Some songs are finished the day they come out. Others keep growing.
Best Of All Time has been growing since August 21. In September I wrote about what it became once it left my hands: how it started turning up in cars and kitchens and rooms I'll never see, and how so many of you held on to the verses even more than the hook.
This Friday, November 13, it takes another step. My EP, Best Of All Time (VIP MIXES), comes out, and I want to tell you what that means before you hear it.
SO WHAT IS A VIP MIX?
A VIP mix is a new version of a song, usually made by the people who made the original. The melody stays. The heart stays. You'll know it within seconds. What changes is the body of the song: the drums, the drop, the energy, the way it moves a room.
The tradition comes from dance music, from producers in the UK who made special versions of their own tracks to play in DJ sets, versions you could only hear on a dance floor. VIP is usually said to stand for Very Important Person, and these days you'll also hear Variation In Production.
I like to think of it more simply. Same song, different night.
WHY THIS SONG
When we wrote Best Of All Time, Bonnie McKee, JHart and I started from gratitude, for the people who remind you of your strength. Damon Sharpe produced it bright and fast, with strings running all the way through it. If you listen to the violins in the pre-chorus, you can hear where I come from. I wrote about all of that in Best Of All Time and in the lyrics post, so I won't repeat it here.
The dance floor has been good to me this year. My Perfume (VIP Mix) reached No. 11 on the Mediabase Dance chart and No. 16 on Billboard's Dance Airplay chart, my highest official peak positions on both charts to date. If you were with me for Perfume in June, you know how much that song means to me. Watching it find a second life on dance radio is a big part of why Best Of All Time is stepping onto the floor too.
The EP holds three versions of the song: a radio version, the main VIP mix and an extended mix. Each one is made for a different moment, from the car radio to the last hour of the night.
If you already know the words, you'll find them in a whole new body on Friday. If you'd like the VIP Mixes waiting in your library the moment they arrive, pre-save them here. And the Squad will hear from me first, Friday morning.
Play it loud.
Own your light.
SHAB