On this month 8 years ago: The Chainsmokers release '#Selfie'

On 29 January 2014, American duo The Chainsmokers released their iconic big room house tune ‘#Selfie’ via Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak record label. Garnering worldwide recognition, the track catapulted the duo into the mainstream and paved the way for the success of their future albums and singles, the likes of ‘Closer’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’. ‘#Selfie’ was produced and inspired by Drew and Alex’s recognition of how the word and concept of a selfie (taking a photo of yourself) began taking off, and they wanted to make a tongue-and-cheek track parody to the narcissism of the concept.

The song itself was produced on-trend for the time, featuring jarring backbeats and simplistic drops, and spoken vocals from uncredited female singer Alexis Killacam. The record mirrors other viral songs of the early 2010s such as the ‘Harlem Shake’ and ‘The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)’. Lyrically, as stated earlier, the track delivers a parody of the ‘influencer’ world with references to Instagram lifestyle, the need to receive likes via social media and the desire to be loved online. It showed the harsh realities and covered issues we face in the modern-day world.

In the charts, the song took off quickly, assisted by its star-studded music video featuring cameos from some of the worlds most well-known celebrities such as Steve Aoki, Snoop Dog, and Ian Somerhalder. The song reached the top 20 position on the charts in multiple countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. It also peaked at No.1 on Billboards US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. Selling millions of copies, ‘#Selfie’ by The Chainsmokers is a perfect throwback to the world of electronic music in the early 2010s and one that is still listened to by millions yearly to this day.

Image Credit: Press