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Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Sexy and I Know It Deconstructed Skip to: Audio/Video General Information At a Glance Structural Analysis Sectional Analysis Waveform Primary Instrumentation, Tone & Mix Benchmark Analysis Overall Assessment Hit Factor Assessment Conclusion Why it’s a Hit Take Aways Audio/Video Back to Top General Information Back to Top Artist: LMFAO Song/Album: Sexy and I Know It / Sorry For Party Rocking Songwriter(s): Stefan Kendal Gordy, Jamahl Listenbee, Erin Beck, G.M. Robe Producer(s): Party Rock Genre: Pop Sub Genre: Electro Pop/Club/Hip Hop At a Glance Back to Top Length: 3:19 Structure: A-B-A-B-C-B-B (plus pre-choruses – see report for specifics) Tempo: Mid/Up (124 bpm) 1 / 37 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com First Chorus: 0:59 (30% into the song) Intro Length: 0:15 Outro Length: n/a Electric vs. Acoustic: Electric Primary Instrumentation: Synth Lyrical Theme: Self Esteem (conveyed in a comical manner) Title Occurances: Six times within the song, twice during the first two choruses and once in the third and fourth choruses. Primary Lyrical P.O.V: 1st Person Structural Analysis Back to Top At-a-Glance Section Length (Length of each individual section within the song) As you can see in the graph above, an equal amount of time is dedicated to pretty much every section within the song. The intro, pre-chorus A (girl, look at that body…), pre-chorus B (when I walk…) and chorus all land at 0:15, while the verse and bridge sections both land at 0:14. Considering the vast repetitive nature of the song, having a new section introduced once every 0:14 to 0:15 does a great job of keeping the listener engaged. Structure Timeline (Shows when each section hits within the timeline of the song) 2 / 37 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Total Section Analysis (Total time consumed by each section and its percentage of the total song) In today’s top-charting hit Pop songs, the chorus typically accounts for anywhere between 45% and 55% of the song’s total composition. In the case of Sexy and I Know It, the chorus only accounts for 30% of the total song. So, where did that +/- 20% go? The pre-chorus. What’s really interesting to note is that Sexy and I Know it possesses two distinct pre-chorus sections (that follow each other back-to-back except for the third time around,) and combined they account for 38% of the song’s total composition – outweighing the chorus by 8%. The verse sections account for only 14%, and the intro and bridge each land at 8% and 7% of the total song respectively. As a side note, a similar type of compositional breakdown was apparent in our previous Deconstructed report, Rihanna’s We Found Love, where the chorus only accounted for only 28% of the song’s total composition. In this case, it was the instrumental transition and 3 / 37 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com instrumental break sections, (landing at 14% and 18% of the total song respectively,) that outweighed the chorus by 4%. Momentum/Intensity/Tension Factor (Evaluation of the intensity of each section within the song timeline on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the most intense) Sexy and I Know It contains numerous shifts in momentum, intensity and tension levels that do a great job of maximizing the sonic impact and diversity between sections. The intro kicks off in a mid/up tempo fashion characterized by the “airy” synth “swoosh,” repetitive lead synth line, synth bass and up-front kick, snare and hats. The overall momentum drops off a bit as we enter the first verse at 0:15, primarily due to the fact that the drums and synth bass are pulled from the mix during the section. The nature of the vocal delivery does a good job of keeping the momentum of the section moving along, coupled with the introduction of the lead synth pattern that will define every section of the song moving forward. At 0:29 we enter into pre-chorus A (Girl look at that body…), where we see the momentum and intensity levels kicked up via the addition of the trebly, dry snare/hat combo in conjunction with the repetitive nature of the lead vocal delivery and background “ahh’s” (in conjunction with the electronic tom hits) that do a great job of increasing the overall tension from the verse section that preceded it. The overall momentum of pre-chorus A continues until increasing once again as we hit pre- chorus B at 0:44. Here, during the first half of the section, we see the overall intensity increased via the addition of the repetitive, up-front snare hits, background “airy” synth” swell that increases in level throughout the section, change-up in vocal delivery and the “morphing” of the lead synth line. The overall intensity and momentum is then further increased during the second half of the section where we see the rapid fire snare used in conjunction with the “airy” synth, taking the overall tension and intensity to a rousing peak before hitting the one-second transitional pause that occurs at 0:57. At this point, everything is pulled from the mix – total silence. Directly following the transitional pause, the momentum is kicked back up via the drum fill and sexy and I know it vocal before launching into the full chorus at 0:59. Here, during the first half 4 / 37 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com of the section, the momentum is carried by the repetitive lead synth line in conjunction with the synth bass and up-front kick. The momentum is then further increased during the second half of the section with the introduction of the snare that’s panned left and right in the mix. The overall flow continues until hitting another transitional pause at 1:13. At 1:14 we enter into the second verse, where the overall momentum is kicked way up over that which defined the first verse specifically due to the electronic drums that are now featured prominently in the mix. The momentum of the section remains pretty much constant except during the two occurrences where the backing music is pulled from the mix to give more emphasis to the lyrics I’m in a speedo trying to tan my cheeks (from 1:19 – 1:21) and no shoes, no shirt and I still get service (from 1:26 – 1:28.) Once we hit the second occurrence of pre-chorus A at 1:28, the momentum is increased a bit over the preceding verse section specifically due to the increased tension brought about by the repetitive “girl look at that body” vocals coupled with the addition of the “disco” hats entering the mix. The kick drum is pulled at the tail end of the section (the last two-seconds),before launching back into pre-chorus B. At 1:43 we enter into the second occurrence of pre-chorus B, which this time is a bit “heavier” in nature than the first time around due to the increased level of the snare coupled with the addition of cymbals to the mix. The general flow of the section is the same as it was the first time around, and continues until once again hitting the transitional pause followed by the drum fill and sexy and I know it vocal that leads us into the second chorus. Hitting at 1:58, the intensity of the second chorus is significantly more powerful than the first specifically due to the more “urgent” sound of the lead synth (higher register/harmony based) coupled with the “airy hiss” synth drone that sits on top of the mix. The overall flow of the section is similar in nature to that of the first chorus, and continues right up until the transitional pause that occurs right before the bridge. At 2:13 we hit the first half of the bridge, where we see the backing music remaining pretty much the same as it was during the preceding chorus. The real defining factor that takes the intensity level of the section (and the song, for that matter) to its peak is the nature of the frantic wiggle, wiggle, wiggle vocal. The intensity and momentum continues until dropping off a bit when the vocals change over to do the wiggle man during the second half of the section, then decreasing a bit more as we enter into the third chorus at 2:27 (reverting back to the non-“urgent” synth sound that defined the first chorus). At 2:42 we enter back into pre-chorus A for the third time, where we see the intensity levels kicked up once again specifically due to the reversion back to the “urgent” synths that defined the second chorus and bridge sections of the song. Directly following pre-chorus A, we enter back into the chorus for the fourth time at 2:57 (notice that pre-chorus B is bypassed). Here we see the overall intensity decreasing from the preceding pre-chorus specifically due to the lead synth reverting back to the toned down sound that defined the into and first verse of the song coupled with the change-up in the electronic 5 / 37 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com drums (they’re not as intense).

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