| Roma-Bangkok | |
| Cover: | Roma-Bangkok.png |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Baby K featuring Giusy Ferreri |
| Album: | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang |
| Recorded: | April – May 2015 Takagi Beatz Studio, Milan, Italy (recording) Fonjika Studio, Biella, Italy (mastering and mixing) |
| Length: | 2:53 |
| Label: | Sony Music |
| Chronology: | Baby K |
| Prev Title: | Anna Wintour |
| Prev Year: | 2015 |
| Next Title: | Chiudo gli occhi e salto |
| Next Year: | 2015 |
"Roma-Bangkok" (pronounced as /it/; "From Rome to Bangkok") is a song recorded by Italian rapper Baby K, with vocals by Italian singer Giusy Ferreri, for her second studio album Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2015).[1] [2] The song was released on 19 June 2015 as the second single from the album.
"Roma-Bangkok" was a massive commercial success in Italy in 2015. The song reached number one in a month on both the Italian FIMI chart and the EarOne airplay chart, becoming Baby K's first number-one single. It remained on the top of the chart for eleven consecutive weeks and later was certified diamond in Italy.[3]
The song was written by Federica Abbate, Rocco Hunt, Alessandro "Takagi" Merli and Fabio "Mr. Ketra" Clemente, the latter two also produced it.[4] In an interview, Baby K presented the song with these words:"The lyrics of this song present the geographical map of my life: London, Rome and the Far East. Actually, they are the places where I lived, which I still carry within myself and I can live again through my music".
The music video, directed by Mauro Russo, was published on 7 July 2015 on the rapper's official YouTube channel.[2] It was acclaimed by critics, who noted its similarities to 1991 American film Thelma & Louise.[5] However, MTV compared it to "Pretty Girls" music video by Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea.[6] It was the first Italian music video to be Vevo certified; in February 2017, it became the all-time most-watched Italian video on YouTube, with over 163 million views.[7] [8] Currently, the video has more than 280 million views.
On 17 February 2017 a second Spanish version was released featuring Argentine pop singer Lali. The song was adapted to Spanish by José Luis Pagan and was produced by Ketra & Takagi.[9] Its music video was shot in September 2016 in Verona, Italy,[10] [11] and was directed by Gaetano Morbioli.[12] Chiara Tomao from Optimagazine praised both artist's voices, writing "Lali's voice fits perfectly with our Claudia Nahum (Baby K)".[13]
| Peak position | |
| Russia (TopHit)[14] | 133 |
|---|---|
| Position | |
| Italy (FIMI)[15] | 1 |
|---|---|
| Charts (2016) | Position |
| Italy (FIMI)[16] | 41 |
| Position | ||
| Uruguay (Monitor Latino)[17] | 100 |
|---|
| Region | Date | Version | Format | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 16 June 2015 | Original version | Digital download | Sony Music | [18] |
| Italy | 19 June 2015 | Contemporary hit radio | [19] | ||
| Various | 19 February 2016 | Spanish version with Giusy Ferreri | Digital download | [20] | |
| Worldwide | 17 February 2017 | Spanish version with Lali | [21] |