Get Your Number

"Get Your Number"
Single by Mariah Carey featuring Jermaine Dupri
from the album The Emancipation of Mimi
Released	October 3, 2005
Format	CD single
Recorded	Southside Studios, Atlanta and Honeywest Studios, New York City
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	3:15
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Johntá Austin, John Phillips, A. Ingram, S. Jolley, A. Swain
Producer	Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, LRoc
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Shake It Off" (2005)	"Get Your Number" (2005)	"Don't Forget About Us" (2005)
Jermaine Dupri singles chronology
"I Think They Like Me" (2005)	"Get Your Number" (2005)	"Fresh Azimiz" (2005)

"Get Your Number" is a song co-written by American singer Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Johntá Austin and Bryan-Michael Cox, and recorded by Carey for her fourteenth album The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). Co-produced by Carey, Dupri (who is a featured artist on the song) and LRoc, it is built around a |sample of "Just an Illusion" by the band Imagination and it also contains background vocals from Trey Lorenz. The song's protagonists are in a nightclub about to close for the night, but before they leave the man pleads with Carey for her phone number, intending to take her out later and "show you what I'm all about." It is the first in which Carey and Dupri "switch sides": Carey does some rapping and Dupri some singing.

Composition

"Get Your Number" began as an unfinished instrumental track with the song's sample that Dupri had created for his own forthcoming album. Carey was surprised to hear him actually singing, as he usually only raps. He invited her to sing the chorus, but she thought her version of the song was not as good as his. Inspired by his voice, she decided to make the track reserved for his album her song, turning it into a duet with Dupri retaining his sung parts of the chorus and her doing the verses and some raps. Carey said of the song, "a lot of people like it 'cause [it gives] you kind of like a 'Fantasy' type-feeling."^[1]

Release

The single was not released in the United States, however it was released as the album's third single throughout Europe and Asia; in some countries it was a double A-side with "Shake It Off," and in Australia it was released as the album's fifth single in 2006.

The double A-side was released in the United Kingdom and debuted within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, which made The Emancipation of Mimi Carey's first album since Daydream (1995) to produce three UK top ten singles. The single performed moderately elsewhere in Europe (where promotion of the double A-side was concentrated on "Shake It Off"), reaching the top twenty in the majority of markets, and it also hit the top twenty in Australia. Some pressings of the single include the song "Secret Love," which was originally a bonus track from the Japanese edition of The Emancipation of Mimi.

The song was released as the third official single in Asia; however, the song failed to chart in major countdowns which led to the release of "Don't Forget About Us" in the region.

Music video

The single's music video was directed by Jake Nava, who also directed Carey's video for "Shake It Off." It was filmed in Los Angeles on September 1 and 2, 2005. The main setting is a nightclub where Carey slips her phone number to a man (played by Michael Ealy), one digit at a time. Carey is shown in a variety of locations wearing, amongst other outfits, a lime green PVC dress. Dupri also makes a guest appearance as a man receiving the numbers of three girls in the club. The video did not receive substantial television airplay until after the single's release as the "Shake It Off" video was used to promote the double A-side in the UK on music video channels, while "Get Your Number" was the song heavily promoted on radio.

Formats and track listings

European CD single

1. "Get Your Number"
2. "Shake It Off" (Remix featuring Jay-Z and Young Jeezy)

European CD single

1. "Get Your Number"
2. "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul Radio Edit)

UK CD single

1. "Get Your Number"
2. "Shake It Off"

Australian/European CD maxi-single

1. "Get Your Number"
2. "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul Radio Edit)
3. "Secret love"
4. "Get Your Number" (Video)

UK CD maxi-single

1. "Get Your Number"
2. "Shake It Off"
3. "Secret love"

Charts

¹ "Get Your Number"/"Shake It Off"

References