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Down with the Clique

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Wikipedia article




"'Down with the Clique'" is a song by American singer Aaliyah from her debut studio album, 'Age Ain't Nothing But a Number'. The song was written and produced by R.Kelly and on the Hip-Hop inspired song Aaliyah displays a "silky cooing with her voice. The song was met with mixed reviews by critics with a few praising Aaliyah's delivery on the record. Blackground and Jive records released "Down with the Clique" as the album's fourth single in Europe on May 1, 1995. During this time it was Aaliyah's first single to not be released in the US. In the UK the song performed moderately well peaking within the top 40 at number 33 on the Official chart. Elsewhere in the UK the song performed even better on the Dance and R&B charts peaking within the top 40 at number 25 and 5 respectively.

Background



When recording Down With The Clique, Aaliyah developed an interest in producing and she watched and helped R Kelly develop the song. According to Aaliyah, When we were recording Down With the Clique, I watched how Robert [Kelly] laid the drums and everything. He taught me to play the piano a bit, and I'm also trying to learn the mixing board, though it looks complicated. The studio is my first love.

Music and lyrics



"Down with the Clique" is a hip-hop inspired song and on the song Aaliyah displays a "silky cooing" with her vocals. In February 1995 British producers Mafia & Fluxy produced a reggae remix version of the song.

Critical reception



Kenneth Partridge from 'Billboard' gave a mixed review of the song. He felt that Aaliyah sounded unnatural singing lines such as "I guess it's time for me to wreck shop" and he thought that the song was too much like an R Kelly song. Ultimately he thought that it was "adorable" about how she commits to her persona which fits well with the song. Bianca Gracie from Fuse felt that Aaliyah was embodying an effortless swagger that guys twice her age could only dream of having"; She also praised Aaliyah's "mellow" "deep" voice on the song as well. Nakita Rathod from HotNewHipHop mentioned that despite the controversy surrounding Aaliyah's debut album she was still able to be a young, free teenager with songs like "Down with the Clique". In a review for Aaliyah's debut album "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" Tonya Pendleton from 'The Washington Post' praised the production of "Down with the Clique" saying "Kellys hip-hop inserts provide a funky contrast that carries over to Throw Your Hands Up and Down With the Clique, all paeans to the fun-loving good times of adolescence"

Chart performance



"Down With The Clique" was released as the album's 4th single and it was the first single from "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" to not be released in the US. The song peaked within the top 40 on the UK official charts at number 32 on May 13, 1995. The song also peaked within the top 40 on the UK official Dance at number 25 on May 7, 1995. Meanwhile, on the UK Official charts the song peaked within the top 5 at number 5 on May 7, 1995 as well.

Charts



References





Category:1994 songs

Category:1995 singles

Category:Aaliyah songs

Category:Songs written by R. Kelly

Category:Song recordings produced by R. Kelly

Category:Blackground Records singles

Category:Reggae fusion songs

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