Invincible (Tinie Tempah song)

"Invincible"
Single by Tinie Tempah featuring Kelly Rowland
from the album Disc-Overy
Released 27 December 2010
Format
Recorded 2010
Genre
Length 3:21
Label Parlophone
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Tinie Tempah singles chronology
"Game Over"
(2010)
"Invincible"
(2010)
"Eyes Wide Shut"
(2011)
Kelly Rowland singles chronology
"Forever and a Day"
(2010)
"Invincible"
(2010)
"Gone"
(2011)[1]
Music video
"Invincible" on YouTube

"Invincible" is a song by English rapper Tinie Tempah. Written by Tempah, co-written and produced by iSHi, the song features guest vocals from American recording artist, Kelly Rowland. It was released on 26 December 2010, serving as the fourth official single from Tempah's debut album, Disc-Overy. The song was conceived by Tempah as a tribute to the music which Rowland used to release when she was part of Destiny's Child. Critics noted the song's production, which consists of brassy horns and a piano riff, is similar to Rowland's most successful UK single "When Love Takes Over", a collaboration with David Guetta.

An accompanying music video sees Tempah travelling through London reminiscing about his humble beginnings. Rowland appears as a projected image on the buildings. "Invincible" is Tempah's fifth best charting single to date behind "Written in the Stars", "Pass Out", "Miami 2 Ibiza" and "Frisky". The song is also the seventh most international solo single of Rowland to date, behind "Dilemma", "When Love Takes Over", "Stole", "Work", "Commander" and "Like This".

Composition

"Invincible" was written by Eshraque "iSHi" Mughal, Phillipe-Marc Anquetil & Tinie Tempah, and produced by iSHi. It features American recording artist Kelly Rowland. Jon O'Brien from Allmusic noted that the song's "huge piano riffs" were similar to those on "When Love Takes Over", a collaboration between Rowland and David Guetta.[2] Robert Copsey of Digital Spy describes the composition as "a suitably bump n' grind-able beat & brassy horns."[3] Tempah revealed that the track was a tribute to Rowland's time in Destiny's Child, "music he grew up listening to".[3] Rowland commented on working with Tinie: "I just love Tinie. What I really like is that he’s himself and not trying to be anyone else – people respect that."[4]

Critical reception

"Invincible" received mixed reviews from critics. Ailbhe Malone from NME said "Invincible" was one of two low points on the album. Malone said "it only features Kelly Rowland warbling happily while Tinie takes care of the rest. The astonishing thing is that on any other record, this low point would have been a stand-out track. With Tinie, only the best will do."[5] Josh Holliday from Virgin Media was also not impressed with the song saying that "whilst the Kelly Rowland collab 'Invincible', comes across as a schmaltz-sodden 'Empire State of Mind' take, were Jay-Z and Alicia Keys gazing longingly into one another's pupils, serenading spurned love between the two hip hop behemoths instead of an ode addressing the very city whose sky is diurnally pierced by the very skyscraper that embellishes the Disc-Overy artwork."[6]

Robert Copsey from Digital Spy gave the song a mixed review saying "in truth we're inclined to side with his label on this one. Lyrics about the 'highest mountains' and 'driest deserts' backed by a lighter-than-air trance riff might be reminiscent of the girls in album track mode back in 2001, but after his forward-looking recent d'n'b-cum-electropop efforts, we'll take the 2010 Tinie any day."[3] However Alex Petridis from The Guardian said Rowland's vocal performance made it seem as if she was "busting a gut".[7] Fraser McAlpine from BBC Chart Blog said "[Invincible is] a song in which Tinie takes the time to consider where he has come from and what he has achieved, through the lens of a relationship, so that Kelly has something to sing about. It is this lens which separates this song from a LOT of other hip hop songs. And to be fair, he really has come a long way in a very short time, so it's probably fair comment. His aunt's house must be FULL of clothes by now".[8]

Chart performance

"Invincible" made its UK Singles Chart debut at number fifty-seven on 16 October 2010, the same week that Tempah's album, Disc-Overy hit debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.[9][10] Rowland's own single "Forever and a Day" also made its chart debut that same week, opening at number forty-nine.[11] "Invincible" was one of five songs from Tempah to chart during his album's release week, the others being "Written in the Stars" (number three), "Pass Out" (number forty-three), "Wonderman" (number forty-five) and "Frisky" (number fifty).[9] The single also made its R&B Singles Chart debut at number twenty.[12] "Invincible" would only remain in the Singles chart for another week before dropping out.[9] However upon confirmation of its release as a single, "Invincible" returned to the singles chart at number sixty-four.[9] It has since peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the UK R&B Chart.[13][14] To date it is Tempah's lowest charting UK single, missing out on a top-three chart position as his previous three singles from Disc-Overy achieved.[15] It also peaked at number eighteen in Ireland,[16] making it Tempah's lowest charting single in Ireland.[17] In contrast, it is Rowland's highest charting single since June 2010 when she reached number nine with "Commander", and beat Rowland's previous single "Forever and a Day" which only managed to reach number forty-nine.[18] The single also became Rowland's sixth best selling solo single in the UK with 200,000 copies being sold as of November 2011.[19]

Music video

The music video was directed by Max & Dania[20] and premiered on Kiss TV on 7 December 2010 at 1pm.[21] It was then uploaded to YouTube the same day, but the video date shows December 6. It shows Tinie Tempah rapping in a sequined suit. Scenes of him performing at St. Paul's Academy where he studied, with Reggie Yates on BBC Radio 1 when "Pass Out" went to number 1, clips from "Frisky" and "Written in the Stars" and other memories are all shown – which some are shown playing on the side of buildings. Kelly Rowland is in a science lab coat and a pretty red glittery dress and is also seen on the side of buildings too.

Track listing

  1. "Invincible" – 3:21
  2. "Invincible" (Acoustic) – 3:21
  3. "Invincible" (Instrumental) – 3:20
  1. "Invincible" – 3:21
  2. "Invincible" (Acoustic) – 3:21
  3. "Invincible" (Instrumental) – 3:20
  1. "Invincible" – 3:21
  2. "Invincible" (Instrumental) – 3:20

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2010–11) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[24] 38
Australia (ARIA Urban Singles)[25] 14
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[26] 62
Germany (Media Control AG)[27] 39
Ireland (IRMA)[16] 13
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 5
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[29] 10
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 33
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 11
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[14] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
UK Singles Chart[31] 166

Certifications

Region Certification
New Zealand (RMNZ)[32] Gold
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] Silver

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Ireland[34] 27 December 2010 Digital download Parlophone
United Kingdom[35]
Germany[36] 11 February 2011 CD single

References

  1. "Future Adds: Urban/Urban AC". All Access (All Access Media Group). Archived from the original on 4 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  2. O'Brien, Jon. "Disc-Overy – Tinie Tempah". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  3. 1 2 3 Robert Copsey. "Tinie Tempah ft. Kelly Rowland: 'Invincible'". Digital Spy. digitalspy.co.uk.
  4. Kelly Rowland Praises Tinie Tempah. Omgmusic.com (2010-12-08). Retrieved on 2010-12-12.
  5. "Tinie Tempah – Album review: Tinie Tempah – Disc-overy (Parlophone) – Album Reviews". Nme.Com. 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  6. "Tinie Tempah – Disc-Overy album review – Reviews – Music". Virgin. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  7. Alexis Petridis (2010-09-30). "Tinie Tempah: Disc-Overy | Music". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  8. Fraser McAlpine (2010-12-16). "Chart Blog: 2010: End of A Year(a)". BBC. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Tinie Tempah - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  10. "TOP 40 OFFICIAL UK ALBUMS ARCHIVE". The Official Charts Company. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  11. "Singles Chart For Week Up To 16/10/2010". ChartStats / The Official Charts Company. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  12. "TOP 40 R&B SINGLES ARCHIVE". The Official Charts Company. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  13. 1 2 "Archive Chart: 2011-01-22" UK Singles Chart.
  14. 1 2 "Archive Chart: 2011-01-01" UK R&B Chart.
  15. "Tinie Tempah UK Artist History". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  16. 1 2 "Chart Track: Week 02, 2011". Irish Singles Chart.
  17. Tinie Tempah Irish Single Chart Positions:
  18. "Kelly Rowland UK Artist History". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  19. Taken from the videocountdown "Kelly Rowland's Official Top 10", broadcast 10 December 2011 on MTV Music UK (http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/x-factor/kelly-rowland%E2%80%99s-official-top-10-coming-to-mtv & http://www.theofficialcharts.com/our-partners/)
  20. Max & Dania reel
  21. Twitter / Tinie Tempah: My brand new vid for "Invi". Twitter.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-12.
  22. "Invincible – EP". iTunes.
  23. "Amazon.de: Einkaufsangebote: Invincible (Feat.Kelly Rowland)". Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  24. "Chartifacts – Week Commencing: 14th March 2011". Australian Recording Industry Association. 14 March 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  25. "Top 40 Urban Albums & Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2011-04-24. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  26. "Austriancharts.at – Tinie Tempah feat. Kelly Rowland – Invincible" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  27. "officialcharts.de". Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  28. "Charts.org.nz – Tinie Tempah feat. Kelly Rowland – Invincible". Top 40 Singles.
  29. "Archive Chart: 2010-01-15". Scottish Singles Top 40.
  30. "Swisscharts.com – Tinie Tempah feat. Kelly Rowland – Invincible". Swiss Singles Chart.
  31. http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/UKChartsPlusEOY2011.pdf
  32. "New Zealand single certifications". Recorded Music NZ.
  33. "British single certifications". British Phonographic Industry.
  34. "Tinie Tempah feat. Kelly Rowland – Invincible (feat. Kelly Rowland) MP3 music downloads – 7digital". Ie.7digital.com. 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  35. "Tinie Tempah feat. Kelly Rowland – Invincible (feat. Kelly Rowland) MP3 Downloads". 7digital. 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  36. "Invincible (Feat.Kelly Rowland): Amazon.de: Musik". Retrieved 8 March 2015.
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