Beyonce's 'Run The World' Started Off As 'A Joke'?

'It was a song we did, kind of like a funny, kind-of-a-joke song,' Diplo tells BBC Radio of B's 2011 single, which sampled his Major Lazer song.
By James Montgomery

<P>This may come as a surprise to devoted disciples of the Queen B, but according to producer Diplo, <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/knowles_beyonce/artist.jhtml">Beyonc&#233;</a>'s 2011 single "<a href="http://www.mtv.com/videos/beyonce/654804/run-the-world-girls.jhtml#artist=1236911">Run the World (Girls)</a>" actually started as "a joke."</P><P>"I think a lot of people don't even realize where that song came from," Diplo told <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17907948" target="_blank">BBC Radio's Newsbeat</a>. "That song never really had a push. It was a song we did, kind of like a funny, kind-of-a-joke song."</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Beyoncé - &quot;Run The World (Girls)&quot;" id="vid:654804" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P><a href="/news/articles/1664181/beyonce-run-the-world-girls-video.jhtml">"Run the World"</a> was released as the first single from Bey's much-anticipated <a href="/news/articles/1666507/beyonce-4-album.jhtml"><i>4</i> album</a>, though it was met with a slightly <a href="/news/articles/1664218/beyonce-run-the-world-girls-video.jhtml">puzzled reaction</a> from some of her die-hard fans and failed to generate much heat on the charts, reaching only #29 on the <i>Billboard</i> Hot 100. Subsequent singles "Best Thing I Never Had" and "Love on Top" fared slightly better, going as high as #16.</P><P>Of course, Diplo isn't actually credited as a producer on "Run the World" (that honor would go to The-Dream, Switch, Beyonc&#233; herself and Shea Taylor), but he did snag a writing credit, thanks to the song's hefty sample of his Major Lazer track "Pon de Floor." But he did produce the <i>4</i> track "End of Time" and remembered the experience as a surreal one.</P><P>"We had to finish up a few records we were working with her on," Dip said. "That was super-weird, man. Like, I remember we were in the studio working with her and I <i>still</i> couldn't believe it."</p>

Related Artists

• Beyoncé
• Diplo

Source:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1684405/beyonce-run-the-world-girls-joke.jhtml

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