"Shake It Off" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey for her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). It was written by Carey along with Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johntá Austin, and produced by the former three. The song was serviced to radio on July 11, 2005, by Island and Mercury Records as the album's third single in the United States, while "Get Your Number" served as the album's third single elsewhere. Described by Dupri as "ghetto," the track is a R&B song that makes use of pop and hip hop influences and a simple, sparse production. Lyrically, the song follows Carey as she moves on from her relationship with an unfaithful lover, packing her things and breaking up with him over an answering machine.
The song was well received by music critics, with many complimenting its simple yet inspirational lyrics, as well as calling it a standout track from the album. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, blocked by Carey's own "We Belong Together" for its first of six weeks at that position. Furthermore, it marked the first time a female lead artist occupied the top two positions of the Hot 100. The song also peaked at numbers six and five in Australia and New Zealand, and numbers fifteen and nine in Ireland and the United Kingdom, respectively.
The song's music video, directed by Jake Nava features numerous extravagant wardrobe changes and starred actor Chris Tucker. The video was nominated for Best R&B Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. "Shake It Off" was performed live by Carey on several televised events, including the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, the 2005 World Music Awards and British program Top of the Pops. Additionally it was performed as a five-piece concert on Good Morning America, and on the New Year's Eve special titled, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest. "Shake It Off" was included on the set-lists of The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006), the Angels Advocate Tour (2010), The Elusive Chanteuse Show (2014), The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour (2016), the All The Hits Tour with Lionel Richie (2017) and her second concert residency, The Butterfly Returns (2018).
Background Carey had produced back-to-back commercially and critically failing albums, Glitter (2001) and Charmbracelet (2002). After the release of "Charmbracelet", and its succeeding tour, Carey began working on The Emancipation of Mimi, her tenth studio effort. By November 2004, Carey had already recorded several songs for the album. Island Records head L.A. Reid suggested Carey to compose a few more strong singles to ensure the project's commercial success. Noting that she had written some of her best work with Jermaine Dupri, Reid recommended that Carey meet with Dupri for a brief studio session. Carey took Reid's advice and headed to Atlanta to collaborate with Dupri. During this two-day trip, the duo wrote and produced "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number," which were eventually released as the album's third and fourth singles. Following this recording session, "Shake It Off" was briefly selected as the album's lead single, replacing the two other contenders "Stay The Night" and "Say Somethin'". Dupri explained to MTV News: I had that beat actually before she got to the studio. So she came in, she heard that beat and was like, 'Yeah, that's what I want.' That was one of the first records we had. I didn't really know what to do for her because I didn't hear nothing else that was on the album, but I just felt like she didn't have that bounce on her album.
Composition
"Shake It Off" is a mid-tempo R&B song with a pop and hip hop backbeat and a "thumping", sparse production. Written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johntá Austin, and produced by the former three, the song drew comparisons to several productions from Usher's 2004 album, Confessions. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by W.B.M. Music Corporation, "Shake It Off" is set in common time with a tempo of 66 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D major with Carey's vocal range spanning from the low-note of D3 to the high-note of G#6. The song follows in the chord progression of Bm7–Am7–Gmaj7 The verses and chorus remain in a narrow voice range, until according to Jon Pareles of The New York Times, Carey "gives herself a few of her old sky-high notes as a background flourish" near the song's end. According to Carey's album guide in Rolling Stone, Dupri leaves his trademark on the album's best tracks including "Shake It Off", with the track's production and beat described as "syncopated" and "bouncy."
Lyrically, the song features a message of female strength, the song lyrics were described as "goofy" and "fun" by Larry Katz from the Boston Herald. Reading "Just like the Calgon commercial / I really gotta get up out of here", Carey tells her lover that she is leaving him, making a "clever" reference to a commercial. In regards to the latter lyrics, Lawrence Farber from the Windy City Times wrote "they are a playful approach to bitterness—and, more specifically, a cheatin' bad apple." She then sings "By the time you get this message / It's gonna be too late / So don't bother paging me / 'Cause I'll be on my way," establishing that the relationship is over, and that he shouldn't even try to mend the situation. She also makes reference to his infidelity, "with this one and that one / By the pool, on the beach, in the streets." In an interview with MTV News, Dupri discussed the song's composition: "'Shake It Off' was just like ... That comes from that style of I guess [Usher's] Confessions and just that bounce. It's got a lot of ingredients to it because I never thought that Mariah could make a bouncy type of record. When you hear that song — the whole bounce of the record and the way she's flipping it and the stuff she talking about ... I knew that record was gonna go just because you never heard Mariah talk about this stuff. ... She's like, 'I packed up my Louis Vuitton.' She took it really on the ghetto side. I knew that was gonna strike people. Either it was gonna hit them in a wrong way or they was gonna love it.
Critical reception "Shake It Off" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine picked "Shake It Off" as a top pick from the album. Michael Paoletta, writing for Billboard, gave the song a positive review, complimenting its lyrics, production and Carey's vocals. He concluded his review with his assurance that the song would be a success, writing "After 'We Belong Together' brought her back to radio big time, 'Shake It Off' will take Carey's good fortune to the next step." Some critics compared the song heavily to Usher's material from his 2004 album, Confessions. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote "Mariah too heavily bites on the styles of her successors: Usher by way of Dupri on 'Shake It Off'," while Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music UK said the song was "Usher-lite". Lawrence Ferber from the Windy City Times described "Shake It Off" as a "standout" track from the album. When discussing the track with Ferber, Carey described the song as her favorite from The Emancipation of Mimi: "Shake it off can apply to anything. Whatever personal dramas we go through, put that song on and you lose the anxiety or intensity of the moment. I'll listen to that song when I've just come out of an annoying meeting. I gotta shake this off." While Todd Burns from Stylus Magazine described it as "sultry", a writer from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called it "lyrically crude" and "ghetto". Similarly, The Michigan Dailys Chris Gaerig criticized Carey's "airy vocals" and wrote "Carey sounds like a 13-year-old boy going through puberty, singing love songs to a grade school crush."
Chart performance
In the United States, "Shake It Off" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 66, the week's highest debut. In its seventh week on the chart, it reached number two behind Carey's previous single, "We Belong Together," marking the first time a female lead artist occupied the top two positions of the Hot 100. "Shake It Off" was at the number two position for an additional five weeks after "We Belong Together" fell from number one (six weeks in total); it was subsequently held off the top spot by Kanye West's "Gold Digger". The song stayed within the Hot 100 for 26 weeks, and finished at number fifteen on the Billboard Year-End Chart. The single fared well on multiple Billboard component charts, reaching the top spot on the Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) tally, and becoming her second consecutive number-one on the chart following "We Belong Together" as well as her sixth number-one overall."Shake It Off" spent five weeks at number-one from September 24, 2005:
It peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 27 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. "Shake It Off" was certified 2xPlatinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2,000,000 copies.
"Shake It Off" was released throughout Australia and New Zealand as the third single from The Emancipation of Mimi in late 2005. In the United Kingdom and other European territories, it was released as a double A-side along with "Get Your Number," the third single serviced to the United States at the same time. The single performed well outside the United States, reaching number five and six on the New Zealand Singles Chart and Australian Singles Chart, respectively. The single was later certified Gold in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of over 35,000 units. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number nine during the week of October 15, 2005. Dropping to number ten the following week, the song lasted a total of eight weeks in the singles chart before making its descent.
Remix "Shake It Off" became another remix in which Carey would feature a hip-hop artist, having done so several times in the past. Most notably, Carey began incorporating hip-hop and pop from her 1995 remix of her single "Fantasy", which featured rap verses from Ol' Dirty Bastard (O.D.B.). The song was considered one of the pioneering songs that began the infusion of the "thug-love duet". According to Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times, the song "Nowadays clean-cut pop stars are expected to collaborate with roughneck rappers, but when Ms. Carey teamed up with Ol' Dirty Bastard, of the Wu-Tang Clan, for the 1995 hit 'Fantasy (Remix),' it was a surprise, and a smash." Originally intended to feature only Jay-Z, the remix included rising rapper Young Jeezy, who considered the position the "highest-profile guest appearance to date" that he had been offered. In an interview with MTV News, Jeezy described how he came to be included on the remix: When I got the call [from Mariah], I was like, 'I don't know if that's me. She was like, 'Nah, it's gonna be your type of beat.' I'm like, 'Oh, for real?' Then when Hov called he said, 'I'm gonna do it with you.' I was like, 'Dag, this is big.' But when I did it, I kept it me and kept it 'hood. At first I ain't think she was gonna like it but she called and said she loved it. From there it was a wrap. That's history. Mariah is known for doing remixes with street cats from Mobb Deep to O.D.B., so to be a part of that was a good look for me and the Def Jam movement.