Forget the World (Afrojack album)

Forget the World is the debut studio album by Dutch music producer and DJ Afrojack. It was released on 16 May 2014.[1] Afrojack said of the album title, "It's basically a message not just to my fans, but also to myself, to always remember to keep following your heart, keep following your path, and never try to let the things around you get you down."[2]

Forget the World
Studio album by Afrojack
Released	19 May 2014 (2014-05-19)
Genre	Electro house progressive house hip house
Label	Wall PM:AM Universal Def Jam Island
Producer	Afrojack DJ Buddha (also exec.) Polow da Don (also exec.) Thomas Deelder (exec.) Hugo Langras (exec.) Chantal Kreviazuk D-Wayne Andrew Kierszenbaum Tearce Kizzo Leroy Styles Jared Leto Dan Grech-Marguerat
Afrojack chronology
It's a Matter Of... (2013) Forget the World (2014) NLW EP (2015)
Singles from Forget the World
"As Your Friend" Released: 13 February 2013 "The Spark" Released: 11 October 2013 "Ten Feet Tall" Released: 3 February 2014 "Dynamite" Released: 17 April 2014

Singles

"As Your Friend" featuring Chris Brown was released on 13 February 2013. It reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] The song appears on the album as a bonus track on the deluxe version.

"The Spark" featuring Spree Wilson was released as the album's lead single on 11 October 2013. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 17.[4]

"Ten Feet Tall" featuring Wrabel was released on 3 February 2014, as the album's second single. It was released in the UK on 18 May 2014, alongside the David Guetta remix[5][6] 2 days after the album's release.

"Dynamite" featuring Snoop Dogg was released on 17 April 2014, as the album's third single.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	49/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
USA Today	[11]
Paste	3.3/10[12]

At Rolling Stone, Christopher R. Weingarten rated the album three stars out of five, stating that "anything that's not glowing with Afrojack's trademark explosions and monster melodies... is a blown opportunity."[10] David Jeffries of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five, writing that "Forget the World plays more like a collection of 12"s than a well-tempered album."[8] At USA Today, Elysa Gardner rated the album three stars out of five, saying that "these new tracks represent EDM at its most breezily accessible".[11] Paul McInnes of The Guardian rated the album one star out of five, stating that the release has only "one truly poignant moment."[9]

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number 32 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 8,000 copies. It also debuted at number two on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart.[13]

Track listing

Standard version[14]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Ten Feet Tall" (featuring Wrabel)	Stephen Wrabel Chris Braide Nick van de Wall	Afrojack	3:49
2.	"Illuminate" (with Matthew Koma)	van de Wall Koma	Afrojack	4:37
3.	"Born to Run" (featuring Tyler Glenn)	van de Wall Chantal Kreviazuk Bobby Andonov Sam Watters Clarence Coffee, Jr. Tim McEwan Urales Vargas Jamal Jones	Afrojack Chantal Kreviazuk^[a] DJ Buddha^[a] Polow da Don^[a]	4:53
4.	"Freedom" (with D-Wayne featuring Jack McManus)	McManus van de Wall Dwayne Megens	Afrojack D-Wayne	4:03
5.	"The Spark" (featuring Spree Wilson)	van de Wall Joseph Young III Mark Evan Maxwell	Afrojack	4:00
6.	"Dynamite" (featuring Snoop Dogg)	van de Wall Calvin Broadus, Jr. Vargas Jones	Afrojack DJ Buddha^[a] Polow da Don^[a]	3:48
7.	"Too Wild" (featuring Wiz Khalifa and Devin Cruise)	van de Wall Cameron Thomaz Devin Montgomery Vargas Jones	Afrojack	3:53
8.	"Three Strikes" (featuring Jack McManus)	van de Wall McManus	Afrojack	4:56
9.	"Catch Tomorrow" (featuring Sting)	van de Wall Andy Sherman Dorothy Sherman Vargas Bilal Hajji Andrew Kierszenbaum Paolo "Shirazi" Prudencio Tiërce Person	Afrojack Andrew Kierszenbaum^[a] Tearce Kizzo^[a]	3:06
10.	"We'll Be Ok" (featuring Wrabel)	van de Wall Wrabel Oliver Goldstein John Martin Michel Zitron Christian Walz Josh Abraham	Afrojack	5:19
11.	"Mexico" (featuring Shirazi)	Paolo "Shirazi" Prudencio Van der wall	Afrojack DJ Buddha^[a] Polow da Don^[a]	4:51
12.	"Keep Our Love Alive" (with Matthew Koma)	Nicholas Audino Twice as Nice Lewis Hughes Twice as Nice van de Wall Koma Vargas	Afrojack	4:12

Deluxe version additional tracks[15]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Faded"	van de Wall Vargas Jones	Afrojack DJ Buddha^[a] Polow da Don^[a]	3:08
14.	"As Your Friend" (featuring Chris Brown)	Chris Brown van de Wall Leroy Ghazi Nadir Sakir Vargas Jones	Afrojack Leroy Styles^[a] DJ Buddha^[a] Polow da Don^[a]	4:52
15.	"Do or Die (Remix)" (vs. Thirty Seconds to Mars)	Jared Leto van de Wall	Afrojack^[b] Thirty Seconds to Mars^[b]	4:38
16.	"Sovereign Light Café (Afrojack Remix)" (vs. Keane)	Tim Rice-Oxley Tom Chaplin Richard Hughes Jesse Quin	Dan Grech-Marguerat Afrojack^[b]	4:55

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies a remixer
• "Freedom" features a sample from "Hero" by Nas.

Personnel

• Afrojack - primary artist, all instrumentation (drums, keyboards), all programming (drum, keyboard, MIDI), orchestral arrangements, arranger, engineer, mixing, producer, remixing, additional production
• DJ Buddha - executive producer, all programming (drum, keyboard, MIDI), arranger, engineer, mixing, co-producer
• Polow da Don - executive producer, all programming (drum, keyboard, MIDI), arranger, engineer, mixing, co-producer

Technical production

• Falco Borsboom - arranger, engineer
• Ruud Peeters - arranger, orchestral arrangements
• Ron Cuijpers - arranger
• Guido Dieteren - arranger
• Duncan Fuller - assistant (^)
• Dan Grech-Marguerat - engineer, mixing, mixing engineer (^)
• Randy Urbanski - engineer, mixing, vocal engineer
• Rob Mathes - engineer, vocal producer
• Jamie Siegel - engineer, vocal producer
• Tom Hough - engineer (^)
• Patrick Mühren - engineer (^)
• Paolo "Shirazi" Prudencio - Singer, Songwriter
• Jamie Schefman - engineer
• Jelle van der Voet - engineer
• D-Wayne - keyboard programming, MIDI programming
• Dave Kutch - mastering
• John Hanes - mixing engineer (^)
• Serban Ghenea - mixing (^)
• Dave Fridmann - programming (^)
• Matthew Koma - vocal engineer, vocal producer
• Greg Kurstin - vocal engineer, vocal producer
• Andrew Drucker - vocal engineer
• Jarett Holmes - vocal engineer
• Mark Evan Maxwell - vocal engineer
• Jesse Shatkin - vocal engineer
• Brian Springer - vocal engineer (^)
• Tim Pagnotta - vocal producer

Additional musicians

• Rob Zeguers - double bass
• Tim McEwan - guitar
• Dennis van Leeuwen - guitar
• Andrew Kierszenbaum - keyboards, piano
• Tearce Kizzo - keyboards, piano
• Guido Dieteren - orchestra leader
• Matthew Koma - vocals, guitar
• Wrabel - vocals, piano
• Paolo "Shirazi" Prudencio - background vocals, vocals
• Chris Brown - vocals
• Devin Cruise - vocals
• Tyler Glenn - vocals
• Jack McManus - vocals
• Snoop Dogg - vocals
• Spree Wilson - vocals
• Sting - vocals
• Wiz Khalifa - vocals
• Keane
  • Jesse Quin - backing vocals, bass, keyboards, percussion
  • Richard Hughes - backing vocals, drums, percussion
  • Tim Rice-Oxley - backing vocals, piano, percussion, keyboards
  • Tom Chaplin - lead vocals, keyboards

Guido's Orchestra

• Judith Groen - cello
• Marije de Jong - cello
• Nele Stuyck - cello
• Guido Rooyakkers - horn
• Cleo Simons - horn
• Lars Wachelder - horn
• Nadia al Hajjar - viola
• Anna Dushkina - viola
• Nadine Hilkens - viola
• Kim de Beer - violin
• Mariam Buzghulashvili - violin
• Ewelina Krysiak - violin
• Marta Lemanska - violin
• Annelieke Marselje - violin
• Marleen Matser - violin
• Julia Rusanovsky - violin
• Aleksandra Stadniczenko - violin
• Anne van Eck - violin

Other personnel

• Dean Gillard - A&R
• Daniel Werner - A&R
• Todd Russell - art direction, design
• Jasja Heijboer - booking
• Joel Zimmerman - booking
• Ryan Gillmor - digital editing
• Thomas Deelder - executive producer, management
• Hugo Langras - executive producer, management
• Dawn Miller - public relations

(^) = deluxe version

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[16][17]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position scope="row" Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 30 scope="row" Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 49 scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 34 scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 64 scope="row" Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 4 scope="row" French Albums (SNEP)[23] 195 scope="row" German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 46 Italian Albums (FIMI)[25] 51 scope="row" Japanese Albums (Oricon)[26] 26 scope="row" Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] 33 scope="row" Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[28] 96 scope="row" Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 21 scope="row" UK Albums (OCC)[30] 76 scope="row" UK Dance Albums (OCC)[31] 8 scope="row" US Billboard 200[32] 32 scope="row" US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[33] 2 scope="row" US Digital Albums (Billboard)[34] 12

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[35] 66

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Germany	16 May 2014	CD Digital download	PM:AM Universal Island Def Jam	[1]
France	19 May 2014			[36]
Spain				[37]
United Kingdom				[38]
United States				[39]
Canada	20 May 2014			[40]
Italy				[41]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Netherlands (NVPI)[42]	Gold	25,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Forget The World (Limited Deluxe Edition): Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de.
2. Marchese, David (13 March 2014). "Exclusive: Afrojack Announces Debut Album, 'Forget the World'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
3. "2013-06-15 Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company.
4. "2013-12-07 Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company.
5. "Ten Feet Tall (feat. Wrabel) - Single by Afrojack". itunes.apple.com.
6. "Ten Feet Tall (David Guetta Remix) [feat. Wrabel] - Single by Afrojack". itunes.apple.com.
7. "Forget the World - Afrojack". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
8. Jeffries, David (19 May 2014). "Forget the World - Afrojack | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
9. MacInnes, Paul (15 May 2014). "Afrojack: Forget the World review – EDM bangers with big-name guests". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
10. Weingarten, Christopher R. (19 May 2014). "Afrojack 'Forget the World' Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
11. Gardner, Elysa (19 May 2014). "Listen Up: Other notable releases". USA Today. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
12. Woodruff, Chase. "Afrojack: Forget the World Review". Paste Magazine. Paste Media Group. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
13. Gordon Murray, "Afrojack Stands 'Tall' On Dance, Electronic Charts", Billboard, May 30, 2014.
14. "iTunes - Music - Forget the World by Afrojack". itunes.apple.com.
15. "iTunes - Music - Forget the World (Deluxe Version) by Afrojack". itunes.apple.com.
16. "Forget the World - Afrojack Release Credits". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
17. "Forget the World [Deluxe Edition] - Afrojack Release Credits". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
18. "Austriancharts.at – Afrojack – Forget The World" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
19. "Australiancharts.com – Afrojack – Forget The World". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
20. "Ultratop.be – Afrojack – Forget The World" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
21. "Ultratop.be – Afrojack – Forget The World" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Afrojack – Forget The World" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
23. "Lescharts.com – Afrojack – Forget The World". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
24. "Officialcharts.de – Afrojack – Forget The World". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
25. "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 21 (dal 19-05-2014 al 25-05-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
26. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2014-06-02" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
27. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
28. "Spanishcharts.com – Afrojack – Forget The World". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Afrojack – Forget The World". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
30. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
31. "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
32. "Afrojack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
33. "Afrojack Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
34. "Afrojack Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
35. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2014". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
36. "Forget The World [Explicit]: Afrojack: Amazon.fr: Téléchargements MP3". Amazon.fr.
37. "Forget The World: Afrojack: Amazon.es: Tienda MP3". Amazon.es.
38. "Forget the World by Afrojack". itunes.apple.com.
39. "Amazon.com: Forget The World (Deluxe Explicit): Music". Amazon.com.
40. "Forget The World: Afrojack: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca.
41. "Forget The World: Afrojack: Amazon.it: Musica". Amazon.it.
42. "Dutch album certifications – Afrojack – Forget the world" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Forget the world in the "Artiest of titel" box.