Hot Tottie

"Hot Tottie"

A sample of "Hot Tottie", featuring vocals by Usher and Ester Dean, accompanied by a "strobing beat."

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"Hot Tottie" was first leaked onto the internet during late July 2010 along with the track "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love."^[1] It was originally reported to feature R&B singer Ciara.^[2] However, when the official mix of the song appeared online, Ester Dean, who sung vocals on the demo of the track, was singing the female vocal interludes.^[2] The song was released from Versus as the EP's urban single, whereas the latter track was released as the mainstream single.^[3] "Hot Tottie" is an R&B song that includes hip-hop, which is over "strobing, electronic beats" with Usher's vocals Auto-Tuned in parts.^[1] In an interview with MTV News at his World Leadership Awards in Atlanta, Usher called the song, which was already receiving rotation on radio due to a leak, "incredible," and confirmed that the song would be on his upcoming release of Versus.^[4] On August 31, 2010, a remix of the song, which features Lil' Kim, was released online.^[5] Usher performed the song on an untelevised portion of his appearance on The Early Show on September 3, 2010, and is performing it on his OMG Tour.^[6] The original version of "Hot Tottie" with Ciara was leaked on July 15, 2011, with Jay-Z's verse omitted.^[7]

Coining the track as "sleazed-up", Andy Kellman of AllMusic noted the track as a standout from Versus.^[8] Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe called "Hot Tottie" the essential track on the EP, and said that Jay-Z "bumps up the fun factor" on the "burbling" track.^[9] Mark Edward Nero of About.com gave the song a positive review, saying that it was "a rock-solid tour de force featuring Usher vocalizing how smooth he is."^[10] Nero also commended Jay-Z's verse but said the only negative to the song was Ester Dean's vocals which were similar to those of Rihanna.^[10] Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly stated that the song is "nasty in all the right ways."^[11] Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times says that Usher remains on the "R&B's A-list" with tracks like the song, calling it "as intoxicating as its namesake."^[12]

Based on airplay only, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 100.^[13] In its second week it rose to number eighty-eight.^[13] In its third week, due to the release of Versus, the song's sales elevated to number twenty-five after selling 52,000 digital downloads, and collected greatest gainer recognitions.^[14] It later peaked at number twenty-one on the chart, while reaching number seventeen on the Hot 100 Airplay and twenty-one on the Hot Digital Songs chart.^[13] The song reached number nine on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart,^[15] and number twenty-seven on the US Pop Songs chart.^[16] Internationally, "Hot Tottie" peaked at number sixty-two on the Canadian Hot 100.^[17] Although it was not officially released as a single in the UK, the song reached number 104 on the UK Singles Chart and number twenty-seven on the UK R&B Chart due to sales after the release of Versus only.^[18]

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Versus.^[19]

Locations

• Vocal recording – Studio at the Palms, Paradise, Nevada
• Mixing – No Excuses Studio, Santa Monica, California

Personnel

• Songwriting – Usher Raymond IV, Ester Dean, Shawn Corey Carter, Polow da Don
• Production – Polow da Don
• Recording – Jeremy "Jay" Stevenson
• Mixing – Jeremy "Jay" Stevenson