"Under the Influence" is a song by American musician

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 ...

. It is the third track on the extended edition of his ninth studio album ''

Indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

'', which was released on October 4, 2019, by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. The song was composed by Brown along with Nigerian singer

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian American, Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and record producer. Davido was born in Atlanta, U.S, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He made his mus ...

, producer Kiddominant and Tiffany Mckie. "Under the Influence" became a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

in 2022, becoming viral on the

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

platform. Afterwards, it was officially released as a single, roughly three years following its original release. "Under the Influence" received great success internationally, reaching the top ten in more than twenty countries between 2022 and 2023, including United Kingdom, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa, while peaking at number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Among the certifications it gained, it was most notably certified diamond by the National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (SNEP), quintuple platinum 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 ...

(RIAA), quadruple platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), triple platinum by the

Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to some of Canada's leadin ...

(MC), and double platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). The song's title became the name of Brown's 2023 European tour.

Development and composition

"Under the Influence" is an R&B song, written by Chris Brown, Nigerian singer

and Tiffany Mckie, while its production was handled by Nigerian producer

KDDO Ayoola Oladapo Agboola also known as KDDO (and formerly as Kiddominant) is a Nigerian record producer, songwriter, and artist. He's best known for producing and writing "Under The Influence" by Chris Brown, charting at number 1 on the Billboard ...

. The song was included on the expanded edition of Brown's ninth studio album ''

'' (2019). The song marks the third collaboration between Brown and

, following Davido's 2019 single "

Blow My Mind "Blow My Mind" is a song by American-born Nigerian singer Davido featuring fellow American singer Chris Brown. It was released on 26 July 2019 as the fourth single from Davido's album '' A Good Time''. The song incorporates tribal sounds of Afr ...

", and their duet "Lower Body", also contained on the expanded version of ''Indigo''. Lyrically, in the song Brown expresses his desires while having a passionate sexual encounter, being under the influence of

codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

. According to ''

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 ...

'', Brown on the record "turns the tempo down several notches". Marc Griffin of ''

Vibe magazine ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

'', said that the song's lyrics "are coated in temptation, delivering his econdverse lustfully, rattling off things he would like to do with (and to) his lover".

Critical reception

'' listed "Under the Influence" among "The 10 Best R&B Songs of 2022".

Music video

The music video for "Under the Influence" was directed by visual artist Child, and released on October 20, 2022. The clip was recorded in an abandoned warehouse, and features Brown surrounded by female dancers, that perform sexually suggestive moves around him. ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'', said that the music video shows the singer "deep in contemplation, sorting through his need for her, while other shots feature a gaggle of dancers with glowing eyes seductively enticing Brown with desire". ''

HotNewHipHop ''HotNewHipHop'' (HNHH) is an online publication that covers daily news about hip hop and pop culture, including streetwear, sports, and Sneaker collecting, sneakers. In addition to its editorial content, HotNewHipHop also produces the video seri ...

'' noted that in the "sensual" video, Brown "kept his choreography to a minimum", despite his music videos usually featuring complex choreographies performed by the singer himself.

Commercial performance

Despite not being initially released as a single, "Under the Influence" became a viral

in 2022 via

. During the summer of 2022, the song entered the charts in many countries for the first time, reaching the top ten in Australia, Luxembourg, Greece, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It debuted at number 36 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the September 24, 2022 week, three years following its release. With "Under the Influence", Brown became the first R&B singer in history to have over fifty top-40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song peaked at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200, making it Brown's first top ten on the Global 200 chart since the chart was introduced in 2020. The song topped the

R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart, making it Brown's tenth number-one song on the chart. "Under the Influence" first reached No. 1 on Apple Music's Top 100: Global chart in mid-September 2022. On May 17, 2023, "Under the Influence" became Brown's second longest-charting song, without a feature, at 35 weeks. The song surpassed the 33 week tenancy of 2008's "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

". The song is also Brown's longest charting single since his 2005 debut single "

Run It! "Run It!" is the debut single by American singer Chris Brown featuring American rapper Juelz Santana. It was produced by Scott Storch, who wrote the song alongside Sean Garrett and Santana. The song appeared on Brown's self-titled debut albu ...

" (which ran on the Hot 100 for 38 weeks). "Under the Influence" was the tenth most-heard song on U.S. radio in the first half of 2023, with a cumulative 1.142 billion audience impressions across all formats monitored by Luminate. “Under The Influence” is Brown's first song to ever reach one billion streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Tour

Following the global success of the song, Brown named a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

after it. The "

Under the Influence Tour The Under the Influence Tour was a concert tour by American singer Chris Brown to support his tenth studio album, '' Breezy'' (2022). The tour was named after his 2019 song " Under the Influence". Mainly staged to Europe, it began in Ireland on F ...

" was a tour to support Brown's tenth studio album, ''

Breezy ''Breezy'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, produced by Robert Daley, and written by Jo Heims. The film stars William Holden and Kay Lenz, with Roger C. Carmel, Marj Dusay, and Joan Hotchkis in supporting ...

'' (2022). The

opening act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

for the tour was South African singer

Tyla Tyla Laura Seethal (born 30 January 2002), known mononymously as Tyla, is a South African singer and songwriter. Her musical style is characterised by a fusion of pop and amapiano, with many publications dubbing her " Queen of Popiano". Born a ...

. It began in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on February 11, 2023, and ended in

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 ...

on August 27, 2023. The tour included shows in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Ireland and Jamaica, registering sold out during all the 28 dates scheduled.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Chris Brown singles 2019 songs 2022 singles Chris Brown songs Number-one singles in India Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by Davido RCA Records singles