"Make It in America" is a song performed by American actress and singer Victoria Justice, co-written with its producer Martin Johnson, for the Nickelodeon television series Victorious. It was originally released on Justice's SoundCloud account on May 11, 2012, and later commercially re-released on May 15, as a single from the series' first extended play, Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show, on which it was included as the first track.[1][2]
Background and release[]
Victoria Justice spoke about the creation of "Make It in America" in interviews with Cambio and ClevverTV. She was inspired to write a song with this title after she overheard her mother, Serene Justice, talking on the phone with her music manager "about someone breaking big and making it in America".[3] The singer wrote and recorded it with musician Martin Johnson in his temporary studio for only six to eight hours (possibly between February 5 and March 24, 2012, based on Justice's Instagram posts).[4][5] While she was doing press for Victorious in Europe, Johnson e-mailed her with the finished song. After she downloaded and played it in the car, she and her mother fell in love with this track. Justice describes the theme of this song as "being young, being free, having big dreams, and not being the only one". The singer was later quoted as saying she was "very proud" of "Make It in America".[6]
On May 1, Seventeen revealed the existence of the song, that was set to be performed later in the series, along with its lyrics.[7] On May 9, Columbia Records announced "Make It in America" would be released six days later, and included as the first track on the soundtrack extended play, released under the title Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show on June 5.[8] On May 11, four days before the planned commercial release, Justice released the track on her SoundCloud account, with the link available through the website of the Nylon magazine.[1][9] The single's cover artwork was revealed by Teen.com on May 14.[10] The song was also later available on the Nickelodeon website.[11] The lyric video was uploaded on the singer's YouTube channel on May 17. In Australia, the song was sent to radio on November 1 and released digitally on November 9.[12]
Appearance in Victorious[]
"Make It in America" was performed by Tori Vega (portrayed by Victoria Justice) in the episode "Tori Goes Platinum" (the same episode "Freak the Freak Out", "5 Fingaz to the Face", and "Cheer Me Up" were performed), that premiered on May 19, 2012. Tori wins the contest to perform at the Platinum Music Awards, but is unhappy with how the show's producer Mason Thornesmith (portrayed by Charles Shaughnessy) and his team want to create her image. After taking advice to be herself from her close friend Beck Oliver (portrayed by Avan Jogia), Mason fires her and replaces her with Jade West (portrayed by Elizabeth Gillies), who is Tori's enemy and Beck's ex-girlfriend. While rehearsing the awards ceremony, Jade accidentaly sees a video chat where Beck tries to kiss Tori, but she refueses because she treats Jade as her friend. Just before the ceremony, Tori comes to her dressing room to talk to her, where Jade says it was going to be Tori's big chance, suggesting Tori should perform here. When the show begins, Tori appears on the stage, much to Mason's shock and frustration, but he later enjoys her performance, which ends in big applause.
Journalistic commentary[]
Heather Phares from AllMusic, reviewing the extended play, wrote "Victoria Justice's commanding vocals are the main attraction here, particularly on the single 'Make It in America' and 'Shut Up and Dance'."[13] Retrospectively, Megan Gaertner of Her Campus added "Make It in America" to her list of the best songs from Victorious in 2019, stating: "This song is really sweet. It describes the dream of wanting to be successful in the industry, and it's just really nice and heartwarming."[14] The song appears to be included in a list of "10 Songs You Forgot Were Awesome" from the series, created by Israel Olorunnisola for MovieWeb in 2023, but its description suggests that it may have been confused with the similarly titled song from the series, "Make It Shine".[15]
Chart performance[]
"Make It in America" reached number 73 on the music platform iTunes chart.[16] The single failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, the main chart for songs in the United States. However, it debuted at the top of the Kid Digital Song Sales chart, where it spent 25 weeks in total. It became Victoria Justice's sixth (after "Beggin' on Your Knees", "Best Friend's Brother", "I Want You Back", "You're the Reason", and "Take a Hint") and last song to reach number one there, before the chart's discontinuation on January 2020.
Chart | Week of | Week number | Position |
---|---|---|---|
Kid Digital Song Sales | June 2, 2012[17] | 1 | 1 |
June 9, 2012[18] | 2 | ||
June 16, 2012[18] | 3 | 6 | |
June 23, 2012[19] | 4 | 2 | |
June 30, 2012[19] | 5 | 3 | |
July 7, 2012[17] | 6 | Unknown | |
July 14, 2012[17] | 7 | ||
July 21, 2012[20] | 8 | 9 | |
July 28, 2012[20] | 9 | 10 | |
August 4, 2012[17] | 10 | Unknown | |
August 11, 2012[17] | 11 | ||
August 18, 2012[17] | 12 | ||
August 25, 2012[17] | 13 | ||
September 1, 2012[17] | 14 | ||
September 8, 2012[17] | 15 | ||
September 15, 2012[17] | 16 | ||
September 22, 2012[17] | 17 | ||
October 6, 2012[17] | 18 | ||
October 13, 2012[17] | 19 | ||
October 20, 2012[17] | 20 | ||
October 27, 2012[17] | 21 | ||
November 3, 2012[17] | 22 | ||
November 10, 2012[17] | 23 | ||
January 12, 2013[17] | 24 | ||
February 16, 2013[17] | 25 |
Music video[]

The music video was shot on April 29, 2012.[21] Victoria Justice later published two pictures of the filming of the video.[22][23] Directed by Anna Mastro, it premiered on Perez Hilton's website on May 18.[24][25] It contains product placement of various things, such as Marshall speakers. On June 1, as part of the Victorious Locker Countdown in anticipation of the release of Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show, Celebuzz published exclusive photos from the shooting of the music video.[26] Three days later, Justice posted the full behind-the-scenes video on her YouTube channel; it was unlisted, viewable via an article by Cambio, also published for Locker Countdown.[27] It has since been made private.[28]
The video starts with Justice driving her old red Ford Mustang and singing. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Gillies, Ariana Grande, and Daniella Monet organize a party for which they need a performer. They send a message to Justice, who is just leaving a gas station with ice cream, asking her to perform at an event, to which she agrees. Justice gets into her car and drives on until she meets Matt Bennett, Avan Jogia, and Leon Thomas III standing outside the Sherwood Motel. She continues to travel to the party with them, this time with Jogia driving the vehicle, during which they pass billboards with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star with her name and the Hollywood Sign, and she writes down the lyrics of the song in her notebook. They arrive at the party at night, where Justice performs a song and the cast of Victorious has fun with sparklers. Additional scenes feature Justice singing in the desert.
Live performances[]
Victoria Justice first performed the song in an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which aired on May 15, 2012, the same as the song's single release.[29] The song was a part of the setlist of Justice's 2013 second concert tour, Summer Break Tour.
Challenge[]
To promote the song, Victoria Justice announced a challenge to post a photo related to the song's lyrics on Instagram and X each day of May 2012.[30] She herself posted almost every day. People taking part in this challenge had to publish photos related to the following phrases:
- "One way ticket" (not posted)
- "2 way street"[31]
- "Wind in my hair"[32]
- "My feet" (posted twice)[33][34]
- "My name"[35]
- "Old T-shirt"[36]
- "1985"[37]
- "Concert"[38]
- "America"[39]
- "My favorite song"[40]
- "Rag top down"[41]
- "Glasses on"[42]
- "Driving"[43]
- "Born to run"[44]
- "The sun"[45]
- "Show some skin"[46]
- "The ocean" (not posted)
- "In motion"[47]
- "Star"[48]
- "Hollywood"[49]
- "Smile"[50]
- "I'm broke"[51]
- "Singing"[52]
- "Sweat"[53]
- "My heart"[54]
- "Race"[55]
- "This world" (not posted)
- "Lonely place"[56]
- "Push"[57]
- "Taste"[58]
- "Only one" (not posted)
Credits[]
- Personnel
- Eric Bisgyer – Assistant engineer
- Martin Johnson – Acoustic guitars, background vocals, bass, electric guitars, percussion, producer, programmer, writer
- Victoria Justice – Lead vocals, writer
- John Keefe – Drums
- Stephen Marcussen – Mastering engineer
- Kyle Moorman – Engineer, programmer
- Miles Walker – Mixing engineer
- Management
- Recorded at the Lodge (Studio City, California)
- Mixed for 45th and 3rd Music at Parhelion Studios (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Mastered at Marcussen Mastering (Los Angeles, California)
- Published by EMI April Music Inc., on behalf of itself and Martin Music Inc. (ASCAP); Victoria Justice (ASCAP)
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Got a one way ticket down a two way street
Got the wind in my hair and there's dust on my feet
I'm just trying to make it in America
Only thing to my name is an old t-shirt
Faded 1985 from a Stones' concert
And I'm dying to make it in America
And I'm singing the words to my favorite song
With the rag top down and my glasses on
And I'm driving straight through America
[Chorus]
I wanna taste the sun
'Cause, baby, I'm born to run
I got a feelin' that I'm not the only one
I, I wanna show some skin
Yeah, baby, I need the ocean
You can't stop me
Now I've got my heart in motion
I wanna make it in America
Make it in America
[Verse 2]
I can see my star sunset and vine
Gonna carve my name in the Hollywood sign
Yeah I gotta, gotta make it in America
See me wearin' a smile even if I'm broke
I'll be singing the words from a song I wrote
And I called it "Make It in America"
[Chorus]
I wanna taste the sun
'Cause, baby, I'm born to run
I got a feelin' that I'm not the only one
I, I wanna show some skin
Baby, I need the ocean
You can't stop me
Now I've got my heart in motion
I wanna make it in America (yeah)
Make it in America
[Bridge]
I can feel the sweat dripping down my face
I can hear my heart as it starts to race
Sometimes this world's such a lonely place
If I just push on I know that
[Chorus]
I wanna taste the sun
'Cause, baby, I'm born to run
I got a feelin' that I'm not the only one
I (I), I wanna show some skin (just some skin)
Baby, I need the ocean
You can't stop me
Now I've got my heart in motion
I wanna make it in America (make it in America)
Make it in America
Trivia[]
- "Make It in America" is one of Victoria Justice's two songs the title of which begins with "Make It", the other being "Make It Shine". Additionally, both songs are the opening tracks of the record they appear on.
- It's the only song co-written by Justice on Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show.
- This is one of Justice's two songs co-written with Martin Johnson, the other being the unreleased track "Beautiful Day".
- The line "Faded 1985 from a Stones' concert" is a reference to the English band the Rolling Stones.
- Although Justice drove a car herself in the music video, she didn't have a driver's license in real life at the time of its release.[59]
- "#MakeItInAmerica" was a trending topic on X.[60]
- It appears in two playlists on Spotify:
- Nickelodeon Superstars, along with "Gold", "Take a Hint", "Leave It All to Shine", "Freak the Freak Out", "Make It Shine", and "Song 2 You".[61]
- The Best of Victorious, created by TeenNick, along with other 12 songs by Justice.[62]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
GIFs[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://soundcloud.com/victoriajustice/make-it-in-america
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/make-it-in-america-feat-victoria-justice-single/526445550
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120520082439/https://www.cambio.com/2012/05/18/exclusive-victoria-justice-talks-make-it-in-america-victori/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/oGiml/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Ikf_giHIPO/
- ↑ https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/2012/09/nickelodeon_star_victoria_just.html
- ↑ https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/a18330/victorious-make-it-in-america-lyrics/
- ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/columbia-records-and-nickelodeon-announce-the-release-of-victorious-20-more-music-from-the-hit-tv-show-available-june-5-150739605.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120514003916/https://www.nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=7996
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120517120323/https://www.teen.com/2012/05/14/music/victoria-justice-make-it-in-america-single-cover-art/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120519073541/https://www.nick.com/music/album/make-it-in-america-single.html
- ↑ https://tvtonight.com.au/2012/10/victoria-justice-heading-down-under.html
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/victorious-20-more-music-from-the-hit-tv-show-original-tv-soundtrack--mw0002392649
- ↑ https://www.hercampus.com/school/xavier/best-songs-victorious/
- ↑ https://movieweb.com/victorious-songs/
- ↑ https://x.com/VictoriaJustice/status/204628334389366784
- ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 17.15 17.16 17.17 17.18 https://www.billboard.com/charts/search/results/?chart-artistname=Victorious+Cast+Featuring+Victoria+Justice&chart-charttitle=Make+It+In+America&chart-label=Nickelodeon&chart-chartcode=KDT
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2012/BB-2012-06-16.pdf
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20161225031114/https://www.billboard.com/biz/charts/2012-06-30/kid-digital-songs
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2012/BB-2012-07-28.pdf
- ↑ https://x.com/VictoriaJustice/status/196073549167996928
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/J_DoORnIBG/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KBgLqWnICY/
- ↑ https://www.annamastro.tv/work/music-videos/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120522031428/https://perezhilton.com/2012-05-18-victoria-justice-make-it-in-america-music-video-premiere
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120605060015/https://www.celebuzz.com/2012-05-31/behind-the-scenes-of-nickelodeons-victorious-2-0-soundtrack-shoot-exclusive-photos/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120607060716/https://www.cambio.com/2012/06/04/exclusive-make-it-in-america-behind-the-scenes-video-get-fif/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120604225134/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfm7lolqbiE
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120520062959/https://www.victoriajustice.net/news/79261
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KGDzw7HIDD/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KJQBIvnILX/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KLqajgHIBv/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KN_uuYnIFC/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KOX6DkHIBF/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KQsXpfHIOu/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KTmXG3nIBc/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KV_fI1nIDo/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KYhRiNnID-/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KbIKr7HILW/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Kd9u_oHIAd/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Kiois_nIDX/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Ki-P16nIPu/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KlhAlaHINs/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KoU_Y6HIAu/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KqqPMWHIAS/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KtO8WBHIJB/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KyuMCRnIGK/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/K1N_qsHIFy/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/K3i0ArHILA/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/K6VGUQHIKj/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/K84mBlHIJx/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/K_V3GUnIEH/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/LB-5MoHII2/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/LEgX-kHIL0/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/LHUqMvHIDm/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/LMNlVDnIG9/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/LOv7C4HIEg/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/LRZSn8HIIK/
- ↑ https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/victoria-justice-turns-20-im-ready-to-get-my-drivers-license-201343/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/KEGNHdHIKJ/
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2Zbv3JDcc4J
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09xYO3Tci5rmxOsdmlV9w2