Breathe (Blu Cantrell song)

"Breathe" was originally recorded for the Bittersweet album without Sean Paul, but his vocals were added for the single release. The song uses a slightly altered instrumental of Dr. Dre's 1999 song "What's the Difference" featuring Eminem and Xzibit,^[2] which in turn revolved around a sample from Charles Aznavour's 1966 song "Parce Que Tu Crois".^[3][4] In an interview with the Metro, when asked what it was like to work with Dre, Cantrell said, "It was a remix, so I never actually got to meet him. They were his beats, but it was actually produced by another girl, Andrea Martin, and Ivan Matias. If I had to choose, I much prefer the remix to the original."^[5]

The music video was directed by Hype Williams.^{[citation needed]}

"Breathe" did not achieve the same level of success as Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" in her native US, peaking at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2003,^[6] but did stay on the chart for 20 weeks.^[7]

The song achieved greater success outside of the United States. In the United Kingdom, "Breathe" debuted and peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart on August 3, 2003 – for the week ending date August 9, 2003, becoming both Cantrell's and Paul's first chart-topping song in Britain.^[8] It spent four weeks at the summit of the chart, replacing Daniel Bedingfield's "Never Gonna Leave Your Side".^[9] "Breathe" was eventually dethroned from the top of the chart by the 2003 remix of Elton John's "Are You Ready for Love".^[9] It became Britain's eighth-biggest-selling single of 2003, with sales of 330,000,^[9] and has since sold over 410,000 copies there.^[9]

Credits are taken from the UK CD single liner notes.^[13]

Studio

• Recorded and mixed at Sound on Sound Recording Studios (New York City)

Personnel

• List of Romanian Top 100 number ones of the 2000s