Everytime tha Beat Drop

src: i.ytimg.com

"Everytime tha Beat Drop" is a song by American recording artist Monica from her fifth studio album The Makings of Me (2006). It was written by Johnta Austin, Jermaine Dupri, Robert Hill, Charles Hammond, Deangelo Hunt, James Phillips, and rap group Dem Franchize Boyz, while production was hemled by Dupri and LRoc. Musically, the downbeat uptempo track was greatly influenced by crunk and snap music, incorporating beats of Nelly's 2005 single "Grillz" and containing a vocal sample of Dem Franchize Boyz' 2006 hit single, "Lean wit It, Rock wit It."

A lyrical and musical departure from Monica's previous singles, the uptempo record was released as the album's leading single in the United States in July 2006, gaining generally mixed to negative reviews by music critics who called it "untypical" and "avoidable". On the charts, it became Monica's tenth top twenty entry on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to reach the top forty on the official Hot 100, becoming her least successful lead single since 2002's "All Eyez on Me."

"Everytime tha Beat Drop" was performed along with Dem Franchize Boyz on several television, such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Late Show with David Letterman, MTV's Total Request Live, and BET's 106 & Park. An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Ray Kay, was filmed in Monica's hometown Atlanta, Georgia. The singer later voiced her remorse towards her record company bosses for subsequently deciding to release "Everytime the Beat Drops" as a single, wishing for a more typical record to be released as the first single instead, and dismissed the song as a wrong interpretation of her artistical status.

Video Everytime tha Beat Drop

Recording and release

"Everytime tha Beat Drop" is one out of three tracks Jermaine Dupri contributed to The Makings of Me and among the last songs on the album Dupri and co-producer LRoc worked on in the SouthSide Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Initially recorded for a shelved So So Def mixtape, Monica has described the snap inspired song as a pure fun record without any special lyrical message but with the attempt to show "something that appears on the outside to be different from" her and that is "a real good representation" of where she's from and what she's listening and dancing to in private. "Snap music originated on the West Side of Atlanta," Monica said in an interview with the People. "If you listen to the sound, you'll always hear a snap somewhere in it. Most of the time, whatever [way you're moving, you] stop at the snap." The song incorporates beats of Nelly's 2005 single "Grillz", also produced by Dupri, while sampling from Dem Franchize Boyz's "Lean wit It, Rock wit It"'s line in which it says "Rock, then bend my knees everytime the beat drops."

On May 21, 2006, an unmastered clip of the song was leaked onto the internet, and by June 6 the entire track had leaked fully edited. The first version had different vocals from the one on The Makings of Me, and also features less of Dem Franchize Boyz' vocals. A remix version of "Everytime tha Beat Drop" featuring rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy also leaked the following month.

Maps Everytime tha Beat Drop

Chart performance

The song was released on July 24, 2006 to U.S. radios and instantly debuted at number 68 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart after only four days of airplay. Afterwards it jumped from number sixty-eight to number forty-eight on that particular chart, before eventually entering the top 30, reaching its peak position of number eleven. The song became Monica's tenth top twenty entry on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart.

On August 3, 2006, "Everytime tha Beat Drop" debuted at number six on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. While it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number ninety-four in the following week, the song failed to enter the top 50 until its tenth week on particular chart - the same week The Makings of Me became available via digital download. The single eventually reached a peak position of number 48 on the official Hot 100, becoming Monica's least successful lead single since 2002's "All Eyez on Me."

Looking back, however, Monica admitted she would have re-worked her strategy following the mediocre success of the lead single. Instead of allowing her label to influence the selection of her singles, she would have looked more to her fans for opinions: "If I had to do something over again, I'd probably release more than one single and let the audience choose which one they would have wanted to hear," she admitted to SOHH, adding: "I don't regret doing the song, I regret not fighting with them about making it the first single. We told the label don't put that out as a first single because it's a poor representation of the album.

src: i.ytimg.com

Music video

The music video for "Everytime tha Beat Drop" was filmed by Norwegian director Ray Kay and entirely shot at the PC&E Sound Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on July 7 and 8 2006. It was Monica's first video to be shot in her home town since her very first video for "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" in 1995, and features appearances by guest rappers Gerald Tiller, Maurice Gleaton, Jamal Willingham, Bernard Leverette, producer Jermaine Dupri, Chyna Whyte and Monica's younger brother Montez Arnold.

The video does not have a substantial plot but portrays the singer while performing and dancing in front of grey and black colours. Monica and Dem Franchize Boys' scenes are incut by several computer animations and single dance sequences. The clip world premiered at the end of BET's Access Granted and Yahoo! Music on August 2, 2006. It debuted at number sixteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot Videoclip Tracks chart on the September 6, 2009 edition of Billboard charts, before falling to number twenty-two on the chart the next week, and leaving it completely off in its third week of release.