American Boy

"American Boy" is a song by British R&B singer Estelle, featuring American rapper Kanye West.

Song information

The song was written by American singer-rapper will.i.am, Estelle and West for Estelle's second album, Shine. Produced by will.i.am, the song uses samples from "Impatient" from his 2007 album Songs About Girls, as well as "& Down" by Boys Noize. "American Boy" was released as the second single from Shine. It was released physically in the UK on March 21, 2008.

The song has been covered and parodied internationally. It was remixed by Busta Rhymes, and spoofed by Nova 100 as "Australian Boy" , "Armenian Boy" by Australian radio hosts Hamish & Andy and "Somerset Boy" by Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1. House artist Peven Everett released a song and video insulting the featured guest on "American Boy," Kanye West, called "Fake American Boy." And also Canadian Boy, by radio host Mad Dog, with help of Canadian artist Suzie McNeil on Mix 99.9 in Toronto.

Chart performance

"American Boy" is Estelle's biggest hit charting in 18 different official charts in the world. The single debuted at number 72 in UK Singles Chart. The following week, the song jumped 71 spots from number 72 to 1 in UK Singles Chart and since then has stayed four weeks at the summit of the chart. The single has also charted on the Irish Singles Chart the same week where it entered at number eight on downloads and peaked at number two.

In the U.S, the song debuted at 98, her first appearance in Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, the song rose to number 35 due to increase in digital downloads, peaking at number 17 in Hot Digital Songs. Also, it debuted number 96 and peaked number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100.

The single debuted at number 7 in Australia and so far peaked number 3. "American Boy" is Estelle's highest charted single since 1980 (song), which peaked number 36. In New Zealand the single first appeared on April 1, 2008 on New Zealand Chart debuting at number 25. After a couple of weeks, it cracked the top 5 of the chart peaking number 5. It was also her first appearance in New Zealand RIANZ Chart.

In addition, the song reached top 10 in more than 14 countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland.

Music video

Datei:Estelle music video a-b.PNG

Estelle in the music video

The music video for "American Boy" features guest appearances by John Legend, Kardinal Offishall, Taz Arnold of Sa-Ra, Consequence, Ryan Leslie, Brandon Hines, and Terrence J of 106 and Park, among others. It was directed by Syndrome.

Track listings and formats

UK CD 1

1. "American Boy" (clean radio edit)

UK CD 2

1. "American Boy" (explicit album version)
2. "Life to Me"
3. "American Boy" (video)

iTunes Remixes EP

1. "American Boy" (TS7 Remix)
2. "American Boy" (TS7 Remix Radio Edit)
3. "American Boy" (Soulseekerz Club Remix)
4. "American Boy" (Soulseekerz Dub Remix)
5. "American Boy" (Soulseekerz Radio Remix)

Release history

Region	Date
United Kingdom	March 24, 2008
United States	April 15, 2008
Europe	April 25, 2008
Australia	April 26, 2008

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	3
Austrian Single Top 75	7
Belgian Singles Chart	1
Canadian Hot 100	12
Danish Singles Chart	3
French Singles Chart	3
German Singles Chart	5
Greek Singles Chart	12
Irish Singles Chart	2
Israeli Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	3
Netherlands Singles Chart	6
Norwegian Singles Chart	10
Polish Singles Top 50	17
RIANZ New Zealand	5
Swedish Singles Chart	14
Swiss Single Top 100	5
Turkey Top 20 Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1
Ukrainian Singles Chart	30
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	35
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	55
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	33
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	36
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs	17

External links

• Official Music Video
• Estelle MySpace Page

Vorlage:Estelle Vorlage:Kanye West