"Run Up" is a song by American electronic band

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was the ...

featuring Canadian singer

PartyNextDoor Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (often stylized in all caps), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. He was the first artist to sign with Drake's record label OVO Sound ...

and Trinidadian rapper

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 ...

. It was released on

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 26, 2017, by

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. In the early 2010s, it popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music create ...

and

Because Music Because Music is a record label based in France. The label was founded in 2004 by Emmanuel de Buretel and Eric Bielsa upon their exit from major labels. Because Music has acts such as Justice, Christine and the Queens and Aime Simone on their r ...

, intended to be the third single from their fourth studio album ''

Music Is the Weapon ''Music Is the Weapon'' is the fourth studio album by American electronic band Major Lazer, released on October 23, 2020, via Mad Decent. It is Major lazer's first studio album in five years since '' Peace Is the Mission'' (2015). First annou ...

'', but it was then confirmed as the second single from their debut greatest hits album ''

Major Lazer Essentials ''Major Lazer Essentials'' is a compilation album released by American electronic dance music trio Major Lazer. It was initially released on October 19, 2018, through the groups record label Mad Decent Records. It includes the singles " Cold Wat ...

''. The song was written by primary Major Lazer member

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), ...

Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...

, PartyNextDoor, Minaj, and Phillip Meckseper, while the song's production was handled by Major Lazer, Stargate, and Jr Blender.

Composition

"Run Up" has a length of three minutes and twenty-three seconds. According to the sheet music published by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc on Musicnotes.com, it's written in the key of

E Major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

set in a time signature at a moderate

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 108

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. The vocal range spans from the low note C₃ to the high note C₅, while the music follows the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of A–C_m–E–B. Musically, "Run Up" is a

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. PartyNextDoor and Minaj sing using the

Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...

accent.

Reception

"Run Up" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Reviewing the song, Ryan Reed from ''

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 ...

'' described it as "a suave blend of high-pitched vocal samples, warped

guitar chord In music, a guitar Chord (music), chord is a Set (mathematics), set of Musical note, notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chor ...

s and a signature

Caribbean music Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Asian and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African enslaved people (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other c ...

groove." Him praised the presence of Minaj and PartyNextDoor on the song, "PartyNextDoor croons smooth come-ons throughout the track, but Minaj amps up the intensity with a reliably boastful verse." Kat Being of ''

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 ...

'' call it as "a great follow-up to " Cold Water" (2016). Bianca Gracie from

Fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protec ...

gave a positive review to the song, writing, "Minaj and Party bring their

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n roots to the track, as the rapstress drops boastful verses laced with swagger, sex appeal and patois." The written also praised the vocal of the singer PartyNextDoor on the song, she wrote: "PartyNextDoor adds his crooning vocals to the opening and

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

, which is backed by Major Lazer's island-tinged production." ''

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 ...

s Brian Josephs commented that the song used "

-inspired production that

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

pimped and

Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. First discovered by Sean Kingston, he received initial recognition for his mixtape ''Conflicts of My S ...

bit." He also praised the feature vocalist on the song writing that "PartyNextDoor and Minaj are charismatic enough to make his a summer banger that’s dropped a couple of months early." Dani Schwartz of the site ''HotNewHipHop'' also gave a positive review to the song praising the choice of the singers in the song, she describing its as a "only natural, then, they enlist PartyNextDoor and Nicki Minaj, two artists with Caribbean roots."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Major Lazer songs PartyNextDoor songs Nicki Minaj songs Dancehall songs Reggae fusion songs Songs written by Diplo Songs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen Songs written by Tor Erik Hermansen Song recordings produced by Diplo Song recordings produced by Stargate (record producers) Songs written by Nicki Minaj Songs written by PartyNextDoor Songs written by Jr Blender UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles