"The World Should Revolve Around Me" is the debut single of American pop-R&B duo Little Jackie. The song became a top-20 hit on the UK Singles Chart, and also peaked within the top 30 of the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. Upon its release, the song was met with a favorable reception from critics, who praised the song's Motown-esque production; however, some sociologists criticized the song, opining that it glamorized

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

and demonstrated that the United States' narcissism is not declining. In the United States, the song appeared on the ''Billboard'' Pop 100, also appearing as the theme song for the

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 ...

reality TV series ''

New York Goes to Hollywood ''New York Goes to Hollywood'' is a VH1 reality television series that premiered on August 4, 2008. It is a spin-off of the ''I Love New York'' series, featuring Tiffany "New York" Pollard as she tries to find an acting job in Hollywood, Califo ...

''.

Background

Speaking in July 2008 to UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of ''

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as ''NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a r ...

'', Little Jackie frontwoman

Imani Coppola Imani Francesca Coppola (born April 6, 1978) Imani Coppola profile
''TV Tropes' ...

explained how the song came about: "Being an artist isn't conducive to having a healthy relationship. And that song is definitely the pinnacle of my ego being bruised by my last partner leaving me! Basically the title represents a very childlike perspective that most people find identifiable... And, while I obviously don't REALLY think the world should revolve around me, I'm basically being defiant in saying 'I don't see the point of a partnership'. While, at the same time, I'm really creating a fantasy for EVERYONE to share and enjoy. You know, why not, at least for a few seconds, just sing along like it's your song? For three minutes of your life let the world revolve around YOU!"

Release and reception

"The World Should Revolve Around Me" was released as a digital download on August 25, 2008, ahead of the release of the group's debut album, "

The Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a stadium located in south-west London, England, situated just across the road from Twickenham Stadium. The stadium is home to the Harlequins in Premiership Rugby and has a ...

." Thom Jurek 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 ...

commented that said the song has "Motown-rich string samples, punky, (and) ragged breaks...", also praising the song's lyrics. ''The Guardians

Jude Rogers Jude Rogers (born 1978) is a Welsh journalist, lecturer, arts critic and broadcaster. She is a music critic for ''The Guardian'' and also regularly writes features and articles for ''The Observer'', ''New Statesman'' and women's magazines such a ...

felt that the song initially "sounds fun and playful," but that "under the surface lurks an indignant character."

Criticism

The song has been criticized by some sociologists and critics for depicting and glamorizing narcissism. In ''The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder'', W. Keith Campbell and Joshua D. Miller theorize that the song would be at unpopular "in a less narcissistic culture, even if individual levels of narcissism showed only small differences." Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, in their book ''The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement'', felt that the song has "no apparent sarcasm." In an article in ''The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge'', writer Jon Pareles opined that the song was evidence that society's narcissism is not declining.

Chart performance

On the UK Singles Chart, "The World Should Revolve Around Me" debuted at number 26. Two weeks later, it rose seven spots, to its number 14 peak, at which it spent one week. It spent a total of five weeks in the top 40 and seven weeks in the top 100. The song also peaked within the top 40 on the Ireland Singles Chart, where it debuted at number 43 and peaked at number 30, spending a total of 4 weeks in the top 100. The song also entered 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 ...

airplay chart, reaching number 90 in October 2008.

Music video

The music video is mostly straightforward performance, with some graffiti backgrounds. It also features

Rosie Perez Rosa Maria Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came at age 24 with her portrayal of Tina in the film '' Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's performance in '' Fear ...

sitting on a stoop with the members of Little Jackie. The music video went into heavy rotation on

, reaching number 1 on the ''Billboard'' VH1

Video Monitor A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signa ...

chart. The music video also entered the Top 10 on ''Billboards Hot Videoclips chart, and was the most-played video on VH1 the week ending October 18, 2008.

Charts

In popular culture

The song was featured in the trailer for the movie ''

You Again ''You Again'' is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Andy Fickman and written by Moe Jelline. The film stars Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, James Wolk, Victor Garber, Billy Unger, Kyle Bornheimer, Krist ...

'', starring

Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. List of Kristen Bell performances, Her work includes both film and television, and List of awards and nominations received by Kristen Bell, h ...

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra ( ; born October 8, 1949), better known by her stage name Sigourney Weaver, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the late 1970s, she is known for her pioneering portrayals of action heroines in Blockbuster (entertainme ...

Odette Yustman Odette Juliette Annable (; born May 10, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for various roles in film and television, including as Dr. Jessica Adams in the Fox medical drama series ''House'', Beth McIntyre in the monster film ''Cloverfi ...

and

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

. The song was also featured on Episode 8 of Season 1 of '' 90210'', with Little Jackie performing the song on the show. "The World Should Revolve Around Me" gained popularity in the U.S. after becoming the theme song for VH1's ''

''. Little Jackie also appeared in an episode of the show. The music video was featured on

's "You Oughta Know" segment.

References

External links

Watch the music video

View the "You Again" trailer

Watch Little Jackie's performance
of the song on 90210 {{DEFAULTSORT:World Should Revolve Around Me, The 2008 songs 2008 debut singles Songs written by Adam Pallin Songs written by Willie Mitchell (musician)