Don't_Go_(Skrillex,_Justin_Bieber_and_Don_Toliver_song)

Don't Go (Skrillex, Justin Bieber and Don Toliver song)

Don't Go (Skrillex, Justin Bieber and Don Toliver song)

2021 single by Skrillex, Justin Bieber, and Don Toliver


"Don't Go" is a song by American record producer Skrillex, Canadian singer Justin Bieber, and American rapper and singer Don Toliver. It was released as a single through Atlantic Records and Owsla on August 20, 2021. Production was handled by Skrillex and Harv, while the vocals were handled by Bieber and Toliver. All four wrote the song alongside Poo Bear, Beam, Aldae, Carlton McDowell, Jr., Jordan Douglas, and Drew Gold.

Quick Facts from the album, Released ...

Background

Speaking about "Don't Go", Skrillex explained that he thought of Bieber while creating the instrumental, with Toliver later being part of the song. He further said: "The song is a beautiful mess of organic energy melting together. For every 100 people listening to it, I hope there are 100 different interpretations".[1] The song was originally supposed to appear on Bieber's sixth studio album, Justice (2021), but did not end up making the final cut of the album, which led to the song later being released as a single as himself and Skrillex thought that it was "fire".[2]

Composition and lyrics

"Don't Go" is an R&B song that is set in the key of B major with a tempo of 135 beats per minute.[3][4] It contains "vibrant" bass-heavy production and finds Bieber and Toliver singing about their respective significant others to remain by their side. On the chorus, Bieber sings: "I put in the work to hear you say (Don't go, don't—)/ Misery missin' your company (Don't go, don't go)/ See 'em pullin' at you that way (Don't go, don't)/ Ooh, if this is where you supposed to be (Don't go)".[5] Bieber and Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi discussed a similar theme on their chart-topping 2021 single, "Stay".

Release and promotion

On October 28, 2020, Skrillex and Bieber were seen recording in a music studio alongside producers and songwriters Harv and Poo Bear, along with Jon Bellion, Maejor, and Ant Clemons, among others.[6] The two announced the collaboration and release date of the song on August 16, 2021.[7] Two days later, the two artists revealed the title of the song along with a snippet, in which the cover art was revealed as part of the pre-save.[8]

Critical reception

Upon release, "Don't Go" received positive reviews from music critics, majority of whom praised Skrillex's production and his chemistry with Bieber on the track. Two days before the song was released, on August 18, 2021, Jason Heffler of EDM felt that Skrillex, Bieber, and Toliver have "cooked up a woozy R&B banger, a slow-burner rife with the hypnotic yet forceful bass of a contemporary Skrillex production", basing it on the snippet that was shared that day.[9] Karlie Powell of Your EDM stated that "the production is smooth as can be with a booming baseline, accented by creative rhythm and flow" and "if it sounds like a hit, it's probably a hit!".[10] Writing for Billboard, Katie Bain felt that "the song is a dreamy R&B number, with Skrillex's production sitting well back to enable Bieber and Toliver's vocals to dominate".[11] Shaad D'Souza of Paper wrote that the pairing of Bieber and Skrillex resulted in "a woozier, looser song than we've come to expect", but still called it "brilliant and infectious".[12] Uproxx's Carolyn Droke felt that the combination of "acoustic guitar and a network of electronic notes for a moving beat" made for "intricate production".[13] Issy Sampson of The Guardian called the track "a moody, moany banger" and "an overdue return to form for the Bieber".[14]

Music video

The official music video for "Don't Go", directed by Salomon Ligthelm, premiered to Skrillex's YouTube channel alongside the song on August 20, 2021. It sees himself, Bieber, and Toliver surrounded in an art museum that shows art of them at different exhibits. The paintings have tears coming from them. Before the video ends, all artists turn to gold.[15]

Credits and personnel

  • Skrillex – production, songwriting, all instruments, programming, mixing
  • Justin Bieber – vocals, songwriting
  • Don Toliver – vocals, songwriting
  • Harv – production, songwriting, guitar, all instruments, programming
  • Poo Bear – songwriting
  • Beam – songwriting
  • Aldae – songwriting
  • Carlton McDowell, Jr. – songwriting, guitar
  • Jordan Douglas – songwriting
  • Drew Gold – songwriting, recording
  • Josh Gudwin – vocal production, recording
  • Derek "206Derek" Anderson – recording
  • Dhamari Trice Hanson “Dusjni” - guitar production
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing
  • Mike Bozzi – mastering

Charts

More information Chart (2021–2023), Peak position ...

Release history

More information Country, Date ...

References

  1. "Skrillex: Exploring New Sound on "Don't Go" with Justin Bieber and Don Toliver | Apple Music". August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021 via YouTube.
  2. Lavin, Will (August 20, 2021). "Skrillex calls on Justin Bieber and Don Toliver for new single 'Don't Go'". NME. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. Moore, Sonny; Bieber, Justin; Toliver, Caleb; Harvey, Bernard; Boyd, Jason; Beam (rapper), Tyshane; Hein, Gregory; McDowell, Jr., Carlton; Douglas, Jordan; Gold, Drew. "Don't Go". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  4. Lavin, Will (August 20, 2021). "Skrillex calls on Justin Bieber and Don Toliver for new single 'Don't Go'". NME. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  5. Heffler, Jason (August 16, 2021). "Skrillex Reunites With Justin Bieber for New Collab With Don Toliver". EDM. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  6. "Skrillex teases new song with Justin Bieber and Don Toliver - We Rave You". OLT News. August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  7. Powell, Karlie (August 19, 2021). "Justin Bieber Teases New Song "Don't Go" with Skrillex & Don Toliver Out Tomorrow [PREVIEW]". Your EDM. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  8. Bain, Katie (August 20, 2021). "Skrillex, Justin Bieber & Don Toliver Team Up for 'Don't Go': Stream It Now". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  9. D'Souza, Shaad (August 20, 2021). "Sound Off: 10 New Songs You Need to Hear Now". Paper. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  10. Droke, Carolyn (August 24, 2021). "All The Best New Pop Music From This Week". Uproxx. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  11. Sampson, Issy (September 3, 2021). "This week's tracks: Blackstarkids, Justin Bieber, Natalie Imbruglia". The Guardian. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  12. Legaspi, Althea (August 20, 2021). "Skrillex, Justin Bieber, Don Toliver Link Up on New Song 'Don't Go'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  13. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  14. "Billboard Japan Hot Overseas [ 2021/09/01 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  15. "Dutch Single Tip" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. August 28, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  16. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  17. Arvunescu, Victor (September 20, 2021). "Top Airplay 100 - Toată lumea vrea să asculte piesa lui Masked Wolf!" [Top Airplay 100 - Everybody wants to listen to Masked Wolf's song!] (in Romanian). Un site de muzică. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  18. "Local & International Streaming Chart Top 100: 20/08/2021 to 26/08/2021". The Official South African Charts. Recording Industry of South Africa. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  19. "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Don't_Go_(Skrillex,_Justin_Bieber_and_Don_Toliver_song), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.