Serani’s ‘No Games’ Certified Platinum In The UK
Serani’s hit No Games was certified platinum in the United Kingdom (UK) on Friday, October 21.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the song was issued the Brit Certified Platinum Award after it sold over 600,000 units in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company.
Released in 2008, the song was previously certified Gold (for sales exceeding 400,000) in April 2020, and Silver (for sales exceeding 200,000) in June 2017.
No Games was released on the Unfinished Business riddim created by Serani’s own Daseca crew and Linton “TJ” White. Fabian Marasciullo is credited for mixing the catchy, upbeat track, while Dancehall producer Dave Kelly is also credited for the instrumental’s Stink/Showtime riddim influences.
Serani explained that he drew inspiration for the song from a personal experience and from the romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game (2001), which starred Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut.
“I knew I wanted to do a song about ‘no games’, but then I watched the movie and related to it so much,” the singer told the Jamaica Gleaner.
“Man and woman love to play games with each other, in love with each other or not. And I was in a situation and I was like, yo, I wonder if this girl is trying to play games with me? And then I saw the movie and said, I’m definitely doing a song.”
“I pulled influence from Wayne Wonder’s Dreamland on the Stink riddim – I love that beat,” Serani shared.
“Unfinished Business is coming straight from that riddim. Stink riddim became Showtime riddim, and then Showtime riddim became Unfinished Business, so big up Dave Kelly. They used that same beat and did the piano bang, and as a kid in high school I was like, yo, that is fire. When I wrote No Games, that was part of the inspiration, but obviously, I used different chords, new melodies and words, and created my own song.”
The move paid off and the song peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, where it spent 18 weeks. It also appeared on Serani’s debut album No Games, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in 2009.
No Games‘ official music video has 27 million views on YouTube, while the song has over 107 million plays on Spotify.
In February 2020, No Games was sampled by Eminem on the song Farewell off the American rapper’s Music to be Murdered By album.
Serani’s other hits include Skip To My Luu with Ding Dong and Raz N Biggy, She Loves Me, Romance Me, and Dying with Mavado.
His latest song is It’s My Birthday (Aroma!), which was produced by Mek Cent$ Ent.