"The Man" is a song by American singer Aloe Blacc. First included on his EP Wake Me Up, the song was later released as the second single from his third studio album, 2013's Lift Your Spirit, on Interscope Records. Blacc co-wrote the track with Sam Barsh, Daniel Seeff, and its producer DJ Khalil and Alex Finkin. Additionally, Elton John and Bernie Taupin are credited as songwriters as the song interpolates the melody and the lyric "you can tell everybody" from John's 1970 song "Your Song".
"The Man" is Blacc's most successful single as a solo artist to date; it sold 2.5 million copies in the United States as of December 2014, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "The Man" topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and Sweden. On January 22, 2014, a remix of "The Man" featuring American rapper Kid Ink was released.
Music video A lyric video to accompany the release of "The Man" was first released to YouTube on January 10, 2014.
The song's official music video followed on March 3, 2014.
Commercials In December 2013, "The Man" was used as the soundtrack for a series of Beats by Dre commercials promoting the company's "Hear What You Want" campaign, which featured several notable sports personalities, including NFL players Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks and Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, NBA player Kevin Garnett of the Brooklyn Nets, and Chelsea FC football player Cesc Fabregas, wearing Beats headphones to block out the sound of heckling from disgruntled fans.
The song was used extensively at the 2014 NFL draft, being played 108 times over the course of the three-day event. MLB also used the song for its ads for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. The ad shows different highlights and celebrations of possible All-Stars for 2014.
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peakposition Slovenia (SloTop50) 32South Africa (EMA)8
Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Australia (ARIA) 65 Belgium Urban (Ultratop Flanders) 23 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 78 France (SNEP) 96 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 46 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 81 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 39 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 37 UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 53 US Billboard Hot 100 48 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 13 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard) 47
Certifications
Release history Region Date Format Label United States January 21, 2014 Contemporary hit radio Interscope Records Rhythmic contemporary radio February 4, 2014 Urban adult contemporary radio United Kingdom March 28, 2014 Digital download United States June 10, 2014 Digital download
References
External links Lyrics at official website