"Take Control"
Single by Amerie
from the album Because I Love It
B-side
  • "That's What U R"
  • "Crunk Didi (Losing U)"
ReleasedOctober 17, 2006 (2006-10-17)
StudioWonderland (New Jersey)
Genre
Length3:42
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mike Caren
  • Cee-Lo Green (add. and vocal)
  • Amerie (add. and vocal)
  • Len Nicholson (add.)
Amerie singles chronology
"I Don't Care"
(2005) 		"Take Control"
(2006) 		"Gotta Work"
(2007)

"Take Control" is a song by the American singer Amerie from her third studio album, Because I Love It (2007). It was released as the album's lead single on October 17, 2006. The song was written by Cee-Lo Green, Mike Caren and Amerie, and was produced by Caren, with additional production by Cee-Lo, Amerie and Len Nicholson. "Take Control" contains excerpts from the 1970 song "Jimmy, Renda-se" by the Brazilian musician Tom Zé, and elements of the 1980 song "You Make My Dreams" by Hall & Oates.

Recording

After Cee-Lo wrote the song, he approached Amerie to record it.[1] Amerie felt the song was not up-tempo enough to suit her, so she wrote a hook, a bridge, and added a horn section to add to the song her "signature" and "a different flavour", making it a "dance record".[1]

Tori Alamaze, the reference singer on the song, said that it was originally offered to her, but Amerie denied this, saying she thought it "really wack on [Alamaze's] part" to make such a claim.[1]

Release and reception

Many critics gave "Take Control" positive reviews. Rolling Stone placed "Take Control" at number 98 on its list of The 100 Best Songs of the Year.[2] Ryan Dombal of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "'Take Control' may be an ode to submission, but it hardly holds back."[3] Tom Breihan of The Village Voice named "Take Control" the fifth best single release of the fourth quarter of 2006, commenting on "how great Amerie's joyous chirp sounds over sharp, percussive old-school funk tracks. Here, Cee-Lo laces her with spy-movie guitars and horn-stabs and a drum track that keeps building and building, adding on congas and handclaps and tambourines without ever disturbing the tense little groove at the song's center [...] and Amerie finally finds room for a bit of grit in her voice."[4] The Guardian's Alex Macpherson wrote that the track "twitches and jerks along a nagging Tom Zé sample, but it's a song with such a sparse arrangement that interest has to be sustained entirely by the voice, which Amerie does spectacularly, making it absolutely clear who is really cracking the whip".[5]

According to Amerie, "Some Like It" was originally chosen as the first single from Because I Love It. Following the release of similar-sounding singles by Kelis ("Bossy"), Fergie ("London Bridge") and Justin Timberlake ("SexyBack"), and because Amerie thought "Take Control" was "kind of different", the decision was made to release it as the lead single instead.[6]

The single entered the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart dated December 16, 2006, at number 72[7] and peaked two weeks later at number 66,[8] while failing to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.[9] After the single's underperformance, the US release of Because I Love It was pushed back repeatedly.[10] Elsewhere, "Take Control" peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Amerie's second highest-charting single in the United Kingdom after "1 Thing",[11] and also reached number nine in Finland,[12] number 19 in Norway[13] and number 23 in Ireland.[14]

Music video

The music video was shot in late October 2006 and was premiered on the Internet on December 3. It was released to television in the United States on January 15, 2007, and was selected as MTV Jams's "Jam of the Week".[15] Directed by Scott Franklin, it takes inspiration from Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup,[16] with some of the key scenes recreated in a contemporary setting. Unlike the film, however, flashing captions onscreen make the assassination involved more obvious. Amerie and some acolytes are shown removing the photographer's blowups from his apartment, which is implied but not shown in the film. The video has a short introduction that involves Amerie singing another song from Because I Love It, "That's What U R".

Helin Jung of Entertainment Weekly called the video "nonsense, just the way I like my music videos to be" and "the stuff that music video dreams are made of [...] [it] pretends to make sense by taking on something more complex than Amerie shimmying around in hot pants and heels, but don't let it fool you. The hair tossing and strut-strutting is the same here as it is in '1 Thing', just on location this time—in a car, a park, a house with a sexy man sleeping under rumpled sheet, etc. Love it!"[17]

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Because I Love It.[28]

Recording

Personnel

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States October 17, 2006 Digital download
[40]
November 28, 2006 12-inch single [26]
Germany April 6, 2007
Sony [20][21][23]
United Kingdom April 23, 2007 Digital download Columbia [41]
May 5, 2007 Two-track digital single [19]
May 7, 2007
  • CD single
  • 12-inch single
 [18][42]
France May 28, 2007
  • CD single
  • digital download
 Sony [24][25]

References

  1. ^ a b c Ezugwu, Emmanuel BoyWonder (March 16, 2007). "Amerie: Takes Control (Part 2)". So-Urban. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  2. ^ "The 100 Best Songs of the Year". Rolling Stone. December 8, 2006. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  3. ^ Dombal, Ryan (October 23, 2006). "'Control'-ing Interest". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  4. ^ Breihan, Tom (January 3, 2007). "The Quarterly Report: Best New Singles". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  5. ^ Macpherson, Alex (May 11, 2007). "Amerie, Because I Love It". The Guardian. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "What Made Amerie Switch Up Her Game? And... Does Cherish Appreciate Their Fans?". SOHH Soulful. December 3, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  7. ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 50. December 16, 2006. p. 53. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 1, 2014 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b "Amerie Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  9. ^ "Amerie Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  10. ^ Breihan, Tom (June 7, 2007). "The Battle for the Heart of R&B". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Amerie: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Amerie: Take Control" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Amerie – Take Control". VG-lista. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  14. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Take Control". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  15. ^ Devan, Subhadra (July 22, 2007). "Amerie's in Control". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  16. ^ "NEW RELEASE: Amerie "Take Control"". VideoStatic. January 9, 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  17. ^ Jung, Helin (December 8, 2006). "Snap Judgment: Amerie's 'Take Control' video". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Take Control [2 Track CD] by Amerie". Amazon (UK). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  19. ^ a b "Take Control by Amerie". 7digital (UK). Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  20. ^ a b "Take Control (Single)" (in German). Amazon (Germany). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Take Control – Single by Amerie". iTunes Store (Germany). 6 April 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  22. ^ "Take Control" (UK CD 2 liner notes). Amerie. Columbia Records. 2007. 88697 09747 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ a b "Take Control (Single, Maxi)" (in German). Amazon (Germany). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  24. ^ a b "Take Control: Amerie, Amerie Mi Marie" (in French). Amazon (France). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  25. ^ a b "Take Control – Single by Amerie". iTunes Store (France). 28 May 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  26. ^ a b "Amerie: Take Control, Pt. 1 [Vinyl]". Amazon (US). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  27. ^ "Take Control" (UK 12-inch single liner notes). Amerie. Columbia Records. 2007. 88697 08535 1.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ^ Because I Love It (liner notes). Amerie. Columbia Records. 2007. 88697 08522 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 21. May 6, 2007. ISSN 0006-2510.
  30. ^ "Amerie – Take Control" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  31. ^ "Amerie – Take Control" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  32. ^ "Deutsche Black Charts – Die Jahrescharts 2007" (in German). Deutsche Trend Charts. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  33. ^ "Amerie – Take Control". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  34. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  35. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200729 into search. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  36. ^ "Amerie – Take Control". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  37. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  38. ^ "UK Year-End Charts 2007" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  39. ^ "Urban Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week. January 12, 2008. p. 16. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  40. ^ "Take Control – Single by Amerie". iTunes Store (US). 17 October 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  41. ^ "Take Control (Main Version) by Amerie". 7digital (UK). Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  42. ^ "Take Control [12" VINYL] by Amerie". Amazon (UK). Retrieved December 1, 2014.


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