Harlem (New Politics song)

"Harlem" is a song by alternative rock band New Politics. The song was released as the first single from their sophomore album A Bad Girl in Harlem on February 20, 2013, through RCA Records, and was accompanied by the released of a music video.

"Harlem"
Single by New Politics
from the album A Bad Girl in Harlem
Released	February 20, 2013
Genre	Alternative rock, pop rock
Length	2:43
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	David Boyd Søren M. Hansen Jake Sinclair Mike Viola Sadler Vaden Jack Ploch Nelson Ploch Roger Ploch Sam Ploch
Producer(s)	Jake Sinclair Søren M. Hansen
New Politics singles chronology
"Dignity" (2010) "Harlem" (2013) "Tonight You're Perfect" (2013)

With a notably different style from their previous discography, “Harlem” became a national hit in the United States, entering various records charts across the country. The song is widely considered to be their most successful single and their breakthrough into mainstream success.

Background and release

Lyrically, “Harlem” was inspired by a romantic encounter which frontman David Boyd had with a girl from Harlem, a neighborhood in the Upper Manhattan region of New York City. In an interview with The Sun, Boyd explained, “Soren lived above some people and they had a party and that's where I met a girl from Harlem. The girl doesn't know this is about her, it was a bittersweet ending.”

On Feb 20, 2013, “Harlem” was released through RCA Records as the first promotional single for the band’s sophomore album A Bad Girl in Harlem. An accompanying music video was uploaded to YouTube on the official New Politics channel the same day.

Commercial performance

After its release, “Harlem” quickly became a hit song and began receiving significant radio airplay in the United States. Within just four days, "Harlem" entered the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, where it peaked at No. 4 and charted for 36 weeks, and remains their most successful single on both the chart itself and any other Billboard chart to date. Later that year, “Harlem” began to enter several Top-40/CHR radio charts in the U.S., most notably the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 where it peaked at number 10, and subsequently became their first song to impact Top-40 radio in the country. On June 29, 2017, "Harlem" received a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, marking track-equivalent sales of 500,000 units in the US and making it their first and only song to date to receive any certification.

Usage in media

“Harlem” was featured in a trailer for the 2013 animated musical-comedy film Frozen. It also appeared in EA game NHL 14, Activision game Guitar Hero Live, a Taco Bell commercial, and a Windows 8.1 commercial. It is also featured as a "Now! What's Next" bonus track on Now That's What I Call Music! 48.

Charts

Chart (2013–14)	Peak position
Canada Rock (Billboard)	27
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)	10
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)	39
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)	21
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)	34
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)	7

Year-end charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)	14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.