Dancehall Queen

"Dancehall Queen" is a song by Swedish recording artist Robyn, taken from her fifth studio album, Body Talk Pt. 1 (2010). The song was written by Klas Åhlund, who produced it with disc jockey Diplo. The initial writing and production of the song arose from a discussion by Robyn, Diplo and Åhlund about Ace of Base. The song features a dancehall and reggae-infused sound with 1980s synths and bass. It was released as a promotional single before the album was launched in April 2010. The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Some praised its hook and chorus, while others dismissed its overall sound. "Dancehall Queen" charted at number fifty-six on the Sverigetopplistan chart and was listed there for only a week. The accompanying music video, released in November 2010, was directed by Diplo, Red Foxx and Pomp&Clout. It resembles a karaoke tape with sing-along lyrics on the bottom of the screen. Robyn herself does not appear in the clip. Background In November 2009, a video of Robyn and Diplo working on "Dancehall Queen" in the studio was posted onto YouTube. The song originally leaked onto the Internet in February 2010, under the title "No Hassle". In an interview with music website Stereogum, Robyn spoke of the song's origin, saying; "We [Robyn, Diplo and Klas Åhlund] were talking about Ace of Base and we were just having fun with that kind of genre music. And the idea of making this song came out of that discussion. It was fun. We really connected on something where music that you might put in one box becomes something else, depending on how you look at it." In an interview with music magazine Pitchfork, she spoke of the song's musical style, stating; "Dancehall Queen" was released digitally in the US on 13 April 2010, and on 28 April 2010 in Sweden. It was one of three promotional singles released before the album's release.