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Magic! in 2014
Chart Beat
Chart Rewind: In 2014, Canadian Band Magic! Took 'Rude' To No. 1 on the Hot 100
Led by songwriter Nasri Atweh, who had already penned hits for Justin Bieber, the Canadian reggae fusion band topped the Billboard Hot 100 with their debut single, a rare feat.
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On July 26, 2014, a Canadian band pulled off impressive chart magic: hitting No. 1 in the U.S. with their debut single.
"Rude" by reggae fusion band Magic! was released in early 2014, as the lead single off their first album, Don't Kill The Magic.
The band, comprised of Toronto's Nasri Atweh, Mark Pellizzer, Ben Spivak and Alex Tanas, were signed to Sony Music. They had their own industry expert in the group. Atweh was already a successful songwriter at the time, co-writing hits for Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and New Kids On The Block.
Atweh's writing partner, Adam Messinger, helped pen "Rude" alongside the band, a song about asking a man for his daughter's hand in marriage and getting some rude feedback.
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The song gained momentum as the temperature heated up in North America, priming listeners for its laid-back energy. "Rude" entered the Billboard Hot 100 on May 10, at No. 97, beginning a three-month ascent. The band helped push the song to the top with TV performances, and it became seemingly ubiquitous on radio.
On July 26, it hit No. 1, where it would reign for six weeks — marking the first time since Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" in 2002 that a Canadian band held that spot.
The song peaked at No. 6 in Canada, and won a Juno for single of the year.
"Rude" is remembered as an outlier, a one-hit-wonder by a quirky Canadian band, but it wasn't the first time a Canadian reggae-inspired act had hit No. 1. That honour goes to Snow's 1993 smash "Informer."
It also shares some similarities with other 2013-14 hits like Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" as an upbeat, melodically-sunny single looking to Black-led musical styles, rather than the EDM-pop of the moment, for inspiration.
As for its one-hit-wonder status, that label can sometimes give the impression that bands like Magic! simply quit making music after hitting No. 1. They only had two more songs hit the U.S. Hot 100 after "Rude," with "Don't Kill The Magic" peaking at No. 53, but the band has released two more albums since their "Rude" success, with a single as recent as 2022. Atweh, meanwhile, has continued to make music with stars like H.E.R., Chloe & Halle, John Legend and more.
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Ten years later, the success of "Rude" isn't so uncommon, but it happens via different means. Plenty of artists now hit the charts with a first or second single, thanks to the potential for virality on TikTok. Yet the term "one-hit wonder" isn't tossed around as much — maybe because it's considered a radio phenomenon, and those "wonders" now tend to blow up online.
Meanwhile, even if "Rude" is the subject of some online derision, its streaming numbers — like its catchiness — are undeniable. It's part of Spotify's Billions Club, and the music video has over 2.5 billion views.
It's hard to imagine a song like "Rude" hitting No. 1 today. As critic Steven Hyden argues, it's from a time before pop music became as self-serious as it's been for much of the last decade. Hyden compares "Rude" to last year's one-hit-wonder, "Rich Men From North of Richmond" by Oliver Anthony Music, a song that succeeded because it was adopted as part of a right-wing political movement.
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But many of pop's breakouts this year — like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan — have succeeded through a sense of play and camp. Who knows where the future of pop will go? Maybe in ten years, yet another Canadian will bring reggae pop back to No. 1.
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