Irreplaceable: Difference between revisions

"Irreplaceable" is a song written by American singer-songwriters Ne-Yo and Beyoncé Knowles, and Norwegian songwriters Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Espen Lind, and Amund Bjørklund for Knowles' second studio album B’Day. Produced by Norwegian production team Stargate and Beyoncé, the song was released as the album's third single domestically, and the second single outside North America in October 2006. "Irreplaceable" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 16, 2006, making it Beyoncé's eighth Billboard number-one, and her fourth as a solo artist (her first without a guest rapper). It has sold over one million copies in digital sales.^{[citation needed]} It was the last U.S. #1 of 2006 and the first of 2007.

"Irreplaceable" was the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single for ten weeks, and has received world wide critical acclaim. In the United States, it has become the most successful song of her solo career, and is her longest running #1 single on the Hot 100 (this title was previously held by Baby Boy, which spent nine weeks at #1 in 2003). In December of 2006, a Spanish-language version of "Irreplaceable" entitled "Irreemplazable" (which means "Irreplaceable") was released. This remix has peaked on #4 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. It has also been faring fairly well on charts in Latin countries and will be included in her Spanish language re-release of B'Day.

What started this song was a musical idea. Stargate Produced the track, using acoustic guitar parts made by Espen Lind and Amund Bjørklund, and then making it into a full track with drums, bass and strings. This beat was presented to Ne-Yo who loved the idea, and wrote lyrics and melody on the spot. The song was then played to Beyonce´ and she recorded the song for her B´Day album.

Beyoncé was inspired to do "Irreplaceable" by the role she played in the movie adaptation of the broadway musical Dreamgirls. Her character Deena Jones was in a controlling relationship with husband/manager Curtis Taylor Jr. and after filming, Beyoncé went immediately to the studio to release some of the energy and emotions she had kept inside.^[1] Consequently, the entire B’Day album centers on themes of independence, feminism, and female empowerment, most exponent in tracks such as "Irreplaceable," "Kitty Kat," or "Ring the Alarm."^[2]

According to Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable" is meant to empower her female fans by encouraging them to end bad relationships: "[Irreplaceable] is a secret weapon...It's a celebration of a breakup and makes women feel like they're worth more."^[1]

"Irreplaceable" is an R&B song written in the key of B♭ major.^[3] It is written in common time and moves at a moderate 100 beats per minute.^[3] Knowles' vocal range spans nearly an octave and a half, from B♭₃ to E♭₅.^[3]

The song was well-received by critics. While many of the tracks from B’Day have been upbeat club-bangers, featuring heavy 808-driven beats, "Irreplaceable" has been praised by critics for its simple, guitar-driven melody. Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song four and a half stars, and characterized it as "one of the strongest" tracks from the album. He praised Stargate for the "simple, pop-oriented production" and the "subject matter of female strength and independence."^[4] Lamb ranked "Irreplaceable" the fourth best R&B song of 2006.^[5] Barry Schwartz of Stylus Magazine wrote that "[Irreplaceable] recaptured "Crazy in Love"’s near-perfection....[and features] her most genuinely emotional vocal to date, equal parts vulnerable, upset, pissed off, vindictive, resigned, and apathetic."^[6]

For Entertainment Weekly, Jody Rosen said the track was "a lilting tune unlike anything Beyoncé has ever performed,"^[7] while Billboard magazine praised "Irreplaceable"'s simplicity and 'radio-friendliness,' noting that the "song dilutes the excessive instrumentation of B's first two singles in favor of smooth drum taps and guitar strumming" and "should blast off at radio."^[8] In their review of B'Day, the popular indie-oriented website Pitchfork Media declared "Irreplaceable" the album's best song, calling it "(Beyoncé's) most sophisticated and her most honest performance to date".^[9] Irreplaceable won the Soul Train Music Award for "Best R&B/Hip-Hop Single, Female," and the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award for "Favorite Song."

The music video for "Irreplaceable" premiered on British music channel The Box on October 3, 2006. While it also premiered on various stations in United States during the week of October 16, 2006, the official edited video premiered on BET's 106 & Park countdown on October 19, 2006, where it was about twenty seconds shorter than the original version.^[10] A video edit was also created for the spanish version "Irreemplazable".^[11]

Filmed by director Anthony Mandler in the week of September 11, 2006 in New York, the video is a simple story where Beyoncé's boyfriend is packing his belongings and leaving her house. Between cuts, she is seen dancing, looking at herself in the mirror, huge curlers, a high-waisted skirt, and lipstick, singing with her band, and enjoying herself. The video ends with Beyoncé's new boyfriend at her front door. The background music in the video varies from the album version; it contains more musical instruments. This video also featured a guest appearance by model Bobby Roache. During the video, Beyoncé is seen leaning on a 2007 Jaguar XK.

On MTV's Total Request Live, the video peaked at number one on the countdown. The video also peaked at number one on Yahoo! Music Top 100. The video was so popular at MTV, it was named the number-one video of 2006 by TRL. On January 18, 2007, Irreplaceable retired at #1 on MTV's Total Request Live, having spent 40 days on the countdown, with 11 days being #1, the most days at #1 for any Beyoncé video. This was also her third video to retire on TRL, the others being "Naughty Girl" back in 2004 and "Beautiful Liar" in 2007. Irreplaceable has been viewed more than 13 Million times on YouTube making it one of the most viewed Music Videos on the site

"Irreplaceable" has entered various charts around the world, and has become the most successful single from B’Day. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated November 4, 2006 at position eighty-seven, and climbed the charts rapidly because of heavy airplay— it received the "Greatest Airplay Gainer" certification for seven weeks, six of which were consecutive. It also received the "Greatest Sales Gainer" for three consecutive weeks. It summited the Hot 100 on December 16, 2006, making the song Beyoncé's fourth number one single, and her second in 2006, following Check On It (featuring Slim Thug). On the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the song debuted at position forty-two on which it became her fourth number one single. "Irreplaceable" also became a belated favorite on adult contemporary radio stations, becoming the first AC chart hit of Beyonce's solo career (she made the AC chart with Destiny's Child once, with the trio's remake of "Emotion" in 2001).

Much of the song's success depended on its considerable airplay. On December 11 2006, following "Check on It," "Irreplaceable" passed the 200 million audience impressions mark in the United States, according to Mediabase. This achievement makes Beyoncé one of the only artists to have two songs pass the 200 million impression mark in a single year; the only other artist to achieve this is Mariah Carey, when in 2005 "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off" passed the 200 million mark. "Irreplaceable" had major cross-over success, becoming the first song to simultaneously occupy the number-one position on twelve Billboard charts on the week ending December 30 2006: the Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay, Hot 100 Single Sales Chart, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles Sales Chart, Pop 100, Pop 100 Airplay, the Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic Top 40, Hot Digital Songs, and the Hot Digital Tracks charts. "Irreplaceable" has also the best audience week of Beyoncé's career and the second-best sum in the chart's history, with 196.3 radio impressions. Only Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" has bested that total; it garnered 223 million impressions during a week in July 15, 2005.^[12]

Internationally, the song has experienced major success as well. It reached number one on the Ariplay Eurochart (based on airplay charts form 17 countries) in January 2007. In the U.K, despite reaching a peak of #4 Irreplaceable became her longest running top 40 single. With sales of 206,000 copies it is her third most successful single in the U.K. only behind Crazy In Love and Beautiful Liar. On the Irish Singles chart, the song peaked at number one in its second week, making it her second Irish number one after "Crazy in Love". In New Zealand the song jumped to number one during its sixth week on the charts, making the single Beyoncé's second number one, after "Check on It" reached number one in early 2006. In Australia, "Irreplaceable" debuted at number eight on the singles chart and has now reached number one on the chart on December 31, becoming her first number one single in Australia and has remained at the top for three consecutive weeks,going Platinum. As of February 2007 the single has sold over 1.900.000 copies in digital downloads and a further 180,000 across various other formats in the United States alone. Irreplaceable sold 267,000 copies in digital download in a week of January 2007, beating Shakira's Hips Don't Lie in June 2006 with 265,000. But, also in January 2007, Fergie's Fergalicious beating her record, with 295,000 in a single week. ^{[citation needed]} "Irreplaceable" is the most successful single of 2006 on the Billboard Hot 100 staying at number one for ten weeks, three weeks more than Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack". Overall, it has had the longest run at number one on the Hot 100 since Kanye West and Jamie Foxx held the summit for ten weeks with their single "Gold Digger" in 2005. The song has also surpassed Beyonce's "Baby Boy" to become her most successful single on the Hot 100 as a solo artist.

"Irreplaceable" has stayed on the United World Chart for 26 weeks, spending 12 of those weeks in the #1 spot and was certified quadrupal platinum.

In the Latin America Top 40 Airplay the single debuted at #34, four weeks later the single entered the top 10, it spended 16 weeks on the chart.^[13] In Mexico, the song peaked at #54 in early December 2006,^[14] and after falling out of the chart in early January the song re-entered on February 2007 due to the radio release of the Spanish version, "Irreemplazable" (both the English and Spanish version are counted as "Irreplaceable" on the chart). The song has re-entered the chart at #90, climbing to #58 on March 12.^[15]

A commercial US CD single of "Irreplaceable" was released on January 9, 2007 for purchase.

"Irreplaceable" has entered many charts around the world. The following table lists the various charts and peak positions.

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Irreplaceable".

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 2007 (USA)
• R&B number-one hits of 2007 (USA)
• Pop 100 number-one hits of 2007 (USA)
• Hot 100 number-one hits of 2006 (USA)
• R&B number-one hits of 2006 (USA)
• Pop 100 number-one hits of 2006 (USA)
• Number-one singles in Ireland (2006)
• List of number-one songs on American Top 40 of 2007