Lighters (song)

When speaking to Canadian music magazine Exclaim!, American rapper Royce da 5'9" confessed that "Lighters" was originally intended to be featured on his fifth solo studio album, Success Is Certain (2011). It was solely produced by Battle Roy. After Royce presented the track to American rapper Eminem, he was inspired to write his verse which prompted Royce to write his the day afterwards. "Lighters" was written by Eminem and Royce as Bad Meets Evil, Mars, Philip Lawrence and Levine, the latter three a production and songwriting team, the Smeezingtons, and by Battle Roy, all of whom, except Royce, also produced the track. It was recorded at Effigy Studios in Ferndale, Michigan, by Mike Strange, and at Isolation Studios and Levcon Studios, both located in Los Angeles, California, by Asar and Levine, respectively. Roy and Joe Strange engineered the single. Luis Resto provided additional keyboards for the record. Mike Strange and Eminem mixed the single. It was mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering. On May 25, 2011, when the album track listing of Hell: The Sequel was announced, "Lighters" was publicly revealed to feature Mars. The track leaked on June 2, 2011. ==Composition and lyrical interpretation==

"Lighters" is mainly an alternative hip hop track. The song opens with piano chords while Mars sings with his "warm" and "pleasing" pop and soul chorus. The singer finishes his verse saying, "All I want to see is a sky full of lighters". Its main structure is backed by strings and piano, which throughout the track are combined with bass drum and synths Lyrically, the recording shows one's downfalls and comebacks while spreading a message to the "haters". It also conveys a message of genuine supporting and celebration through the accomplishment of dreams and by overcoming obstacles. During his verses, Eminem refers to becoming a legend in the rap community and his recovery from addiction as he did on his seventh studio album, Recovery (2010). He further explained in another interview, "People who don't like listening to straight-up, raw, rappitty-rap lyrics. One joint to show versatility." ==Critical reception and accolades==

"Lighters" received mixed reviews by most music critics. Most of them commented on the different style of the song when compared to other songs on Hell: The Sequel, Markman had a positive opinion regarding "Lighters". He wasn't surprised to hear Eminem's performance, "It's hard to imagine a time when Eminem wasn't regarded as one of rap's elite". Not only did he comment on Royce da 5'9"s verse, "The gritty Detroit MC recalls his own battles to the top, referencing doubters at every turn", but also noticed that the track was "inspirational", addictive and made to be sent to the radio. About.com's Bill Lamb gave a generally positive review, awarding the song four out of five stars, naming it "an engaging, soulful pop hip hop blend", by having humorous lyrics and "Mars' soulful, memorable rap", but went on to mention that the track "sounds a bit schmaltzy at times." The recording's chorus was praised by Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club. Rabin also added that it wouldn't give a "welcome relief from the claustrophobic darkness of the rest of the album." In a mixed review, Billboard editor Jason Lipshutz published a track-by-track review of each song on the album. He thought that the single did not fit in with the rest of Hell: The Sequel, but alone, is a good song, "[The] track doesn't fit with EP, but Em's effortless confidence carries the celebratory anthem." Chad Grischow of IGN gave a shared a similar opinion, calling the song odd and uncommon. Grischow did not favor the influences of "gooey synthpop" and soul fusion genres. While exploring the Billboard charts on their segment at The A.V. Club, writers Genevieve Koski and Steven Hyden, commented on "Lighters". Koski said that the single shared some similarities with "Nothin' on You", which also featured Mars. Despite noticing the contrast between the rap verses and the hook, she focused her attention on the various elements of the recording which "are each uplifting in their own way" and awarded it a B−. On the other hand, Hyden gave the song a harsh critic calling it the, "absolute worst in pop music right now". He criticized Eminem for spitting in his verses, Mars for singing a "melodramatic chorus" and the type of music the rapper, Eminem, was embracing dubbing it, "maudlin power balladry". He gave the record an F. In a negative review, David Jeffries of Allmusic said that "the glossy 'Lighters' feels more like a Bruno Mars track than Detroit diesel." Consequence of Sound reviewer Winston Robbins gave a rather negative review on "Lighters". Robbins believes that Mars's vocal delivery in the chorus does not fit into a rap song and would have done better on a solo record or with another artist. David Amidon from music website PopMatters said that "Lighters" was the only disappointing recording of the 11 tracks on the EP deluxe edition and "it's easy to press the skip button if you’d like to." At the 2012 ASCAP Pop Music Awards it was one of the winners of Most Performed Songs. ==Commercial performance==

"Lighters" debuted on the Billboard Digital Songs chart at number eight, before the single's release, while it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 16. Two weeks after, it moved up to number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, after dropping to number 44 on the previous week. The recording further moved up to number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the subsequent week and to number 10 the week after, giving Mars his sixth top ten hit and Bad Meets Evil's first. On the issue dated August 10, 2011, "Lighters" entered the bottom of the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the Airplay Gainer honor. The song eventually reached its Billboard Hot 100 peak at number four. which led it to be certified two times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It rose to number 30 the week after, but left the chart, six weeks later. However, it re-entered the chart on August 28, 2011. On October 8, 2011, the song peaked at number 10. ==Music video==

Background and concept Filming sessions for an accompanying music video for "Lighters" began on July 20, 2011, in Los Angeles, California. It was conducted by American music video and commercial director Rich Lee, who previously shot the "Not Afraid" visual with Eminem. Not revealing any specific details about the video clip, he jokingly added, "I'm doing handstands, and I'm juggling naked." Eminem, who is laying on a couch in an untidy living room while wearing a white T-shirt and red baggy pants, subsequently picks up a notepad with lyrics and begins to rap his verse. Beats by Dr. Dre headphones are advertised in the video and one couple gathers in front of a Chrysler 300. As the video reaches its conclusion, the setting gets dark and Mars sings the last lines. Consequence of Sound's Chris Coplan explained that "all three men emerge to exactly what they’d been singing for: a sky full of decorative lamps." Becky Bain from Idolator said, "Bruno jams out on his 88 keys while the 'King Of Hip-Hop' and his Bad Meets Evil cohort Royce da 5′9″ go underground, emerging to the sight of thousands of lanterns lighting up the sky." Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly gave a mixed review, criticizing the lack of sufficient lighting in the video. However, he praised the final scene of glowing lanterns, naming it "the most compellingly beautiful thing to appear in an Eminem video." The music video was nominated for the category International Video of the Year – Group at the 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards. ==Live performances==

Eminem and Royce da 5'9" made their debut live performance as Bad Meets Evil for "Fast Lane" and "Lighters" at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. They were accompanied by Eminem's hypeman from D12, Mr. Porter, The live show was complemented with animated lighters displayed on the background screen, In the beginning of the show, Eminem asked the audience to hold their lighters, if they had brought one, which most of them did. The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Bonnaroo's crowd may be a hippie enclave, but you wouldn't have known it Saturday night." Piet Levy from USA Today named the show "the evening's highlight". Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly called the show "a set heavy on hard-spat hits". Gil Kaufman from MTV News thought the chorus was "a feathery pop sheen to the harder-edge". "Lighters" was included on Eminem's set list at V2011 (V Festival), which took place in Staffordshire and Chelmsford on August 20 and 21, 2011, respectively. In 2013, Bad Meets Evil performed the song on Pukkelpop. Occasionally, Mars also sung the track solo on his first tour, The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour (2010–12). ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Hell: The Sequel. • Eminem – lead vocals, songwriting, production, mixing • Royce da 5'9" – lead vocals, songwriting • Bruno Mars – lead vocals, songwriting • Philip Lawrence – songwriting • Ari Levine – songwriting, recording • The Smeezingtons – production • Roy Battle – songwriting, production, engineering • Luis Resto – additional keyboards • Asar – recording • Joe Strange – engineering assistant • Mike Strange – recording, mixing • Brian Gardner – mastering ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==