I'm Just Ken

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"I'm Just Ken"
Song by Ryan Gosling
from the album Barbie the Album
Released July 21, 2023 (2023-07-21)
Recorded March 2022
Studio Eastcote Studios, London
Genre
Length 3:42
Label Atlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mark Ronson
  • Andrew Wyatt
Music video
"I'm Just Ken" on YouTube

"I'm Just Ken" is a song performed by Canadian actor Ryan Gosling for the 2023 film Barbie. It was written and produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt and appears on the soundtrack album Barbie the Album. The song has over 100 million streams on Spotify[1] and over 3 million views on YouTube.[2] It won Best Song at the 29th Critics' Choice Awards and is nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the upcoming 66th Annual Grammy Awards.

Background

"I'm Just Ken" is described as a sentimental "'80s power ballad."[3] Ahead of the film's release, marketing and promotional materials often contained the tagline, "She's everything. He's just Ken," an allusion to the song.[4]

Production

"I'm Just Ken" was one of the first songs written for Barbie the Album. Producer Mark Ronson was inspired to write the ballad after reading the Barbie script and sympathizing with Ken's character.[4]

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I instantly had this idea for this lyric: "I'm just Ken / Anywhere else I'd be a 10." It just seemed funny. It felt a little bit emo, like, this poor guy. He’s so hot, but can’t get the time of day.

— Mark Ronson, on writing "I'm Just Ken" for Barbie the Album[4]

Ronson recorded a demo of "I'm Just Ken" and sent it to director Greta Gerwig, although he wasn't expecting it to be included in the film. Gerwig, however, loved the song and played it for Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken.[4] Gosling stated that it affected him "deeply"[3] and asked if he could perform it in the film.[5] Gerwig had to rewrite an important scene in the film to accommodate the new addition.[4][6]

Ronson's colleague and fellow producer on the soundtrack, Andrew Wyatt, wrote the rest of the song before Ronson flew to London to record the vocals with Gosling at Eastcote Studios in March 2022.[3][7] In an interview with Vulture, Ronson noted, "In the studio with Ryan, it was really his performance that lifted the whole thing. All these lines that felt a little bit throwaway-ish, delivered by him, suddenly took on much more."[6] Gosling only had two to three hours to record the track.[7][8]

After Gosling recorded his vocals, Ronson sent the track to Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who found it "cool" and agreed to play guitar on the song.[8] Guitarist Wolfgang Van Halen and Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese also played on the track.[6][9]

Release

Ahead of Barbie's release, Warner Bros. released a clip of Gosling's performance of "I'm Just Ken" on July 10, 2023.[10][11] A "behind-the-scenes" music video mixing rehearsal footage with clips from the actual musical sequence in the film was released on August 21, 2023.[12]

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the CD liner notes of Barbie the Album.[13]

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  • Mark Ronson – songwriter, producer, bass guitar, synths
  • Andrew Wyatt – songwriter, producer, synths, background vocals, choir arrangement
  • Picard Brothers – additional production
  • Slash – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
  • Wolfgang Van Halen – rhythm guitar
  • Josh Freese – drums
  • Mike Richiuti – piano
  • Roger Manning – synths
  • Brandon Bost – programming, engineering
  • Geoff Foster – male choir recording engineer
  • Peter Cobbin – scoring engineer, female choir recording engineer
  • Kirsty Whalley – scoring engineer, female choir recording engineer
  • Daniel Hayden – Pro Tools recordist
  • Alex Venguer – orchestra recording, piano recording engineer
  • Matt Dunkley – orchestral arrangement
  • Ben Parry – choirmaster
  • Ricky Damian – engineering
  • Jake Ferguson – assistant engineering
  • Mike Clink – Slash recording
  • Tom Elmhirst – mixing
  • Adam Hong – engineering for mix
  • Abbey Road Studios Orchestra – orchestra

Accolades

Awards and nominations for "I'm Just Ken"
Award Year[lower-alpha 1] Category Result Ref.
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2023 Best Original Song in a Feature Film Nominated [14]
Best Onscreen Performance in a Feature Film Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society 2023 Best Original Song Won [15]
Phoenix Film Critics Society 2023 Best Original Song Won [16]
Critics Association of Central Florida 2024 Best Original Song Won [17]
North Carolina Film Critics Association 2024 Best Original Song Won [18]
Georgia Film Critics Association 2024 Best Original Song Nominated [19]
Astra Film Awards 2024 Best Original Song Won [20]
Golden Globe Awards 2024 Best Original Song Nominated [21]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2024 Best Song Won [22]
Grammy Awards 2024 Best Song Written for Visual Media Pending [23]
Satellite Awards 2024 Best Original Song Pending [24]
Hawaii Film Critics Society 2024 Best Song Nominated [25]
Denver Film Critics Society 2024 Best Original Song Nominated [26]
Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards 2024 Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Pending [27]

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "I'm Just Ken"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[28] 66
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[29] 25
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[30] 48
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[31] 13
Germany (Official German Charts)[32] 67
Global 200 (Billboard)[33] 70
10
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[34] 98
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[35] 25
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[36] 55
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[37] 2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 60
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[39] 13
US Billboard Hot 100[40] 87
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[41] 5

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "I'm Just Ken"
Chart (2023) Position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[42] 69

Parodies

On the October 14, 2023, episode of Saturday Night Live, comedian Pete Davidson parodied the song as “I’m Just Pete” to mock his personal life.[43][44]

Ken the EP

<templatestyles src="Yesitalic/styles.css"/>Ken the EP
File:Ken the EP cover.jpg
EP by Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson
Released December 20, 2023 (2023-12-20)
Genre Pop
Length 13:54
Label Atlantic
Producer Mark Ronson
Mark Ronson chronology
Barbie (Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2023)		 <templatestyles src="Yesitalic/styles.css"/>Ken the EP
(2023)

On December 20, 2023, Gosling and Ronson released an extended play containing three additional versions of "I'm Just Ken" in addition to the original track. A performance video was released for the Christmas version, subtitled "Merry Kristmas Barbie", which features Gosling, Ronson, and Wyatt in the studio.[45][46] The Christmas version was recorded and released within the span of a week.[7]

Ken the EP track listing
No. Title Length
1. "I'm Just Ken" (Merry Kristmas Barbie) 3:16
2. "I'm Just Ken" (In My Feelings Acoustic) 3:59
3. "I'm Just Ken" (Purple Disco Machine remix) 2:55
4. "I'm Just Ken"   3:42
Total length:
 13:54

Notes

  1. ↑ Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Ryan Gosling – I'm Just Ken" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202332 into search.
  32. ↑ "Musicline.de – Ryan Gosling Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ryan Gosling – I'm Just Ken" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202332 into search.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ryan Gosling – I'm Just Ken". Swiss Singles Chart.
  39. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20230811" UK Singles Chart.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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