Not Letting Go

By Tinie Tempah

On Youth

Released on June 19, 2015

107K Views

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[Verse 1: Tinie Tempah]

Yes, ah, yo

Yeah, ready for the summer, girl, your hair look killer

See your batty getting bigger but your waist looks slimmer

And I hope I'm still with you when your hair get thinner

I ain't gotta work it out, I know I'm on to a winner

And I love it when I see you sing a song in the mirror

When you play your favourite records where there ain't no filler

Chicky-cha chicky-chicky-cha, Sade, J Dilla

Now I'm on the right track, went from a train to a limo

Now we on the right track (right track) , yeah (right track)

Used to know me back in college, now I got it like that

Could've gotten sidetracked, now I'm back on my feet

If I hadn't achieved, would you pack up and leave?

Now you're scratchin' on me like we're Adam and Eve

Playing remix to Ignition in the back of the Jeep, ah

She like the hook but she don't know the verse

She know I love her even if I never say the words


[Hook: Jess Glynne + (Tinie Tempah)]

You were something I can't replace

You made my heart work (Aha)

You make me stronger (Aha)

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go

You were something I can't replace

You made my heart work (Aha)

You make me stronger (Aha)

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go


[Post-Hook: Jess Glynne]

Oh-oh-oh oh oh, oh-oh-oh oh oh, go-oh-oh oh oh

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go

Oh-oh-oh oh oh, oh-oh-oh oh oh, go-oh-oh oh oh

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go


[Verse 2: Tinie Tempah]

Yeah, yeah

Livin' in a bubble, we ain't struggling in life (Life)

Ready for your trouble and a couple of fights

Why don't you stay over here and keep me up in the night

And when you're comin' in here, I'll do it just like you like

Girl I'm ready for your lovin', girl I keep on falling

You my lucky number that I keep on calling

Wanna never let me go, she said she fed up of tourin'

Because I kiss her in the night and I then leave in the mornin'

I tell her one (One), already know she the one

She 22 (Two), we in Le Fontainebleau

And when she free (Free), you know she call on me

And then I make her take it off and pull it all on me

Playin' in the sheets, don't sleep tonight

Playin' R. Kelly, I Believe I Can Fly, yeah

She like the hook but she don't know the verse

She know I love her even if I never say the words


[Hook: Jess Glynne + (Tinie Tempah)]

You were something I can't replace

You made my heart work (Aha)

You make me stronger (Aha)

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go

You were something I can't replace

You made my heart work (Aha)

You make me stronger (Aha)

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go


[Post-Hook: Jess Glynne + (Tinie Tempah)]

Oh-oh-oh oh oh, oh-oh-oh oh oh, go-oh-oh oh oh

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go

Oh-oh-oh oh oh, oh-oh-oh oh oh (No, I don't wanna let you go), go-oh-oh oh oh

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go


[Bridge: Tinie Tempah & Jess Glynne ]

Yo, oi my size, I see you're quite shy

Guess I'm a sucker for those nice eyes

I ain't in it for the money or the fame

I'm the one that all the honeys couldn't tame, yo I changed

Oh no, you make my heart work

You make me stronger

You know I changed

This thing we have

It can't be bought or sold, now


[Hook: Jess Glynne + (Tinie Tempah)]

You were something I can't replace (Yeah)

You made my heart work (Aha)

You make me stronger (Makin' me strong)

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go

You were something I can't replace

You made my heart work (Aha)

You make me stronger

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go


[Post-Hook: Jess Glynne + (Tinie Tempah)]

Oh-oh-oh oh oh, oh-oh-oh oh oh (No, I don't wanna let you go), go-oh-oh oh oh

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go (You already know)

Oh-oh-oh oh oh, oh-oh-oh oh oh (No, I don't wanna let you go), go-oh-oh oh oh (No, I don't wanna let you go)

I'm not letting go, I'm not letting go

“Chicky-cha chicky-chicky-cha, Sade, J Dilla”
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“Chicky-cha” sounds very similar to the way Common ends his song “The Light”, a J Dilla-produced track.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=W_-qRcHAhzk

“And I hope I’m still with you when your hair get thinner”
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Hair gets thin when you get old, and tends to look glamorous as a result.

Even as she ages and lose her perfect body, he wants to stay with him until death do they part.

“Now I’m on the right track, went from a train to a limo Now we on the right track (right track), yeah (right track)”
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Playing on trains' mode of transportation being on tracks, the trains-as-lesser-transportation meme was explored famously on A$AP Rocky’s “1 Train”.

“Playin’ R. Kelly, I Believe I Can Fly, yeah”
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The second R. Kelly track mentioned in this song, the first being the “Ignition remix.”

R. Kelly recorded the hit song “I Believe I Can Fly” in 1996 for the movie Space Jam, and appeared in his 1998 album, R.

“Playing remix to Ignition in the back of the Jeep, ah She like the hook but she don’t know the verse She know I love her even if I never say the words”
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One of the few remixes more popular than the original; the chorus is extremely catchy and almost unforgettable:

So baby gimme dat “Toot toot”
And lemme give ya that “Beep beep”

Runnin' her hands through my ‘fro
Bouncin' on twenty fo’s
While they sayin' on the radio

The song is full of witty metaphors alluding to sex.

A lot of people the tend to listen to the song because of the hook and the feeling of the beat. Similar to this song, most people will like this song upon first listen because of those two elements. Tinie’s a man who likes to show his feelings and he doesn’t have to admit them.

“You were something I can’t replace You made my heart work (Aha) You make me stronger (Aha) I’m not letting go, I’m not letting go”
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The chorus describes an irreplaceable individual who is in romantic synchronization with her, someone who makes her stronger in the sense that her confidence is high and she feels better about life. She doesn’t want to lose this person and refuses to “let go” because perhaps this person can be her personification of the one she wants to be with forever.