"Runaway" | |||||||||||
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Single by Devlin featuring Yasmin | |||||||||||
from the album Bud, Sweat and Beers | |||||||||||
Released | 24 October 2010 | ||||||||||
Format | CD single, digital download | ||||||||||
Recorded | 2010 | ||||||||||
Genre | British hip hop, grime | ||||||||||
Length | 3:29 | ||||||||||
Label | Universal Music Group, Island | ||||||||||
Writer(s) | J. Devlin, DJ Yasmin, Future Cut | ||||||||||
Producer(s) | Future Cut | ||||||||||
Devlin singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Runaway" is the second official single by British MC and rapper, Devlin which features DJ Yasmin (credited as Yasmin). The single was released in October 2010 for digital download.
The song premiered on 28 August 2010 on MistaJam's show, and is the second single from Devlin's debut album, Bud, Sweat and Beers. The song got on the BBC Radio 1 A-list three weeks before release. Yasmin commented on working with Devlin, about the song and about the A-list: "I’m thrilled. It’s amazing. The beauty of the song is that everyone on it did their own part. I’ve known the producers for ages, Devlin wrote all his lyrics, I wrote my chorus, so it feels like we all own a bit of the song. It feels a bit more special when it’s really your work that’s up there. I’m so excited. It shows a lot of support and belief from Radio One that they put it straight onto the C-List, the next week up to the B-List and the next up to the A-List."
Fraser McAlpine of BBC Chart Blog gave the song a positive review stating:
I'll admit to feeling a little sceptical about this fella at first. For all that it was only supposed to be a calling-card, 'Brainwashed' didn't really showcase Devlin's story-telling skills, and apart from a couple of sharp one-liners, it wasn't clear why exactly he was as good as he said he was.
Now I know. It's because he can come up with a line like "burning rubber over gravel until we see the English channel" in the middle of a song like this. A song which is - musically at least - not that startling. Just another four-chord churnaround based loosely on those Pachelbel changes N-Dubz used for 'We Dance On'.
But given the benefit of Dev's precision wordplay, and his urgent delivery, it's transformed into something darkly optimistic, quietly brilliant, and poetic in a really unpoetic way. .