"The Man" is a song by American singer
Aloe Blacc. First included on his EP Wake Me Up, the song was later released as the second single from his third studio album, 2014's Lift Your Spirit, on
Interscope Records. Blacc co-wrote the track with
Sam Barsh, Daniel Seeff, and its producer
DJ Khalil and Alex Finkin. Additionally,
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin are credited as songwriters as the song interpolates the lyric "you can tell everybody" from John's 1970 song "
Your Song".[1]
The song is Blacc's most successful single as a solo artist to date; it sold 2.5 million copies in the United States as of December 2014,[2] peaking at number eight on the
Billboard Hot 100. Outside the United States, "The Man" topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden. On January 22, 2014, a remix of "The Man" featuring American rapper
Kid Ink was released.
Music video
A lyric video to accompany the release of "The Man" was first released to
YouTube on January 10, 2014.[3]
The song's official music video followed on March 3, 2014.[4] The video takes place in the 1960s and 1970s and gives tribute to figures and events significant to African American culture during that era.
Below is a list of tributes to people/events in the music video.
The song was featured in the end credits of the 2014 film Brick Mansions.
This song was also famously used in a video on TikTok that featured NBA player
Patrick Beverley celebrating after defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2022 NBA Play-In.
The song was used extensively at the
2014 NFL Draft, being played 108 times over the course of the three-day event.[6]MLB also used the song for its ads for the
2014 MLB All-Star Game. The ad shows different highlights and celebrations of possible All-Stars for 2014.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
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ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201417 into search. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201423 into search. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
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ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201418 into search. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
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ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201429 into search. Retrieved July 21, 2014.