Run It!

The song was recorded at The Hit Factory Criteria, in Miami, during the sessions for Brown's self-titled first studio album. Scott Storch talked about the making of the track in a 2020 interview: "At that moment in my life, I was literally on fire (..) And [Chris Brown] came in, he was just about to turn 16, and I didn’t know how to do anything except make you a hit record, like that’s the only thing I could do. I was in there every day, every minute, every hour in the studio. And it was me, Sean Garrett, and we literally, immediately, made something so effortlessly. And I had told him right before we started making it, I was like, ‘I’m about to make you a number one song and you’ll be a superstar.’"^[1] In a 2023 interview, Brown recalled that he felt "insecure" about releasing "Run It!" as his first single: "I [didn't] know if I liked the song, because I was too nervous in my head (..) but I knew I wanted to dance in it".^[2]

"Run It" was released as Brown's debut single on June 30, 2005, through digital distribution, as a solo version. On July 19, 2005, Jive and Zomba Records serviced the song to rhythmic crossover radio in the United States, with Juelz Santana being added as a featuring artist to it. They later solicited the song to contemporary hit radio on October 3, 2005.^[3] "Run It" was written and produced by Scott Storch and Sean Garrett, and features vocals by Juelz Santana.^[4] Santana's introduction on the song interpolates The Waitresses' 1980 single "I Know What Boys Like", written by Christopher Butler. The track is composed in the key of C♯ minor as a Crunk&B song, that was described for having "slinky synth beats", a "catchy chorus", and an "ominous, creepy background".^[5][4] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone compared the song's musicality to the 2004 single "Yeah!" by Usher, stating that it features a "mix of smooth seduction and cunning come-ons in Brown's baby-mack vocals."^[5]

The music video for "Run It!" was released on August 8, 2005.^[6] Directed by Erik White, it portrays an underground dance inside a school gym, where Brown meets a girl (Destiny Lightsy) that he is suddenly attracted to and with whom he wants to dance. The video features several dance sequences in which the males and females dance off against each other. During the sequences, Brown makes several movements toward his love interest. At the end, Brown and his love interest are about to kiss before the security guards arrive, and the whole gym is evacuated, with both of them pulled in separate directions. However, as soon as the guards find nobody there, they start dancing. The music video received two nominations at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards for "Best New Artist" and "Viewer's Choice", but lost to Avenged Sevenfold's "Bat Country" and Fall Out Boy's "Dance, Dance", respectively.^[7]

The music video on YouTube has received over 195 million views as of April 2024.^[8]

Lyana Robertson of Vibe, praised "Run It!" as a "prelude to what Brown would continue to do for the next decade: relentlessly disrupt the constructs of rhythm and blues", noting that with the song "the young singer began an evolution of the genre."^[9] Bill Lamb of About.com awarded "Run It!" a four-star rating, commending the song's backing music, Brown's voice, and chorus, but called it "another cookie cutter Scott Storch production."^[10] Andy Kellman of AllMusic noted it as one of the album's top tracks, commenting that the song's "way of tempering Brown's small-town innocence with hard-edged backing and a guest spot from an MC of ill repute is clearly a strategy to make the singer appeal to more than tween girls."^[4] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone commended the song calling it a "hot single".^[5] HotNewHipHop listed it among the singer's best singles, naming it "one of the most memorable early Chris Brown songs".^[11]

"Run It!" debuted at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated August 27, 2005.^[12] After eight weeks on the chart, the song entered the top ten at number eight on October 22, 2005, receiving the airplay gainer title.^[13] It gained the airplay title again in the following week, climbing to number two on the chart, where it stalled for a month.^[14] On November 26, 2005, "Run It!" peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, becoming Brown's first number one single on the chart, and making him the third youngest solo artist to top the chart, behind only Stevie Wonder and Peggy March, and the fourth youngest overall. That same week, the song was also at the top of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and the US Radio Songs.^[15] Two weeks later, it topped the US Pop Songs chart. The song remained on top of the Hot 100 for five weeks, becoming his longest lasting number one single on the chart.^[16] It was certified 3x multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of three million copies.^[17]

"Run It!" debuted and peaked at number one on the Australian Singles Chart in the issue dated January 29, 2006.^[18] The song remained at the top of the chart for three non-consecutive weeks and exited after fifteen weeks.^[18] It earned a gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of 35,000 copies.^[19] In New Zealand, the song entered the singles chart at number 39 on the week ending January 2, 2006.^[20] Six weeks later, the song peaked at the top of the chart, where it remained for one month.^[20] "Run It!" entered the Swiss Singles Chart at number twelve on the week ending February 12, 2006.^[21] In the next week, it peaked at number five and remained in the top ten for six consecutive weeks.^[21]

• Scott Storch – songwriting, production
• Sean Garrett – songwriting, production
• Brian Stanley – mix engineer
• Val Braithwaite – assistant mix engineer
• Mike Tschupp – assistant mix engineer
• Herb Powers Jr. – mastering engineer
• Charles McCrorey – recording engineer
• Conrad Golding – recording engineer
• Wayne Allison – recording engineer

Credits adapted from Chris Brown liner notes, Columbia Records.^[22]

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2005
• List of Billboard Mainstream Top 40 number-one songs of 2005
• List of number-one R&B singles of 2005 (U.S.)
• List of number-one singles in Australia in 2006
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s