Me & U

"Me & U" is the debut single by American singer Cassie. It was released on April 25, 2006, as the lead single from her eponymous debut album, Cassie (2006). It was written and produced by Ryan Leslie. The song reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. It remained in the top forty for nearly five months.

"Me & U"
Original CD single cover
Single by Cassie
from the album Cassie
ReleasedApril 25, 2006 (2006-04-25)
Recorded2005
GenreR&B[1]
Length3:11
Label
Songwriter(s)Ryan Leslie
Producer(s)Ryan Leslie
Cassie singles chronology
"Me & U"
(2006)		 "Long Way 2 Go"
(2006)
Alternative cover
Digital and promotional cover
Music video
"Me & U" on YouTube

The song's "Bad Boy" remix features Diddy and Yung Joc and the song's "The Inc" remix features Ja Rule and Harry-O. The single has been a successful debut as a top three single in the U.S., a top five single in New Zealand, a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France, and a top twenty song in Australia. The song is featured on DANCE! Online, a multiplayer online casual video game, Saints Row 2 (2008), and in the PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows and Xbox One versions of Grand Theft Auto V (2014). It was meant to be featured in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Grand Theft Auto V (2013), but was removed for unknown reasons. "Me & U" is also heavily sampled in the 2013 song "Cool" by Le Youth.

The song was considered "a slinky, vintage-sounding track with a hypnotic, snake-charming whistle," and likened to imitating Janet Jackson.[2] The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 14, 2006.[3] It was also certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry.[4] According to Billboard, the song is about sex.[5] The song is performed in the key of G♯ minor with a tempo of 100 beats per minute.[6]

Music video

In the music video, Cassie comes in at the dance studio with her cellphone which is playing part of the chorus to "Me & U" while improvising some lyrics that were not in the original song. She puts the song on and begins to dance and sing along, hurting herself while doing a spinning move, changing her different outfit and then being able to successfully complete the spinning move later on. The video is directed by Ray Kay.[7]

The video was inspired by Janet Jackson's "The Pleasure Principle" video, described as evoking Jackson's "impromptu solo dance rehearsal" during the video's mirror scenes.[2] Cassie stated "I'm a diehard Janet Jackson fan. A lot of people compare my video for "Me & U" to hers for "Pleasure Principle." "I was just rehearsing in the studio, they filmed me and the record label thought it would be great for the video. I'd love to emulate her career. She's incredible, from her moves to her voice."[8]

In July 2006 an unreleased, low-budget and suggestive video for "Me & U" appeared on YouTube. This video was in stark contrast to the more polished video that was shown on mainstream media outlets. Initially, it was removed from most websites but continued to appear on file sharing networks and eventually appeared again on the internet. Cassie has gone on record to denounce the original video (directed by Little X), which depicts her singing to an unidentified man at a nightclub before taking him to a hotel room where Cassie is depicted kneeling below him while caressing his genital area and then unbuckling his pants in night vision. Cassie's management maintains that the low-budget, risqué version was released only for international audiences.

Chart performance

The single became Cassie's most popular single to date, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks from July 22 to August 12, 2006. It was held off the top spot by "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland and "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley which locked up the top two spots while "Me & U" was in third place. It stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay for 7 weeks. Following that chart's domination by Yung Joc's "It's Goin' Down", Bad Boy Records once again dominated a chart for much of a summer as it had done on the Hot 100 in 1997. "Me & U" also reached the top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In the UK, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number twenty-three and, within a week's time, rose to a number six, remaining there for a week before dropping down to number nine. The song also did well around the rest of Europe, including France, Germany, and Ireland.

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[45] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA)[47] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history
Country Date Format Label Ref.
United States April 25, 2006 12" Bad Boy [48]
United States May 16, 2006 Digital download [49]
United Kingdom June 20, 2006 CD single [50]
United Kingdom August 14, 2006 Digital download [51]
United States August 22, 2006 12" (remixes) [52]

References
  1. Morgan, Eleanor (November 30, 2012). "Cassie's constant disappearing acts merely fuel her mystique". The Guardian. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  2. Cinquemani, Sal (August 7, 2006). "Cassie : Cassie - Music Review - Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2007. Retrieved October 11, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/
  5. M. Tye Comer; Mariel Concepcion; Monica Herrera; Jessica Letkemann; Evie Nagy & David J. Prince (February 11, 2010). "The 50 Sexiest Songs Of All Time". Billboard. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  6. "Me & U - Cassie - Spot On Track". www.spotontrack.com. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  7. "Ray Kay". mvdbase.com. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  8. "Cassie dismisses 'copycat' claims". ChinaDaily. August 8, 2006. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  9. "Australian-charts.com – Cassie – Me & U". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  10. "ARIA Report 888" (PDF). ARIA. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  11. "Austriancharts.at – Cassie – Me & U" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Cassie – Me & U" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Cassie – Me & U" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  14. "Danishcharts.com – Cassie – Me & U". Tracklisten. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  15. "Cassie Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  16. "Cassie – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for Cassie. Retrieved June 22, 2016. (subscription required)
  17. "Cassie: Me & U" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  18. "Lescharts.com – Cassie – Me & U" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  19. "Deutsche Black Charts". Trendcharts. Media Control. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016.
  20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Cassie – Me & U". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  21. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Me & U". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  22. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 2006" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Cassie – Me & U" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  24. "Charts.nz – Cassie – Me & U". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  25. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  26. "Swedishcharts.com – Cassie – Me & U". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  27. "Swisscharts.com – Cassie – Me & U". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  28. "Cassie: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  29. "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  30. "Cassie Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  31. "Cassie Chart History (Dance Mix/Show Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  32. "Cassie Chart History (Hot Latin Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  33. "Cassie Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  34. "Cassie - Chart history - Pop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  35. "Cassie Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  36. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2006". ARIA. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  37. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Urban Singles 2006". ARIA. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  38. "The Year in Music and Touring 2006 (Vol. 118, No. 51)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 23, 2006. ISSN 0006-2510.
  39. "Disque en France - Classement Singles - année 2006". Disqueenfrance.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
  40. "Swiss Year-end singles chart for 2006". Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  41. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2006" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  42. "Hot 100 2006 Year-end chart". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  43. "The Decade In Music - Special Double Issue (Vol. 121, No. 50)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 19, 2009. ISSN 0006-2510.
  44. "Bad Boy Records on Billboard's 2000-2009 Decade-End Charts". Badboyblog.com. December 21, 2009.
  45. "Canadian certifications – Cassie – Me + U". Music Canada. August 9, 2007.
  46. "British single certifications – Cassie – Me & U". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 4, 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Me & U in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  47. "American single certifications – Cassie – Me & U". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 20, 2014. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  48. https://www.amazon.com/Me-U-Vinyl-Cassie/dp/B000F5GODM
  49. https://www.amazon.com/Me-U-94354-6-Cassie/dp/B0011Z51RU
  50. "Me & U". June 20, 2006 – via Amazon.
  51. "Me & U (U.K. 12") by Cassie on Amazon Music - Amazon.co.uk". www.amazon.co.uk.
  52. https://www.amazon.com/Me-U-Vinyl-Cassie/dp/B000GW8S74
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