Olivia Dean Reveals New Story Behind Hit Single Man I Need

Olivia Dean (Instagram @oliviadeano)

JAKARTA - Olivia Dean has just shared a shocking story behind her global hit song, "Man I Need". Who would have thought, the song that dominated the world charts almost never got released as a single because of the singer's own doubts.

In a recent interview with Marvin Humes on Hits Radio, the Grammy winner admitted that he felt "Man I Need" did not represent the direction of his album, "The Art of Loving".

At first, Dean felt "Man I Need" had a slightly different musical color than the big narrative he wanted to build on the album.

"I wasn't sure at first that the song was a single. I thought the song felt a little different," Dean said.

The uncertainty slowly disappeared when he started performing the song live with the accompanying band during the rehearsal session. It was the creative process on stage that finally convinced Dean that "Man I Need" had a special energy and was worthy of being introduced to the public at large.

"I know I really like it. However, I don't know if it represents the whole album and its story. But I'm glad I finally released it," continued the 27-year-old singer.

The decision to follow his artistic instincts proved to be the right one. Since its release, "Man I Need" managed to rocket to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top ten for more than 20 weeks. This achievement puts Dean in the ranks of the world's elite musicians.

Based on data from Billboard, the success of "Man I Need" even made a new history in the music industry. Olivia Dean became the first female singer to top the Adult R&B Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Adult Pop Airplay charts simultaneously since Adele did it through the song "Hello" in the 2015-2016 period.

This achievement further strengthens Dean's position as one of the new forces in the modern soul-pop genre that is able to reach various segments of listeners.

Interestingly, Dean also revealed that there are still many song materials from the recording session of "The Art of Loving" that are neatly stored in his personal archive. He did not rule out the possibility of releasing the works that have not been heard in the future.