Feel This Moment

The Making and Chart History of "Feel This Moment" by Pitbull Featuring Christina Aguilera

"Feel This Moment" was released in January 2013 as one of the lead singles from Pitbull's seventh studio album "Global Warming," which had been released in November 2012. The collaboration between Pitbull, the Miami-born rapper and entertainer born Armando Christian Perez, and Christina Aguilera, one of the best-selling vocalists in contemporary pop history, represented a meeting of two commercially powerful artists whose combined appeal extended across multiple formats and demographics. The recording was one of the more high-profile collaborations of the early 2013 pop calendar.

The song was built around a sample of "Take On Me" by A-ha, the Norwegian synth-pop group whose 1985 recording had become one of the most enduring hits of the 1980s. The sample, taken from the iconic synthesizer melody that drives "Take On Me," was licensed and incorporated into the production as the harmonic and melodic backbone of "Feel This Moment." This strategy of sampling a well-known 1980s hit for a contemporary dance-pop record was consistent with trends in pop production during the early 2010s, when nostalgia for 1980s sounds was commercially potent across multiple genres.

The production was handled by DJ Afrojack and producers at RedOne, alongside contributions from the primary creative team assembled for "Global Warming." The production retained the immediately recognizable melodic hook from the A-ha original while layering it with contemporary electronic pop elements: punchy synthesizers, programmed drums, and the kind of build-and-drop structure that had become standard in dance-crossover pop by 2013. Aguilera's vocal contribution brought a high level of technical sophistication to the track, her powerful, gospel-influenced delivery contrasting with Pitbull's spoken and rapped verses.

The single was released to radio in late January 2013 and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 9, 2013, entering at position 99. Over the following weeks it climbed with notable speed, moving rapidly through the lower and middle reaches of the chart as radio stations across pop, rhythmic, and dance formats added it to their rotations. By late February it had broken into the top fifty, and by mid-March it had entered the top thirty.

The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of April 6, 2013, a strong commercial performance that validated the investment in the high-profile collaboration. The song spent 24 weeks on the Hot 100, a substantial run that reflected its cross-format appeal. It performed particularly strongly on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and the Pop Songs airplay chart, where the combination of the familiar A-ha sample, Aguilera's vocal power, and Pitbull's commercial radio formula proved highly effective.

Internationally, the song was a major hit, reaching the top ten in multiple European countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. In Canada the song performed especially strongly, reaching the top five on the Canadian Hot 100. The global performance reflected Pitbull's well-documented strategy of building an international commercial presence through strategic collaborations with artists who had established followings in key markets. Aguilera's international reputation as one of pop's foremost vocalists made her an ideal collaborator for a song intended to perform across global markets simultaneously.

The music video was directed with a visual aesthetic that emphasized the celebratory, aspirational energy of the song. It featured both artists in high-production settings that communicated the glamorous, success-oriented persona that Pitbull had cultivated throughout his career. The video received significant rotation on music video outlets and helped sustain the song's commercial visibility through the spring 2013 chart cycle.

For Christina Aguilera, the collaboration provided visibility on the contemporary dance-pop chart at a moment when she was navigating a transitional period in her own career. Her fifth studio album "Lotus" had been released in November 2012 to moderate commercial reception, and the success of "Feel This Moment" demonstrated that her voice and commercial appeal remained fully potent when deployed in the right context. The pairing with Pitbull, whose formula for hit-making was among the most reliable in pop at that moment, worked to the advantage of both artists.