“Friday” by Riton (ft. Nightcrawlers)

As far as dance songs go, you already know what “Friday” entails. That is the onset of the weekend, the time of the week where partygoers are afforded the opportunity to visit their favorite spots and do their thing in the midst of bumpin’ sounds and likeminded individuals.

Also as commonly found in dance songs, said vocalist is someone who is stressed out or depressed. And their only form of stress relief would be spending time in the afore-described type of scenario. And such is also a thematic element found in this tune.

So with that in mind, the first verse reads as if maybe for instance she the narrator is trying to get over a toxic relationship. Or there is something in her mind that she has been holding onto for a long time that is troubling her. So she is very much looking forward to Friday. That is when she intends to go out and basically have the time of her life for as long as the weekend allows.

Then in the second verse, she comes off as if maybe she’s a newbie or that she is describing her first club experience. And accordingly, she has some reservations about being in the club.  But she concludes that what is transpiring ‘can’t be bad for her’, because she likes it. 

She enjoys ‘feeling the bass vibrating through the floor’ and into her body. So she ends up being enraptured and addicted to clubbing, if you will. Moreover, she and her ilk materialize into the types of individuals who not only idealize such weekends but also spend the rest of the more-appealing weekdays anticipating them.

Finally

So again, thematically “Friday” is nothing revolutionary. Indeed we have come across enough tracks based on this same subject matter to conclude that is clubbing a viable form of stress relief for some individuals. And as such some of these individuals, like the vocalist at hand, form a dependency on it to serve such a purpose.

Facts about “Friday”

The sample upon which this song is based is derived from two sources. First and foremost is a track Nightcrawlers dropped back in ’92 entitled “Push the Feeling On”. At that time, Nightcrawlers are a house band from Scotland that formed that very year under John Reid. 

And Reid, alongside his former Nightcrawlers’ bandmates Ross Campbell and Hugh Brankin, are credited as co-writers of Friday.

In 1995 the aforementioned Nightcrawlers’ track was remixed by an American DJ known as MK under the title “Push the Feeling On (MK Dub Revisited Edit)”. Chart-wise, it proved exponentially more successful than the original. And that particular version of “Push the Feeling On” is also sampled into “Friday”.

Other co-writers of “Friday” include a pair known as Mufasa and Hypeman. They are two Virginia-based internet celebrities specializing in dancing, with the latter literally serving as the hypeman for the former. 

Also concerning “Push the Feeling On (MK Dub Revisited Edit)”, Mustafa and Hypeman contributed to the song garnering viral notoriety in 2020. Interestingly enough, in the process of promoting the song, they became famous themselves. And it was apparently their utilization of the tune which inspired Riton to put this song together.

Samantha Harper, Renny Wilson and Riton

The track’s lead vocalist, Samantha Harper, also gets songwriter credit. She is a singer and songwriter from London who has a notable history working in conjunction with South Korean superstars BTS.

And the seventh and final name on the list of authors of “Friday” is Renny Wilson, a singer from Canada.

Meanwhile Riton is a DJ/producer from a part of England known as Newcastle upon Tyne. Being 42 years of age at the release of this track, he has actually been professionally active since 2001. And the success of “Friday” has proven to be his biggest hit to date. And that date would be 15 January 2021, when this track was officially released by the London-based Ministry of Sound.

Success of “Friday”

“Friday” topped music charts in Poland and Belgium, in addition to breaking the top five of the UK Singles Chart. Moreover it has charted in dozens of nations and has represented stateside also. There, it made it onto the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs list. And it has also gone gold in a handful of European countries.

Who directed the Music Video for “Friday”?

The music video to this track was directed by Remi Laudat, a former dancer himself.