Kevin Lyttle Earns More UK Silver With Remix Of His Classic Hit
The high-energy Electronic Dance collaboration TMO (Turn Me On) has achieved Silver certification in the UK, marking a fresh chapter for the iconic track’s original artist, Vincentian soca singer Kevin Lyttle.
Released in April 2023, TMO is Australian producer Luude’s reimagining of Lyttle’s 2003 smash hit Turn Me On, featuring Lyttle and Nottingham rapper Bru-C.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the song was issued the Brit Certified Silver Award on Friday (February 25) after it sold over 200,000 units in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company.
Luude, who was awarded Best International Artist at the 2023 Drum & Bass Awards, said he was initially hesitant about creating another remix after his successful drum and bass reworks of Men At Work’s Down Under (1981) and Mattfix’s Jamaican patois-slinging Big City Life (2005).
“I wasn’t really looking to do another re-up tune immediately to be honest,” confessed Luude, whose real name is Christian Benson. “But when Kevin had reached out about this one and wanted to give it a new take – it was just too fun of an idea not to at least try.”
“Then I played it for the first time at the show I did for Mixmag and the crowd reaction was just so insane, we knew it was a tune that had to come out. It’s just such a fun record.”
Following its release, TMO spent nine weeks on the UK Singles chart, peaking at No. 42.
The original Turn Me On was a Soca, Dancehall and R&B tune produced by Adrian Bailey. It featured guest vocals from Dancehall star Spragga Benz and had interpolated lyrics from R&B group 112’s 1998 song All My Love. The official remix featured more lyrics from Spragga.
The song was a huge hit in the United States and Europe, peaking at No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 2 on the UK Singles chart. It was also a top 10 hit in Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Turn Me On went Gold (500,000 units) in the United States in October 2004, and reached 2X Platinum (1,200,000 units) in the UK in June 2023.
It is also currently certified Platinum in Australia, and Gold in Denmark (45,000 units), Germany (150,000 units), Norway (5,000 units), and Switzerland (20,000 units).
Both versions of the original song appeared on Lyttle’s self-titled debut album, released under Atlantic Records. The album entered the Billboard 200 albums chart at No. 8, selling 84,000 copies, and was later certified gold in the United States for selling 500,000 units.
In 2016, American electronic group Cheat Codes sampled Lyttle’s Turn Me On in a remix titled Let Me Hold You (Turn Me On).
The following year, American singer Chris Brown also sampled Turn Me On in his song Questions.
“I own the publishing on Questions. I also own the publishing for the Cheat Codes’ version, Let Me Hold You, which is bigger than the Chris Brown version,” Lyttle told The Source.
The song was also sampled in J.I.’s Need Me (2019), and Collie Buddz’s Mamacita (2006).