Cover artwork for the Sean Paul version; an alternative shot of Inna and Paul is used for Romanian music stores[1]
"Up" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna. Global Records sent it to Romanian radio stations on 21 October 2021. Another version of the track with Jamaican rapper Sean Paul was issued on 17 December 2021. "Up" was written by Inna, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Alex Cotoi and Minelli, while the production was handled by Barac, Botezan and Cotoi; Paul received additional writing and production credits on his version. "Up" is a dancehall-influenced pop song, with its lyrics describing a healing love.
Commercially, "Up" achieved success in Romania, where it became Inna's fifth number-one hit. It further topped the charts in Bulgaria, Russia, Poland, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Ukraine. The Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) awarded the song a Platinum certification in Poland. An accompanying music video for the Sean Paul version of the track was uploaded to Inna's YouTube channel on 17 December 2021. Directed by Bogdan Păun, it portrays Inna residing at a party with interspersed shots of Paul also being shown. For further promotion, "Up" was performed live on SuperStar România.
Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan and Alex Cotoi produced "Up", and wrote it with Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (Inna) and Minelli.[2]Global Records sent the single for radio airplay in Romania on 21 October 2021.[3] A day later, it was released for digital download and streaming in various territories by Warner Music Poland and in Romania by Global.[4][5] Another version of the song featuring verses from Sean Paul was similarly issued by the two aforementioned labels on 17 December 2021;[6] Paul is credited as a co-lead artist alongside Inna and also received additional writing and production credits.[7] Several remixes of the song's solo version were released, with one done by Romanian House Mafia featuring prominent house beats; Inna had previously collaborated with them on "Paris to London" (2021).[8]
Musically, "Up" is a dancehall-influenced pop song,[9][10] featuring Inna singing about what Anna-Kaye Kerr of Urban Islandz described as "overcoming past hurt and disappointment [and] opening her heart up again", as well as about "a love that lifts [her] up when everything in life seems to be going in the opposite direction", as noted by Adevărul's Maria-Alexandru Mortu.[9][11] According to Rolling Stone India writers Anurag Tagat and David Britto, "the rhythms are a nod to both Romanian as well as Caribbean traditional music."[12] Lyrics include: "Once upon a time, there was a girl who made a wish / To find herself a love and finally make a switch / Then you came around, you healed another stitch / And I'm glad about that, I can finally make the switch".[13] The song's refrain—"When I'm down you can bring me up, up-p-p up-p-p up-p-p up-p-p / And when I'm hurt you know I don't need much / You can use that magic touch"—prompted a viral use of "Up" on the social networking service TikTok due to the title word's alteration.[9][14] On the version of the track including his rap verses, Paul is "optimistic about his chance for romance", according to Kerr.[9]
Mortu praised "Up" as one of Inna's catchiest releases in her catalogue, further stating that it is "a hymn of fun and good mood[,] instantly giv[ing] a state of energy and optimism due to [its] fresh sound".[11] Kerr commended Sean Paul's appearance as "smooth".[9] Tagat and Britto deemed Paul's version a "buoyant reimagination" of the single.[12] "Up" became popular on Shazam in multiple countries upon release,[15] and originally reached a peak of number 51 on the last issue of Romania's Airplay 100 chart on the week ending 28 November 2021.[16] The song eventually reached the top position on the airplay chart published by Uniunea Producătorilor de Fonograme din România (UPFR) on 28 December 2021, becoming Inna's fifth single to peak at number one in Romania after "Hot" (2008), "Amazing" (2009), "Diggy Down" (2015) and "Bebe" (2020).[17] "Up" further reached number one in Bulgaria,[18] Russia,[19] Poland,[20] the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),[21] and Ukraine.[22] In Poland, the single received a Platinum certification from the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV).[23] On 19 February 2022, Billboard inaugurated Romania Songs, a streaming and digital download-based chart for Romania, and the Sean Paul version of "Up" was listed at number 15.[24] At the 2022 Romanian Music Awards, the single's Sean Paul version was nominated for Best Dance.[25]
An accompanying lyric video for "Up" was uploaded to Inna's YouTube channel on 29 October 2021,[26] and was directed by Bogdan Păun of NGM Creative. Alexandru Mureşan was further hired as the director of photography, while the make-up was done by Anca Buldur, the hair by Adonis Enache and the outfits selected by RDStyling.[11] Mortu applauded Inna's styling in the visual, with her mainly being shown in the same setting as the single's cover art.[11][26] The same aforementioned team was involved in the making of a music video for the Sean Paul version of "Up", released on Inna's YouTube account on 17 December 2021.[15][27] It received over 1.2 million views in less than a day.[9][28]
The music video opens with Inna walking into a room filled by partying people, wearing a black bodysuit with a transparent top. She resides there and, according to Kerr, "gyrat[es], which kick[s] into overdrive as everyone g[ets] up and start[s] partying, even dancing on top of the bar", showcasing eccentric dance moves. Paul is shown during his parts in front of a neon setting, sporting an all-black look. Further interspersed shots show Inna wearing a red outfit with oversized shoulder pads and red glasses as the sentences "Que nadie te limite me decía" ("Let no one limit you, he told me") and "Más de este amor ya no puede, puede ser" ("More of this love can no longer be, it can't be") are displayed on the screen, as well as show her sitting on a chair staring into the distance with other women behind her.[9][27] An alternate video for the solo version of "Up" was released on 25 February 2022.[29] To further promote the song, Inna performed the track live along with "De dragul tău" (2021) during the final of the first season of the singing competition SuperStar România on 17 December 2021.[30]
^"Up". Spotify. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022. Note: The user may access the three dots on the right to see the credits.
^"Up (with Sean Paul)". Spotify. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022. Note: The user may access the three dots on the right to see the credits.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 25. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
^"Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
^"Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022. Note: Select 'Songs – TV'. Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
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