Have you noticed that Beyonce is singing on the new Naughty Boy single?

Over the past five years, Naughty Boy has produced records with Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, Sam Smith, Emeli Sande and... er, Alesha Dixon. But somehow, the fact that he's got Beyoncé singing on his new single has made everyone do a tremendous, Family Guy-sized double take.

Clearly, Beyoncé operates in a stratosphere above the rest of the pop universe - but I do enjoy the patronising nature of people's response to the collaboration. "How could a British person even approach Beyonce? Is she consorting with peasants now? This will only end in tears."

But speaking to Channel 4 News (who apparently had nothing better to do) Naughty Boy said the song came about quite organically. "I met Beyoncé briefly in LA in January, around the Grammys and she was lovely," he said. "I had the song in its early stages. Someone played it to her. Between us, we finished it and made it the spectacle that it is."

"I think it’s the first time Beyoncé was featured on a record like this, so I feel privileged," he added. "I'm still flying the flag [as] a British producer, an Asian producer. I love that about it."

The track in question is called Runnin' and it is, in typical Naughty Boy style, a midtempo banger with a chorus so uplifting Wonderbra could sue for copyright infringement. Beyoncé wasn't available for the video (obviously), so instead it features two world champion free divers, walking along the floor of the ocean.

Shot over four days in Polynesia, it is supposed to reflect the song's lyric about "two lovers" who are "looking for each other in the enormity of the sea" and have to run to each other. There's a fascinating article about how it was shot over on Cosmpolitan's website... and you can watch the clip below.

Naughty Boy - Runnin' (Lose It All) ft. Beyoncé, Arrow Benjamin


PS: I really tried to find out something about co-vocalist Arrow Benjamin, but all I could dredge up was a Facebook page that said: "Arrow Benjamin Is An Artist With Depth & Purpose. Follow him on his Audio Revolution!!"

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