Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston song)

"Beautiful Girls" is the debut single by Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston from his 2007 eponymous debut album; it was first released in 2007, when Kingston was 17 and is considered his signature song. The song is about a boy who feels "suicidal" (a radio edit changes this to "in denial") over the prospect of dating a "beautiful girl" only to have her break up with him.

"Beautiful Girls"
Single by Sean Kingston
from the album Sean Kingston
Released	May 26, 2007 (2007-05-26)
Recorded	2007
Genre	Pop[1] doo-wop R&B reggae[2]
Length	4:02 (album version) 3:43 (radio edit)
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Kisean Anderson Jonathan Rotem Jerome Leiber Michael Stoller Ben E. King Peter Harrison
Producer(s)	J. R. Rotem Peter Harrison
Sean Kingston singles chronology
"Beautiful Girls" (2007) "Me Love" (2007)
Music video
"Beautiful Girls" on YouTube

The song samples the 1961 song "Stand by Me" by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King.^[3]

Rapper Lil Mama and actors Kenny Vibert and Lil' JJ are featured in the music video directed by Marcus Raboy, which hit 1 billion YouTube views on September 8, 2022.^[4]

Lyrics controversy

Due to the lyrics containing references to suicide, the song was ineligible to be played on Radio Disney. A re-recorded, clean version with new lyrics was added to the Radio Disney playlist on September 3, 2007.^[5] On September 21, 2007, it was reported that the original version of the song was removed from the radio playlist of FM104 in Dublin due to the suicide references.^[6]

Track listing

UK CD single

1. "Beautiful Girls" (album version) – 4:02
2. "Beautiful Girls" (a cappella) – 3:41
3. "Beautiful Girls" (instrumental) – 3:40
4. "Beautiful Girls" (remix) (featuring Fabolous and Lil' Boosie) – 3:27
5. "Beautiful Girls" (video)

Chart performance

The week after the song's digital release it hit number one on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs, debuting with 260,000 downloads in its first week (the second highest digital sales for a new song of 2007, only behind Rihanna's "Umbrella").^[7] Kingston became the first artist born in the 1990s to top the Hot 100.^[8] It has also occupied the top spot on the US Hot 100 Airplay and the Canadian Hot 100. It remained on top of the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. The song ended 2007 as the year's 15th biggest-selling single in the UK.^[9] On the ARIA charts in Australia, it debuted at number one.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2007–2008) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[10] 1 Australian Urban (ARIA)[11] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 4 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 10 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[14] 7 Brazil (Crowley Broadcast Analysis)[15] 2 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[16] 1 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[17] 71 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[18] 9 Denmark (Tracklisten)[19] 2 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[20] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[21] 19 France (SNEP)[22] 2 Germany (GfK)[23] 10 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[24] 6 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[25] 1 Hungary (Single Top 40)[26] 7 Ireland (IRMA)[27] 1 Italy (FIMI)[28] 7 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[29] 8 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[30] 11 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[31] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[32] 6 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[33] 7 Scotland (OCC)[34] 1 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[35] 14 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[36] 3 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[37] 11 UK Singles (OCC)[38] 1 UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)[39] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[40] 1 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[41] 12 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[42] 2 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[43] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position Australia (ARIA) [44] 10 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[45] 48 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[46] 69 Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)[47] 79 Brazil (Crowley)[48] 12 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[49] 8 France (SNEP)[50] 26 Germany (Official German CHarts)[51] 64 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[52] 42 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[53] 18 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[54] 72 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[55] 94 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[56] 10 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[57] 46 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[58] 65 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[59] 15 UK Urban (Music Week)[60] 14 US Billboard Hot 100[61] 31 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[62] 81 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[63] 13 Chart (2008) Position Spain (PROMUSICAE)[64] 35

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[65]	Platinum	70,000^
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[66]	Gold	30,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[67]	2× Platinum	80,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[68]	Platinum	15,000^
Germany (BVMI)[69]	Platinum	300,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[70]	5× Platinum	150,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[71]	Gold	10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[72]	3× Platinum	1,800,000‡
United States (RIAA)[73] Digital	Platinum	1,000,000*
Ringtone
Canada (Music Canada)[74]	3× Platinum	120,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[75] Ringtone	Platinum	20,000*
United States (RIAA)[76]	2× Platinum	2,000,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

JoJo version

"Beautiful Girls Reply"
Song by JoJo
Released	July 20, 2007 (2007-07-20)
Recorded	2007
Genre	R&B
Length	3:32
Label	Da Family Blackground
Songwriter(s)	Joanna "JoJo" Levesque
Producer(s)	J.R. Rotem

"Beautiful Girls" (also known as "Beautiful Girls Reply") is a song by American singer JoJo. It was released digitally on July 20, 2007, as a cover response to "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston.^[77] The song samples Ben E. King's "Stand by Me". Whereas Kingston's version is about a boy who is suicidal over the failure of his relationship with a "beautiful girl", JoJo speaks from a girl's perspective.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart one month after its release.

Chart (2007)	Peak position
US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)[78]	39

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2007 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2007 (Canada)
• List of number-one singles of 2007 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles in Australia in 2007
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (New Zealand)
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
• List of European number-one hits of 2007