alan Ferguson. The music video features the duo watching videos on

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 ...

, including one that features the duo dressed up like Ray Charles. Briefly, " Pass Out" and " So What Cha Want", by

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...

and the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

, respectively, can be heard. The scene in the church towards the end of the video is an homage to

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...

. After one and week of being on the site the official video had been viewed just over 3.8 million times.

Critical reception

Robert Copsey of

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

gave the song a positive review stating:

It's easy to see how they've come to appreciate the late star as their soul homage not only fully embodies his sound, but also highlights how popular it remains today. Over a vintage piano riff and bouncy jazz section they rap a tribute to the legend that falls somewhere between profound and dangerously tongue-in-cheek ("You're too blind to see it"), but the result nonetheless sounds genuinely heartfelt.

Track listing

;Digital Download #"Ray Charles" – 3:43

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2011 singles I.R.S. Records singles Virgin Records singles 2011 songs Song recordings produced by S*A*M and Sluggo Songs written by Sam Hollander Songs written by Dave Katz Music videos directed by Alan Ferguson (director)