| BY KEVIN JACKSON— Observer writer— | 1 |
SEAN Paul’s Like Glue is certified gold in the United Kingdom for sales and streaming figures in excess of 400,000 units.
The announcement was made last Friday by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Like Glue was released in 2003 as the third single from Sean Paul’s Grammy-winning Dutty Rock album. The song was a huge success in the United States and Europe.
Murray Elias, Sean’s former artiste and repertoire at VP Records ,was tasked to promote Like Glue to mainstream audiences. His plan worked.
Elias recalled how he had to make an executive decision, along with the agreement of Sean and his then manager Jeremy Harding, to convince the label bosses to release Like Glue as the third single.
“Actually, Like Glue was scheduled to be the second single and follow-up to the top 10 hit Gimmie the Light. But at the end of 2002 going into 2003, as we were getting ready to launch Like Glue, the hottest riddim in Jamaica at the time that just blew up was the Diwali rhythm. And after long and careful consideration with Sean and Jeremy we decided it was more important for Sean to go out with his next single representing what was the hottest thing in Jamaica at the moment, which was Get Busy from the Diwali rhythm,” Murray recalled.
“It was a very tough decision to make. We all liked Like Glue and we’re ready to roll out with Like Glue, and we came back to VP Records and said we wanted to flip the script and change the single to Get Busy, much to their disdain — Like Glue was the lead single to one of their compilations. Atlantic Records was sitting on the sidelines going, ‘We don’t know. You guys make up your mind and tell us which way to go.’ Based on talking to the tastemakers in two of the biggest markets at that time in Miami and New York, what we came back with was that Miami was all for Get Busy and New York was for Like Glue. We made the decision to go with Get Busy as the next single, knowing that Like Glue would still be incredibly successful as the third single, and ultimately, it turned out to be the right decision,” he continued.
Tony “CD” Kelly produced Like Glue, which was featured on his Buy Out rhythm. He had prior success with Sean Paul having produced Deport Them on his Bookshelf rhythm which reached number 80 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart in 2000.
Kelly said he’s excited about Like Glue’s recent certification.
“Well, classics never die and I always say that I do music with a visa that crosses borders and also makes people happy. And with Sean delivering, it’s just an overdose of vibes and fun mixed up in emotions that’s gonna make you move and feel good. And with this Gold certification, it’s telling us that it’s still going and still having the same effect,” he said.
Like Glue peaked at 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, nine on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, 10 on Rhythmic Top 40, and three in the United Kingdom. It also made the top 10 in Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland. The song also made the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France and New Zealand.
The video for Like Glue won the Best International Artiste Video award at the 2003 Much Music Video Awards in Canada.
The song was ranked 325th Best Song of the 2000s by respected American music publication Pitchfork.
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