It's On Us (song) explained

It's On Us
Cover:AJR Its On Us.jpg
Type:single
Artist:AJR
Label:AJR Productions
Producer:Ryan Met
Prev Title:Weak
Prev Year:2016
Next Title:Celebrate
Next Year:2017

"It's On Us" is a charity single by American indie pop band AJR, released on March 31, 2017, through their own label AJR Productions. All proceeds from sales of the single were donated to Barack Obama's campaign of the same name, raising awareness of and fighting against sexual assault on college campuses in the United States.

Background

The It's On Us campaign was launched by Barack Obama and the White House Council on Women and Girls on September 19, 2014, aiming to raise awareness about sexual assault on college campuses and encourage the public to recognize and intervene when possible.[1] Following the release of AJR's single "Weak", Obama listened to the song via Spotify,[2] which led to his administration asking the band to help support the campaign.[3] The band accepted, describing the movement's goals as "an important topic to us because most of our fans are in that college-age demographic, and it presents a real problem on college campuses" and expressed happiness with using AJR's popularity as a platform for it.[4]

AJR approached Rebecca Kaplan, the director of "It's On Us", with the idea of writing a song,[5] who agreed and helped the band meet with sexual assault survivors and incorporate their stories into the song, naming it after the campaign.[6] AJR performed "It's On Us" alongside their song "Turning Out" from the band's second studio album, The Click, and a cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley at the White House for the final It's On Us summit on January 5, 2017.[7] A studio recording of "It's On Us" was released onto streaming services on March 31, 2017,[5] with the band donating all of the song's proceeds to the initiative.[8]

Composition

"It's On Us" is composed in time signature in the key of A major and follows a tempo of 88 beats per minute (bpm). The song appears on streaming services with the extended title "It's On Us (Benefiting the 'It's On Us' Campaign)".[9] Although the band advertised the song as having other musicians featured on it,[2] none are present or credited.

Notes and References

  1. News: Somanader. Tanya. President Obama Launches the "It's On Us" Campaign to End Sexual Assault on Campus. September 19, 2014. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170122051904/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/09/19/president-obama-launches-its-us-campaign-end-sexual-assault-campus. January 22, 2017. February 5, 2024.
  2. Web site: Baeble Music. An Interview with AJR. Yahoo! Entertainment. en. March 22, 2017. February 5, 2024.
  3. Web site: Vacco-Bolaños. Jessica. AJR Is Committed To Making Music That Reflects Their Values & Here's Why. Elite Daily. en. July 1, 2020. February 5, 2024.
  4. Web site: Dehaven. Kaitlyn. Indie-pop band AJR looks forward to ACL performance. The Baylor Lariat. en. October 5, 2017. February 5, 2024.
  5. Web site: Kaplan. Rebecca. It's On Us And AJR Partner On Charity Single To Change the Conversation Around Sexual Assault. Forbes. en. March 31, 2017. February 5, 2024.
  6. Web site: Dewey. Atticus. It's On Us. The Communicator. en. April 26, 2017. February 5, 2024.
  7. Web site: Nawaz. Amna. 5 things to know about indie-pop band AJR. ABC News. en. April 14, 2017. February 5, 2024.
  8. Web site: Met. Adam. How AJR Turned 100,000 Concert Tickets Into 100,000 Trees (Guest Op-Ed). Billboard. en. April 22, 2020. February 5, 2024.
  9. Web site: It's On Us (Benefiting the "It's On Us" Campaign) – Single by AJR. Spotify. en. March 31, 2017. February 5, 2024.