On this Day: March 17, 2008 The "4 Minutes" single is released as a digital download

The "4 Minutes" single is released as a digital download 

"4 Minutes" is a song by American singer and songwriter Madonna from her eleventh studio album Hard Candy (2008), featuring vocals by American musicians Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. It was released as the lead single from the album on March 17, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. The song's development was motivated by a sense of urgency to save the planet from destruction, and how people can enjoy themselves in the process. The writing was completed through discussions between Madonna and Timberlake about different situations, issues and relationships. According to Madonna, the song inspired her to produce the documentary I Am Because We Are (2008).
The song was recorded at Sarm West Studios, in London, while the mixing of the track was finished at The Hit Factory studio, in Miami. Sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellon first worked on the vocals of the track, by honing them according to his instincts, and then worked on the beats and the synths composed by Timbaland and Danja. An uptempo dance song with an urban and hip hop style, "4 Minutes" incorporates Timbaland's characteristic bhangra beats and the instrumentation used in the song includes brass, foghorns and cow bells. The song's lyrics carry a message of social awareness, inspired by Madonna's visit to Africa and the human suffering she witnessed in the continent.
"4 Minutes" received positive reviews from many music critics who called it a busy dance track and complimented its music, which was compared to that of a marching band. Some however noted that Madonna, rather than Timberlake, appeared as more of a featured artist in the song. "4 Minutes" achieved worldwide success by reaching number one in 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the United States, "4 Minutes" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Madonna her 37th top-ten single, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley as the artist with most top-ten hits.
In the song's accompanying music video, Madonna and Timberlake sing and run away from a giant black screen that devours everything in its path. At the end of the video, Madonna and Timberlake are consumed by the screen. "4 Minutes" was performed by Madonna on the promotional tour for Hard Candy and the Sticky & Sweet Tour. In the latter, the song served as the opener of the rave segment, where Madonna wore a futuristic robotic outfit. During performances of the song, Timberlake and Timbaland appeared on video screens and sang their lines. The song received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 2009 ceremony.

Chart performance

In the United States, "4 Minutes" debuted at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the issue dated April 5, 2008, based solely on airplay.^[24] Within a week, the song had jumped 65 places, reaching number three on the chart. This leap was spurred by first-week digital sales of 217,000, enabling the song to enter Billboard's Digital chart at number two, behind Mariah Carey's single "Touch My Body". The song became Madonna's first top-ten single since "Hung Up" (2005), and was her 37th Hot 100 top-ten hit, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley.^[25] "4 Minutes" was also her highest-charting single on the Hot 100 since "Music" reached the top of the chart in 2000. For Timberlake, "4 Minutes" became his ninth top-ten hit.^[26] On the Pop 100 chart, the song reached a peak of two.^[27] "4 Minutes" was a success on Billboard's dance charts, topping both the Hot Dance Club Play and the Hot Dance Airplay charts.^[28][29] Almost five months after its release, "4 Minutes" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of two million paid digital downloads.^[30] "4 Minutes" was the tenth most downloaded song in the United States in 2008 with sales of 2.37 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan,^[31][32] and has sold over three million copies as of July 2012.^[33]
In Canada, Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) confirmed that "4 Minutes" debuted at the top of the Canadian Contemporary Hit Radio chart. This marked the first time any song entered at the top of the CHR chart in BDS history.^[34] The song debuted at number 27 on the Canadian Hot 100 on March 27, 2008,^[35] and topped the chart the next week.^[36] By the end of the year, "4 Minutes" was the fifth best selling digital song in Canada with sales of 143,000 copies, and ranked fourth on the year-end tabulation of the Canadian Hot 100.^[37][38]
"4 Minutes" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart,^[39] and ascended to the number-one position two weeks later, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks.^[40] "4 Minutes" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for the shipment of 70,000 copies.^[41] In New Zealand, "4 Minutes" made its debut at number 14 on the New Zealand Singles Chart,^[42] and ascended to the top ten, finally peaking at number three.^[43] The song has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for shipment of 7,500 copies.^[44]
In the United Kingdom, "4 Minutes" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number seven. The song became Madonna's 60th top-ten single in Britain.^[45][46] It debuted on the airplay charts at number 19, with first week tallies of 564 plays and 27.10 million listeners.^[47] The song rose to the top of the chart on April 20, 2008 (for the week ending date April 26, 2008), with sales of 40,634 copies, thus giving Madonna her 13th British number-one single. It remained at the top for four weeks.^[48][49][50] According to the Official Charts Company, it was the seventh best-selling song of 2008 and has sold 500,000 copies there.^[51][52][53] "4 Minutes" was also number one on Billboard's European Hot 100 Singles for four weeks.^[54] Overall, "4 Minutes" reached number one in 21 countries worldwide.^[55]

Music video

A still from the music video showing Madonna and Justin Timberlake. The black background is seen behind Timberlake, devouring his sides.

The music video was directed by French duo Jonas & François in London, England.^[5][56] It featured choreography by Jamie King, who worked on Madonna's Confessions, Re-Invention and Drowned World tours as well as her video for the single "Sorry" (2006).^[5] Japanese hip hop dancing duo Hamutsun Serve also made an appearance in the video.^[57] Before its release, Rolling Stone said that in the video Madonna and Timberlake act as if they were "superheroes" while they evade multiple obstacles.^[5] In the video, Madonna wore a cream colored corset, glistening black boots and styled her hair in platinum blond waves while Timberlake wore mainly denims and a scarf around his neck.^[8] Regarding the idea behind the music video, Madonna said that "it was conceptualistic". She explained that the video was shot like a march past; "It's a movement, and we want to take everybody with us."^[1] About the idea of a black screen devouring everything, Madonna said,

None of us did [understand the concept of the black screen]. It was just, you know, it's very conceptual. We basically gave the song to the two French directors [Jonas & Francois] and they came up with the only concept that I thought was interesting, with this black sort of amorphous graphic line slowly eating up the world. I just liked that as a concept.^[6]

The video used soft focus, gentle lighting and airbrushing looks on Madonna.^[58] It starts with Timbaland chanting the opening line in front of a giant timer screen that counts down from four minutes. As he sings, a black geometric patterned screen comes from behind and engulfs all of the musical devices present. Madonna and Timberlake enter a house but run away from it after finding the screen there, which starts eating the hands and legs of the inhabitants of the house, thus showing their insides. After a number of shots showing Madonna and Timberlake jumping on and over cars to escape from the screen, they finally move into a supermarket. The screen follows them, consuming the long lines of stalls and the people present there.^[8] As the second chorus starts, they arrive in front of the screen where Timbaland is singing. After choreographed dancing, Madonna performs a back arch as the timer reaches zero time.^[58] The last "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound is heard, Madonna and Timberlake dance again on a long stage; the black screen approaches them from both sides. The video ends with both of them kissing, and the black screen devouring them. Timberlake's bones and ribs, and Madonna's cheeks are seen in the last shot.^[58]
Regarding the video, Madonna said it was like "[g]oody goody gum drops," referring to the candy-oriented theme of the album.^[8] Virginia Heffernan from The New York Times called the video heart-pounding, and compared its momentum with the music video of "Thriller, "In the Air Tonight" and "Shadows of the Night".^[59] However, Eric Wilson from the same newspaper commented that the video did not yield a breakout Madonna look compared to her videos from the 1980s.^[60] Singer Miley Cyrus created her own version of the video and posted it on her YouTube channel. Madonna responded to it in her own video and said, "All you people out there who are making videos to my new single, '4 Minutes,' keep up the good work, nice job."^[61] "4 Minutes" was nominated for an award at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in the "Best Dancing in a Video" category, but lost to the Pussycat Dolls single "When I Grow Up".^[62]

Live performances and covers

Madonna and her dancers emerge from behind the moving screens for the performance of "4 Minutes" on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

The song was performed during the Hard Candy Promo Tour and Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008–09). At the promotional tour, "4 Minutes" was performed as the third song of the setlist.^[63] Madonna wore a shiny black outfit with black tails, Adidas track pants and high-heeled, lace-up boots for the performance. Justin Timberlake made an appearance alongside Madonna, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, to perform the song.^[64] As Timbaland appeared on the video screens, the beat of the song started. The four side-stage video screens began to glide across the stage, and swiveled around to reveal Timberlake behind one and Madonna behind the other. They performed the song in a similar choreography from the music video.^[63] When the song came to an end, Madonna pushed Timberlake against a wall.^[65]
During "4 Minutes" performance on the Sticky & Sweet Tour, Madonna wore a futuristic robotic outfit designed by Heatherette. She coupled it with metallic plates on her shoulder and a wig with long curled hair.^[66][67] Madonna and her dancers emerged from behind backdrops, on which Timbaland and Timberlake appeared, to perform their lines. An apparent duet between Madonna and Timberlake ensues, with Timberlake singing and dancing his part from the screens. He joined Madonna in person, for the show at Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium on November 6, 2008, the same show in which Britney Spears appeared alongside Madonna to perform "Human Nature".^[68] They performed "4 Minutes" in similar fashion to the promotional tour choreography.^[69] "4 Minutes" was also used as mashups during the performance of songs like "Vogue" and "Hung Up".^[70][71]
"4 Minutes" was used in the film Get Smart (2008), in a scene and film credits.^[72] It was one of the songs covered by the cast of Glee during the April 20, 2010 episode "The Power of Madonna". The fictional character Kurt Hummel, portrayed by Chris Colfer, sang Madonna's parts while Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) sang Timberlake's. In the episode, the song is performed during a routine by the high-school cheering squad, accompanied by the school band.^[73] The version was released both as a digital downloadable single and on the EP, Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna. "4 Minutes" cover charted on the Hot Digital Songs of Billboard at number fifty-five on May 8, 2010, while reaching number eighty-nine and number seventy on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, respectively.