Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj’s ‘Bang Bang’ Notches Two Billion YouTube Views
Those loud bangs you’re hearing are not pre-Fourth of July fireworks, but the sound of Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj‘s 2014 collaboration “Bang Bang” cruising past the two billion views mark on YouTube.
The high water spot for the official video for the song from J’s third album, Sweet Talker, marks Jessie’s first clip to reach the double billie mark; Grand and Minaj scaled that height earlier thanks to the video for their 2016 collaboration on Ari’s “Side to Side.”
The visual filmed in Los Angeles was directed by Hannah Lux Davis (Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus) and it opens with footage of Grande getting primped, Minaj walking to a helicopter and J exiting a muscle car in black pants, suspenders and a bra on a sweltering afternoon as a group of dancers join her for a traffic-stopping routine. As J makes her way down the boulevard, Grande pulls off her own dance part in a neon-lit bedroom and Minaj flies in to a heliport for a fierce rooftop verse.
The trio finally unite on top of the building as they dance it out while the city streets are emblazoned with pink lights.
“Bang Bang” was co-written by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Rickard Göransson, Grande and Minaj and co-produced by Martin, Göransson and Ilya Almanzadeh; the song was also included on the deluxe edition of Grande’s sophomore album, My Everything. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as topping the U.K. singles chart and earning a nomination for best pop duo/group performance at the 57th Grammy Awards.
Watch the “Bang Bang” video below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard