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Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown – No Air

December 11, 2008

“No Air” is the Grammy Nominated second single (third overall, including “This Is My Now”) taken from Jordin Sparks self-titled debut album, with R&B singer Chris Brown. It was released in the United States on February 11, 2008 and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is Sparks’ best selling and highest peaking single in the US.

It was also highly successful worldwide, peaking at number one in Australia and New Zealand and it was hugely successful in the UK, peaking at number three and certified silver for selling over 200,000 units. It is the most sold single from an American Idol contestant. “No Air” peaked at number three in the European Hot 100, the second highest peak for an American Idol contestant, second only to Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” which peaked at number one in 2006. The single is also Chris Brown’s best-selling single worldwide.

Music video

The music video for “No Air” was filmed Wednesday January 23, 2008 in New York City, with photos from the shoot leaking to the internet the next day. A leak of the video was uploaded to YouTube on February 20, 2008, nearly a week before the video was officially released to Yahoo! Music on February
25, 2008.
The video begins with Sparks playing the piano in her home. Suddenly, she stops playing and makes a call on her cell phone, which directs her to an answering machine. The camera cuts to the phone she is presumably calling, which has been left on a counter in a steamy room. Sparks leaves a message, asking someone (Chris Brown) to call her when he can. Her silhouetted profile is then seen on the left in a different scene, against a blank gray background, as the song begins. Sparks is then shown going to her window and looking out, drawing a heart in the fog on the cold glass as she sings the song. Brown is next shown, wiping off a foggy mirror in his bathroom as he begins singing his first verse. Brown’s profile is also seen entering on the right in the the gray background scene, and the two’s silhouetted profiles face each other. The video cuts to Brown, who is shown putting on his jacket and leaving his home as he walks through New York City.
Sparks is next seen at nighttime by the water with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. She gets into her car and begins driving through the city. Meanwhile, we see Brown still in the daytime, arriving at Sparks’ home. In a climactic sequence Brown confronts Sparks by her piano and the two passionately sing the final chorus to each other. Brown then leaves, and the video ends with their two silhouettes against the gray background, pulling away from each other. Whether or not they were ever really in the same place at the same time, or were simply imagining the other’s presence, is left to the discretion of the viewer.
There are individual face shots of Brown and Sparks intercut throughout the video as well. Brown is also seen singing alone in a studio room with drums, guitars, and a piano, which he plays at the end, mirroring Sparks’ first appearance on screen. One notable motif throughout the video is the wind that often blows against Brown and Sparks when they are shown outside or in the silhouetted scenes, driving home the message of the chorus: despite the presence of “air” all around, neither finds it possible to “breathe” without the other.
The music video was nominated: for two BET Awards for Viewers Choice and Chris Robinson was nominated for Best Video Director for his work on the “No Air” music video; for MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video and Best New Artist.
The video recently passed the 54,000,000 view mark on youtube.com, making it Jordin’s highest viewed video on the website to date. This also made it the 19th most viewed video on youtube of all time, after which it was removed from the channel due to an alleged copyright claim. The re-uploaded video on the same channel had more than a million views in less than a week.
The video also won a Music Choice “Most Demanded ’08″ award for Best Collaboration.

Chart performance

“No Air” peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Sparks’ highest charting song to date. The song is Sparks first song to appear on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it has peaked at number four. The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart and number-three on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming Sparks’ second top three hit there. The song’s digital sales in the United States currently stand at 2,580,000.

“No Air” has also enjoyed international success in several countries, especially in Oceania. In New Zealand, the song spent seven consecutive weeks at number-one on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart [3]. In Australia, “No Air” entered the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number-sixteen and peaked at number-one for four consecutive weeks. The song has been certified platinum in New Zealand and double platinum in Australia. She performed the song on “Australian Idol” where she was handed her certification of double platinum sales for “No Air”.

The song has been very successful in Europe as well. The song debuted on the UK Top 75 singles chart in April 2008, after Sparks and Brown appeared on American Idol, which is shown in the UK on ITV2. It debuted at number 58, before falling out the following week but in June it shot back into the charts at number 74, rocketing to number 22 the following week and eventually peaked at number 3 and has spent 10 weeks in the top 10 and 21 weeks in the Top 40. This has become the highest charting song from any American Idol in the UK charts after Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” charted at number-five in 2005. It also has reached number two on the Irish Singles Chart, a record there as well for a song by an American Idol contestant. The song peaked at number ten on the German Singles Chart and has also reached the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

Track listing

  • Australian CD Single
    1. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown
    2. “Save Me”
    3. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown (Tiesto Remix)
      • UK/German CD Single
      1. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown
      2. “Save Me”
      • German CD Maxi
      1. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown
      2. “Save Me”
      3. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown (Benny Benassi “Pump-Kin” Remix)
      4. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown (Jason Nevins Remix)
      5. “No Air” — Duet With Chris Brown (Video)

      Other Information

      • Artist: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
      • Album: Jordin Sparks
      • B-side: “Save Me”
      • Released February 11, 2008
      • Formats: Radio single, digital download, CD single, CD maxi
      • Recorded: 2007
      • Genres: Pop, R&B
      • Length: 4:24 (Album Version); 3:09 (UK Radio Edit)
      • Labels: 19, Jive, Zomba
      • Writers: James Fauntleroy II, Eric “Blue Tooth” Griggs, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Steve Russell
      • Producers: Erik “Bluetooth” Griggs, The Underdogs
      • Certification: 2x Platinum (ARIA)
      • Platinum (RIAA, RIANZ); Gold (SWE); Silver (BPI)
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