Disco Neil (left), Moliy, and Silent Addy on the set of the video shoot for Shake it to the Max at Uptown Mondayz in March.
Shake it to the Max, the viral hit single by Ghanaian-American singer Moliy featuring Jamaican dancehall stars, Skillibeng and Shenseea, continues to dominate the local and international airwaves.
For the past few months, the infectious single has had the music industry in its grip and continues to climb the global charts.
So firm is its hold on the music scene that the song’s producers believe that the project will only get better with time, they are predicting further greatness as the single continues its record-breaking, chart-topping rise.
Having entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart last week at #91, Shake It to the Max, in its second week on the globally renowned listing, has climbed a whopping 26 places to land at the #65 spot this week. The song also made its début on the coveted Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, coming in at #14, the highest entry for a song featuring a Jamaican.
The hit single is also on the Billboard Global 200 chart. In its sixth week on that listing the track also climbed a few places moving up from #27 last week to a new peak position at #12.
But Shake it to the Max isn’t just a force on the various Billboard charts as it is also enjoying immense success on the popular streaming platform YouTube. On the local end, the single has held the #1 spot for the past three months, gaining in excess of 54 million views since its release on March 15. It has also made its way onto the platform’s global trending song chart, holding the #27 spot.
Breaking onto the global trending chart on YouTube is no easy feat as the top songs on that listing feature songs with billions of views from top international acts, including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and Billie Eilish.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer’s Splash, Shake it to the Max producers Disco Neil and Silent Addy are confident the song’s global rise will continue for months to come.
“We had a vision when we did this song of making something that’s infectious and can work in the club circuit and could be played anywhere subsequently. We didn’t know, however, how far down that rabbit hole it would go. The response has been amazing and it’s been more than we could have expected in a way but we also envisioned it and worked towards it,” said Disco Neil.
“It was amazing how quickly everything happened. But that’s how the Internet and music and everything works. Once you put something into the world it can go viral almost instantly and it’s amazing to watch,” he continued, pointing out that adding Shenseea and Skillibeng to Moliy’s track added another explosive layer to the single that gave it fresh legs.
“Moliy killed that song. She sounded good on the track, she’s an incredible writer and so the song was already doing numbers and going hot, but those are two international superstars so their addition took things to the next level. Shen added her dance and that went viral and Skilli’s flow added to the fuel.”
Silent Addy, in agreeing with his musical partner, said Shenseea and Skillibeng having an international pull of their own, also worked in the song’s favour.
“Shen and Skilli have huge platforms and them posting the track and introducing it to different celebrities absolutely added to the organic success. But overall the song was just a good song. There was no going around that,” he said.
“People hear it and love it whether they love dancehall or not. I think the rhythm had a lot to do with that also. The record is just infectious and I feel like us being deejays and being on the front lines also helped. We know what people are into, what they like, what they will dance to. We know global audiences and that was also a winning element for the song.”
Outlining that with the song naturally achieving success without much marketing pull at present, the producers say they’re not necessarily thinking about what needs to be done to replicate the track’s success.
For them, the foundation has already been set and they’re just watching what will unfold much like the rest of the world. Still, even as they sit back and watch the single skyrocket, the duo is hoping to see the song being added to film soundtracks. According to them, the latter is always a key marker in a song’s global rise and is evidence of international dominance.
“The business side was dealt with properly from the beginning so this is not one of those songs that will buss and you won’t see the rewards. We’re good and we just want it to continue to soar. Every big artiste, big label, big production company knows about Shake It to the Max so we’re looking forward to even bigger opportunities, maybe some film legwork,” said Disco Neil.
“The hardest thing is getting through those doors and getting recognition that will earn you that level of consideration [movie soundtracks]. Now we’re just cruising and waiting for the song to continue doing what it has been doing,” Silent Addy chimed in.
“Those are about to start rolling in now that we’ve gotten to the Billboard level and so things are on the way, where that is concerned. I’m sure it will be in some kind of movie, commercial, or TV campaign in the future,” added Silent Addy.