"Breathe" is a song by American recording artist Blu Cantrell from her second studio album, Bittersweet. A remixed version featuring Sean Paul was released as a single on March 28, 2003. The album version of this song was produced and co-written by Ivan Matias and Andrea Martin. The remix featuring Sean Paul was produced by Ivan Matias, Andrea Martin and Mark Pitts. The song peaked at 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside the United States, "Breathe" became a major hit in Europe, most notably in the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in August 2003.
Background and recording
"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, which in turn revolved around a sample from Charles Aznavour's 1966 song "Parce Que Tu Crois". 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."
Music video
The music video was directed by Hype Williams. This music video is not available on YouTube in the United States, but outside of the United States, where it is available to watch on YouTube, it has received over 40 million views.
Chart performance
"Breathe" did not achieve the same level of success as Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style " in her native US, peaking at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2003, but did stay on the chart for 20 weeks. 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. It spent four weeks at the summit of the chart, replacing Daniel Bedingfield's "Never Gonna Leave Your Side". "Breathe" was eventually dethroned from the top of the chart by the 2003 remix of Elton John's "Are You Ready for Love". It became Britain's eighth-biggest-selling single of 2003, with sales of 330,000, and has since sold over 410,000 copies there.
