INTERVIEW: Kungs On The Meaning & Making Of 'This Girl' | Behind The Song

Behind The Song is a reoccurring feature, where we take an in-depth look at a track and its backstory because, let's be real, there's nothing like getting the scoop about a record directly from the artists themselves.

You might've heard of some of Kungs' earlier singles, but it's his remix of "This Girl" that's making an impact on a worldwide scale. In a landscape full of harsh and heavy beat drops, his mix of the dance banger stands out from the pack. In fact, it's reached the top spot on charts in France and Germany, the runner-up position on charts in Austria and UK and is working its way up in the States. A reworking of Cookin' on 3 Burners' 2009 cut, the record blends funk, soul and dance in a tightly-packed three-minute earworm.

Just last week, the 19-year French DJ/producer took to iHeartRadio HQ in New York City to speak about the addictive bop and how the track came about in our newest installment of Behind The Song. Take a look below!

The Major Stats

Artist: Kungs

Title: “This Girl”

Producer: Kungs

Release Date: February 19, 2016

Album: This Girl EP

Writers: Jake Mason, Lance Ferguson, Ivan Khatchoyan

Sample: Cookin' on 3 Burners' - "This Girl"

On His First Time Hearing 2009's “This Girl”:

“It was like one year ago [that I heard the original version]. It was last summer. I was just playing some tracks on YouTube, like soul and blues tracks because I really love this type of music. Then I just heard this track. I was like, 'Whoa. I have to remix this and add my personal touch on it because it's amazing.'"

On Keeping The Essence Of The Original:

“Well, there are some parts in the original, I thought it were a bit boring, so I just left them [out]. I just wanted to keep the parts that I liked the most. I just wanted to keep this energy with the trumpets and just make a dance track. . . . I wanted to keep this funk, soul and blues style with ultra vibes with the trumpets and the bass. I just wanted to make a blend like this and it worked."

On Cookin’ on 3 Burners’ Response To His Remix:

"We just sent the remix I made. They were like, ‘Yeah, okay, and why not? Maybe let's make an original track or something.' They just forgot that I made this track. Two weeks before the release, we came to them and said, 'Is it still okay to release a track?" They were like, ‘Oh, yeah, we forgot that you made a remix.’ We were a bit scared, like, ‘Maybe they will say no or something.’ They kind of liked the track and were like, ‘Okay, let's do this. It's going to be cool.’”

On The Video For “This Girl”:

“We didn't have time to think more about the video clip because everything happened so fast. We just decided to make the clip in Greece. At the beginning, I wasn't really into going [in] the clip. We just didn't do it. Then for the second [single] video clip, we were, 'Okay, maybe let's do this, and let's have fun during the shooting.'"

Watch The Official Music Video Below:

Photo: Rachel Kaplan for iHeartRadio