People often call this song local. In my honest and unbiased opinion, those who call it local only see its commercial impact and are delusional.
Let's agree for a while that this song was local, then what you say about its cultural impact? Was it limited to the US? Added to that, do you even know what that broad term means?
Cultural impact DOES NOT ONLY mean having a viral video. Cultural impact does not only mean being commercially successful. Cultural impact is not only what a particular stanbase believes it to be.
It should receive coverage from established critics, fans, haters, celebrities, briefly... nearly everyone around the globe to be a real cultural impact.
Cultural impact is not only having imitations on YouTube. Many songs have imitations on YouTube. It depends on the number of people parodying it, the attention it draws from the general worldwide population .... even though many people do not buy it.
I sincerely believe that someone saying that "Single Ladies" is local must not know enough about the impact the song + its accompanying music video. Or they believe they know about it when they are actually ignorant..
About the song:
Quote:
"Single Ladies" is an upbeat dance-pop and R&B song with dancehall, disco, and bounce influences. It is set in common time, and makes use of staccato bounce-based hand claps, Morse code beeps, an ascending whistle in the background, and a punchy organic beat. The instrumentation includes a bass drum, a keyboard and spaced out synthesizers that occasionally zoom in and out; their arrangement surprisingly comes as light, instead of dense. "Single Ladies" is played in a moderate groove of 96 beats per minute.
"Single Ladies" is musically similar to Knowles' 2007 single "Get Me Bodied". The song's theme of female empowerment as an extension of that of "Irreplaceable" (2006), and its usage of pronouns such as "it" resembles Knowles' 2005 single "Check on It". "Single Ladies" evokes African gumboot dancing and schoolyard double-dutch chants. In the song, Knowles offers support to women who have split up from their no-good boyfriends.
Critical reception: "Single Ladies" received positive response from music critics, who complimented its production and praised its dance beat.
P.S Care to know that it is a FEATURED ARTICLE on Wikipedia, which means that you will not find a single trace of original research and fancruft in the article. See the bronze star at the top of the page.
Recognition:
2008 Critic's Year End Lists
Rolling Stone: #1
MTV News: #2
Time Magazine: #7
Eye Weekly: #4
About.com: #6
Decade Year End Lists
Rolling Stone critic: #50
Rolling Stone reader's poll: #2
Black Entertainment Television (BET): #1
The Boston Globe: #4
VH1: #16
All-Time Songs Lists:
Time Magazine: #9
In his book Eating the Dinosaur (2009), Chuck Klosterman wrote that "Single Ladies" is "arguably the first song overtly marketed toward urban bachelorette parties".
Awards and Nominations for the song itself
Quote:
"Single Ladies" has received a number of awards and nominations, including the Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards. It also won the awards for Favorite Song at the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards, Song of the Year at the 2009 Soul Train Music Awards, and Best R&B Song at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized "Single Ladies" as one of the most performed songs of 2009 at the 27th ASCAP Pop Music Awards.
The song was nominated in the Best Song category at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards and in the English-language "Record of the Year" category at the 2009 Premios Oye! Awards. It was also nominated for Record of the Year at the 2009 Soul Train Music Awards, Viewer's Choice Award at the 2009 BET Awards, Best R&B/Urban Dance Track at the 2009 International Dance Music Awards, and World's Best Single at the 2010 World Music Awards.
Australia: 3× Platinum
Canada: 2× Platinum
Denmark: Gold
New Zealand: Platinum
Spain: Platinum
United Kingdom: Platinum
United States: 4× Platinum
Sales as of November 2009 was 6.1 million copies worldwide.
We all Know the Video. I won't say much about it.
Quote:
In an interview with Chandler Levack for Eye Weekly, Toronto director Scott Cudmore stated that the internet age has impacted the way music videos are made, as well as perceived by an audience. Although Cudmore believes that the music video as a medium is "disappearing ... from the mainstream public eye", he accredited "Single Ladies" with its resurgence, and stated that after the video appeared on the Internet, people began to "consciously look for music videos because of its art".
Quote:
The music video has won several awards and accolades. It was voted Best Dance Routine in the 2008 Popjustice Readers' Poll; and won Video of the Year, Best Choreography, and Best Editing at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The song also won Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards, the 2009 MOBO Awards, and the 2009 BET Awards. The video has also received many nominations: Best Video in the 2009 Popjustice Readers Polls (placed 4th); nine (including the three that it won) in the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards; Best International Artist Video at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards; and Outstanding Music Video at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards. The video was ranked at number four on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown and at number three on VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2009. It was voted best music video of the 2000s decade by fans of the music website MUZU TV and fifth-best of the decade by readers of Billboard magazine. Claire Suddath of Time magazine included it in her 30 All-Time Best Music Videos, writing that "sometimes the best creations are also the simplest". The was certified platinum by CRIA for shipment of over 10,000 units.
"Single Ladies" gained widespread popularity for its catchy hook and theme of female empowerment.Critics have compared the song to Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", prompted by their lyrics, which all promote female empowerment. The music video achieved fame for its intricate choreography and its deployment of jazz hands with a wrist twist. It has been credited with starting the "first major dance craze of both the new millennium and the Internet", triggering a number of parodies of the dance choreography. Billy Johnson of Yahoo! Music wrote that the video of "Single Ladies" was the top music-related viral hit of 2009. MTV News' James Montgomery wrote that "it appears like [the music video] was custom-made for the YouTube generation, which probably explains why making homages became a worldwide phenomenon." The video generated interest in J-Setting, the dance form that choreographer JaQuel Knight highlights in the video, and Knowles is credited with bringing the dance style to the mainstream.
In a radio interview on NPR's All Things Considered, JaQuel Knight (the choreographer) shared his excitement that the popular video made people want to learn to dance. Trish Crawford from the Toronto Star observed how it has appealed to all age groups and genders, in contrast with the short-lived dance craze inspired by Soulja Boy two years before, which she considered "mainly a male hip-hop dance". Crawford mentioned, "Toddlers have tackled [the 'Single Ladies' dance]. [So have] recreation centre dance classes, sorority sisters in their dorm rooms, suburban teenagers in their basements and high school cheerleaders.
SashaFierce sis..... I think you need a break.
and furthermore. SL was/isn't/never will be local. We all know this
Not everyone accepts it is not local. I am not pointing to a particular stanbase because I do not want to generalize. There is nothing wrong about educating others.
Single Ladies
#101 Panama
#107 Portugal
#133 Chile
#159 New Zealand
#169 Argentina
#239 Lithuania
#246 Australia
#261 Hungary
#294 United Kingdom
#308 Ireland
#334 Netherlands
#356 Denmark
#365 United States
#372 Costa Rica
#452 Colombia
#480 Luxembourg
#482 Canada
#565 Germany
#594 Greece
#600 Mexico
#668 Finland
#701 Brazil
#705 Nicaragua
#817 Spain
#878 Japan
#934 Belgium
#971 Austria
#1014 Italy
This is going to be one of those threads that doesn't end well.
