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Best Friend's Brother

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"Best Friend's Brother" (also known as "B.F.B." and "Best Friend's Brother (BFB)") is a song performed by American actress and singer Victoria Justice, co-written with Savan Kotecha and its producer Kool Kojak, for the Nickelodeon television series Victorious. It was originally released on Idolator on May 16, 2011, and later commercially re-released on May 20, as the third single from the series' soundtrack album, Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show, on which it was included as the third track.[1][2]

Release[]

"Best Friend's Brother" was exclusively released on the Idolator website on May 16, 2011. The same day, Victoria Justice announced on her website the song would be released four days later on iTunes and Celebuzz revealed its cover artwork.[3] The song was also later available on the Nickelodeon website.[4] Columbia Records and Nickelodeon confirmed it would be the third track on the soundtrack album, released under the title Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show on August 2.[5]

In the series[]

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"Best Friend's Brother" was performed by Tori Vega (portrayed by Victoria Justice) with Cat Valentine (portrayed by Ariana Grande) and André Harris (portrayed by Leon Thomas III) in the episode "Prom Wrecker", that premiered on May 21, 2011. They perform this song at "Prome" hosted by Tori at Hollywood Arts High School. The song doesn't affect the episode's main plot.

Writing[]

Victoria Justice co-wrote "Best Friend's Brother" based on her own experience, which she spoke about in an interview with Tiger Beat during the premiere of "iParty with Victorious". She had a crush on her best friend's brother and wanted him to know about it, but didn't want her friend to know about this feeling. However, her friend knew there was some chemistry between her brother and Justice. After creating the song, the singer played it to her without telling her what it was about. Her friend remarked the song might be about her brother, to which Justice replied "Maybe".

The singer also spoke to Seventeen about the song's inspiration: "When I was around 14 years old, in 8th grade, I had this crush on my best friend's brother. He was two years older than me. It was one of those things where I would go over her house and we would all play Halo 2 together and go swimming in the pool and stuff. I think we both had little crushes on each other, but it never went anywhere. If it had, it would have been really weird. I wouldn't have been willing to risk my friendship for dating her brother. Friendship is always more important."[6]

In an exclusive clip for Teen.com, Justice revealed the inspiration for the song came to her suddenly during a writing session with Kool Kojak and Savan Kotecha when they had no idea what to write a new song about. According to her, they didn't understand the inspiration, but the singer said, "Trust me, I get it. I've been through this. We're writing the song."[7] "Best Friend's Brother" is believed to be written between July 21 and August 10, 2010, based on Justice's tweets, which include pictures from the songwriting sessions with Kojak and Kotecha.[8][9][10] After hearing and falling in love with the song, Dan Schneider, the creator of Victorious, asked her about using it in the series.[11]

Composition and reception[]

Idolator's Becky Bain gave a positive review writing "Victoria might be perplexed about the awkward sitch with her bestie, but we're banging our heads to this fist-pumping tune", and added the song is rougher and tougher than "Beggin' on Your Knees", and something Pink might record if she was a "lovelorn teen".[1] Jocelyn Vega of MTV called the song a "crushy pop anthem".[12] In another article, she named "Best Friend's Brother" as one example of catchy songs from Victorious and described it as a Nickelodeon version of Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".[13] Jessica Dawson from Common Sense Media gave three stars out of five, stating "Although the idea of crushin' on your BF's sibling might be a little sketchy for younger kids, the song is innocent enough and has no bad language or iffy content." She complimented the track, writing it "is catchy and fun, and is sure to be on heavy rotation on many tweens' playlists", even though its music and lyrics aren't "groundbreaking".[14]

Jason Lipshutz, in a 2014 article for Billboard, wrote both "Best Friend's Brother" and "Beggin' on Your Knees" "zip along with compact hooks and unabashed attitude", also claiming these songs and "Freak the Freak Out" reveal more about Justice's musical abilities than her then-latest single, "Gold".[15] Megan Gaertner of Her Campus placed the song on the second place of the best songs from Victorious.[16]

Chart performance[]

"Best Friend's Brother" peaked at number 86 and spent four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Victoria Justice's third, after "Freak the Freak Out" and "Beggin' on Your Knees", and last to this date song to appear there. The song reached number 65 and also spent four weeks on the Digital Songs chart. On the now-discontinued Kid Digital Song Sales chart, where it spent 58 weeks in general, the single peaked at its top, becoming Justice's second song to reach number one there, after "Beggin' on Your Knees". It peaked at the 27th position and spent eight weeks on another discontinued Pop Digital Song Sales chart.

"Best Friend's Brother" was one of the five songs by Justice to appear on the 2011 Kid Digital Song Sales year-end chart, with the others being "Beggin' on Your Knees", "Make It Shine", "Leave It All to Shine", and "I Want You Back". It peaked at number four.[17]

Weekly chart positions
Chart Week of Week number Position
Billboard Hot 100 June 18, 2011[18] 1 93
June 25, 2011[19] 2 86
July 2, 2011[20] 3 94
July 9, 2011[21] 4 86
Digital Song Sales June 18, 2011[22] 1 74
June 25, 2011[23] 2 67
July 2, 2011[24] 3 74
July 9, 2011[25] 4 65
Kid Digital Song Sales June 4, 2011[26] 1 7
June 11, 2011[26] 2 3
June 18, 2011[27] 3 1
June 25, 2011[27] 4 Unknown
July 2, 2011[27] 5
July 9, 2011[27] 6
July 16, 2011[28] 7
July 23, 2011[27] 8
July 30, 2011[27] 9
August 6, 2011[29] 10
August 13, 2011[30] 11 3
August 20, 2011[28] 12 Unknown
August 27, 2011[28] 13
September 3, 2011[27] 14
September 10, 2011[28] 15
September 17, 2011[28] 16
September 24, 2011[28] 17
October 1, 2011[28] 18
October 8, 2011[27] 19
October 15, 2011[27] 20
October 22, 2011[31] 21 7
October 29, 2011[31] 22 10
November 5, 2011[28] 23 Unknown
November 12, 2011[27] 24
November 19, 2011[27] 25
November 26, 2011[28] 26
December 3, 2011[27] 27
December 10, 2011[29] 28
December 24, 2011[27] 29
December 24, 2011[27] 30
January 7, 2012[32] 31 12
January 14, 2012[32] 32 8
January 21, 2012[27] 33 Unknown
January 28, 2012[28] 34
February 4, 2012[28] 35
February 11, 2012[27] 36
February 18, 2012[27] 37
February 25, 2012[28] 38
March 3, 2012[27] 39
March 10, 2012[28] 40
March 17, 2012[28] 41
March 24, 2012[29] 42
March 31, 2012[28] 43
April 7, 2012[29] 44
April 14, 2012[27] 45
April 21, 2012[28] 46
April 28, 2012[29] 47
May 5, 2012[27] 48
May 12, 2012[28] 49
May 19, 2012[28] 50
May 26, 2012[33] 51 15
June 2, 2012[33] 52 12
June 9, 2012[28] 53 Unknown
August 18, 2012[28] 54
September 1, 2012[29] 55
January 12, 2013[27] 56
July 20, 2013[28] 57
July 27, 2013[28] 58
Pop Digital Song Sales[34] June 25, 2011 Unknown 27

Music video[]

Large

Victoria Justice tweeted she was on her way to shoot a music video on May 17, 2011.[35] The video premiered on Vevo on May 27.[3] A pop-up version was released later, which featured information about its plot and production with additional trivia. This version of the video was disabled for viewing for two weeks.[36] The video was fully filmed in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. It's one of two music videos for songs from Victorious in which there's no other cast member besides Justice, the other being "You're the Reason". The behind-the-scenes video was shared by Seventeen on June 23.[37]

The video starts with Justice being invited to her friend's house to study together in her room. Meanwhile, the friend's brother (portrayed by Daniel Romer), whom she has a crush on, hangs out with his friends in the living room. At one point, she decides to go to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water, but she begins to dream of being alone with her friend's brother, for whom she dances and sings, which ended with falling into the sink. In the next scene, Justice is sitting in the car and texting a friend Audrey before noticing her crush playing drums in the garage. She then dreams again that she's singing for him. Her dream is interrupted by her friend (portrayed by Bryony Grace) who gets into the car, and Justice prepares to drive. At a pizzeria called Pizza by the Slice, Justice spends time with her friends, but also looks at her crush sitting at another table with his friends. Finally, she decides to dance in a pizzeria with other random girls, after which she and her friend's brother get closer to each other.

Live performances[]

"Best Friend's Brother" was performed live by Victoria Justice for the first time during the Victorious: Walmart Soundcheck concert on May 26, 2011. Justice performed "Best Friend's Brother" at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Citadel Outlets on November 19, 2011. The song was a part of the setlist of Justice's 2013 second concert tour, Summer Break Tour.

Contest[]

Just like with the previous singles, there was a "Best Friend's Brother" contest created by Victoria Justice and J-14, that was first announced by Justice on September 23, 2011.[38] People entering the competition had to be 21 years old or younger, resident in the United States and the District of Columbia, subscribe Justice's YouTube channel, like her on Facebook, and follow her Twitter account. The competition task was to upload on YouTube a video of answering why the video's author should win and then enter Justice's website for a chance to win. The competition task was to send an e-mail to the magazine with a photo with best friend doing favorite activity together. The first place was to win a chance to fly out to Los Angeles with a friend and being featured in J-14 magazine alongside Justice, second place was to win a pair of Beats by Dre headphones, third place was to win a Skype call with Justice, fourth place was to win a signed copy of Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show, and fifth place was to win a signed copy of the series' first season on DVD.[39][40]

Credits[]

Personnel
  • Brian Gardner – Mastering engineer
  • Allan "Kool Kojak" Grigg – All instruments, producer, programmer, writer
  • Victoria Justice – lead vocals, writer
  • Savan Kotecha – Writer
  • Mighty Mike McGarity – Engineer
  • Greg Wells – Mixing engineer
Recording and management
  • Produced for Kasz Money Productions, Inc.
  • Engineered at Westlake Studios (Los Angeles, California) and Mound Sound (Los Angeles, California)
  • Mixed at Rocket Carousel (Los Angeles, California)
  • Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)
  • Published by Kojaktrax (ASCAP); Mr. Kanani Songs, administered by EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP); Prescription Songs (ASCAP); Victoria Justice (ASCAP); Hipgnosis SFH I Limited[41]

Lyrics[]

[Verse 1]
I call you up when I know he's at home
I jump out of my skin
When he picks up the phone
Why can't I tell if he's looking at me?
Should I give him a smile?
Should I get up and leave?

[Pre-chorus 1]
I know it's strange
I don't know what I'm thinking
But is it wrong
If I see him this weekend?
I really hope I can get him alone
I just don't, don't want her to know

[Chorus]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
My best friend's brother is the one for me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
A punk rock drummer and he's six foot three
I don't want to, but I want to
'Cause I just can't get him out of my mind and
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
My best friend's brother is the one for me
B.F.B., B.F.B.
My best friend's brother, my best friend's brother

[Verse 2]
I kinda think that I might be his type
'Cause when you're not around
He's not acting too shy
Sometimes I feel like he might make a move
Is this all in my head?
I don't know what to do

[Pre-chorus 2]
I know it's strange
I don't know what he's thinking
But is it wrong
If I see him this weekend?
I really hope I can get him alone
I just don't, don't want her to know

[Chorus]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
My best friend's brother is the one for me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
A punk rock drummer and he's six foot three
I don't want to, but I want to
'Cause I just can't get him out of my mind and
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
My best friend's brother is the one for me
B.F.B., B.F.B.
My best friend's brother, my best friend's brother
B.F.B., B.F.B.
My best friend's brother, my best friend's brother

[Bridge]
'Cause he's such a dream, yeah
And you know what I mean
If you weren't related

[Chorus]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
My best friend's brother is the one for me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
A punk rock drummer and he's six foot three
I don't want to, but I want to
'Cause I just can't get him out of my mind and
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
My best friend's brother is the one for me
B.F.B., B.F.B.
My best friend's brother, my best friend's brother
B.F.B., B.F.B.
My best friend's brother, my best friend's brother

Trivia[]

  • "Best Friend's Brother" is the second known song co-written by Victoria Justice, after an unreleased track "I'm Changin'", which was performed by Janel Parrish and featured in the 2008 film Adventures in Appletown. It makes "Best Friend's Brother" the first released song Justice co-wrote, as well as the only track co-written by her on Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show.
  • Justice has mentioned often it's one of her favorite songs on the album.[11][6][42] Dan Schneider also mentioned it's one of his two favorite songs from Victorious.[43]
  • The scene of Justice's first dream in the music video is a reference to the 1983 teen sex comedy film Risky Business.
  • The song reached number 54 on the iTunes chart.[44]
  • When Tiger Beat asked the Victorious cast members which song on the series' soundtrack was their favorite to sing in the shower, Justice answered this song, and Daniella Monet answered both "Best Friend's Brother" and "You're the Reason".
  • "Best Friend's Brother" appears in the Nickelodeon Essentials playlist on Apple Music, along with "Make It Shine", "Freak the Freak Out", "Take a Hint", and "Beggin' on Your Knees".[45]
  • It also appears in TeenNick's the Best of Victorious playlist on Spotify, along with other 12 songs by Justice.[46]
  • Matt Bennett, who also starred in Victorious, played "Best Friend's Brother" on his DJ concerts.[47]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.idolator.com/5860521/victoria-justice-best-friends-brother
  2. ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/best-friends-brother-feat-victoria-justice-single/437079608
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20110528213836/https://www.victoriajustice.net/home
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110822215748/https://www.nick.com/shows/victorious/
  5. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/columbia-recordsnickelodeon-reveals-tracklisting-for-victorious-soundtrack-album-125552183.html
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/interviews/a15924/victoria-justice-soundtrack-interview/
  7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110531040054/https://www.teen.com/victoria-justice-my-best-friends-brother-behind-the-scenes-video/
  8. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/19031620159
  9. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/19790825503
  10. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/20820800806
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/victoria-justice-interview
  12. ↑ https://www.mtv.com/news/fe3335/victoria-justice-new-album
  13. ↑ https://www.mtv.com/news/i6as88/victoria-justice-solo-album
  14. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140407003610/https://www.commonsensemedia.org/music-reviews/best-friends-brother-cd-single
  15. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6221801/victoria-justice-music-ariana-grande
  16. ↑ https://www.hercampus.com/school/xavier/best-songs-victorious
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20201129044509/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2011/kid-digital-song-sales
  18. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2011-06-18/
  19. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2011-06-25/
  20. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2011-07-02/
  21. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2011-07-09/
  22. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/digital-song-sales/2011-06-18/
  23. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/digital-song-sales/2011-06-25/
  24. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/digital-song-sales/2011-07-02/
  25. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/digital-song-sales/2011-07-09/
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2011/BB-2011-06-11.pdf
  27. ↑ 27.00 27.01 27.02 27.03 27.04 27.05 27.06 27.07 27.08 27.09 27.10 27.11 27.12 27.13 27.14 27.15 27.16 27.17 27.18 27.19 27.20 https://www.billboard.com/charts/search/results/?chart-page=2&chart-artistname=Victorious+Cast+Featuring+Victoria+Justice&chart-charttitle=Best+Friends+Brother&chart-label=Nickelodeon&chart-chartcode=KDT
  28. ↑ 28.00 28.01 28.02 28.03 28.04 28.05 28.06 28.07 28.08 28.09 28.10 28.11 28.12 28.13 28.14 28.15 28.16 28.17 28.18 28.19 28.20 28.21 https://www.billboard.com/charts/search/results/?chart-artistname=Victorious+Cast+Featuring+Victoria+Justice&chart-charttitle=Best+Friends+Brother&chart-label=Nickelodeon&chart-chartcode=KDT
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 https://www.billboard.com/charts/search/results/?chart-page=3&chart-artistname=Victorious+Cast+Featuring+Victoria+Justice&chart-charttitle=Best+Friends+Brother&chart-label=Nickelodeon&chart-chartcode=KDT
  30. ↑ https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2011/BB-2011-08-13.pdf
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2011/BB-2011-10-29.pdf
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2012/BB-2012-01-14.pdf
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2012/BB-2012-06-02.pdf
  34. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210607160703/https://www.billboard.com/music/victoria-justice/chart-history/PPD
  35. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/70875844704350208
  36. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/104706787676135426
  37. ↑ https://twitter.com/Victorious/status/83964492073021440
  38. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/117355614396612608
  39. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111010183827/https://www.j-14.com/2011/10/j-14-win-it-photo-shoot-with-victoria-justice.html
  40. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111010192056/https://www.j-14.com/2011/10/official-rules-for-victoria-justice-photo-shoot.html
  41. ↑ https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/882703683
  42. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/70231175796502528
  43. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111008014917/https://danwarp.blogspot.com/2011/04/amazing-video-for-iparty-with.html
  44. ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/80037595173761025
  45. ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/nickelodeon-essentials/pl.7e36142599294ec783aced5a07650184
  46. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09xYO3Tci5rmxOsdmlV9w2
  47. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CaPu6kElcfn/
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