It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending March 8, 2014, and the following week, and also topped the Hot 100 Airplay chart. ' Happy' topped the musical charts in over 19 countries. Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, Victor Willis Track listing Īll music is composed by Heitor Pereira Track listing No. Eight years after the film's release, Williams released the lyrical song ' Just a Cloud Away' on March 25, 2022, to wider commercial response. The four-minute video edit of the song released on YouTube on November 21, and as of March 2018, it crossed over 1 billion views. The video went viral upon its premiere, and attributed to the massive success of the song. Promotions and marketing Īs a part of promotions, Williams came up with a website, launched to coincide with the single release, featuring a visual presentation of 'Happy' advertised as being 'the world's first 24-hour music video', directed by the French directing team We Are from LA. Speaking on the integration of the film songs into the score, Pereira said 'Unless there is a reason in the story, you don't want it to be a surprise, so you have to tease the ears with what is going to come in the song before it begins'. The song was initially intended to be written for CeeLo Green (who earlier sang another track 'Scream'), but due to conflicts with CeeLo's record company Elektra Records, as he was on the verge of releasing his 2013 Christmas album, Williams himself sang the track, instead. He finished writing the song within 20 minutes. While writing the track, did not write the melodic portions, but only just the chorus part of the film. In a 2014 interview to The New York Times, Williams recalled that the song was rejected nine times, by the producer Chris Meledandri, before finally being approved. Williams wrote three original songs, including the popular track ' Happy' that was released as a single on November 21, 2013, to wider commercial success.

He added that the 'continuity was honestly based on lifting people up emotionally'. Williams and Pereira discussed about several main themes for the album, and went ahead with the overarching theme, which was not about the characters but much about the air of the film. Pereira also created new themes for the characters, including for the minions, whose themes needed to be 'more threatening and menacing'. Pereira attributed that for El Macho, being a Mexican wrestler and the main antagonist, had to implement 'full choir with a latin flair to emphasize his presence'. The co-director of Despicable Me 2, Chris Renaud had recalled the 'distinctive music of the first film' that born out of the collaboration between Pereira and Williams, leading them to work for its sequel. Eight years after the single release, the track ' Just a Cloud Away' was released in March 2022. The song also received an Academy Award-nomination for Best Original Song at the 86th Academy Awards, but lost the award to ' Let It Go' from Frozen. Besides, topping the charts in over 19 countries, it was the best-selling song of 2014 in the United States and United Kingdom. A visual presentation of the track, being advertised as 'the world's first 24-hour music video' coincided the single, featuring Williams and directed by We Are from LA, and went viral upon release. The track ' Happy' served as the only single from the album released on November 21, 2013, by Back Lot Music, and was also part of Williams' second studio album Girl (2014). Besides that, two tracks from Despicable Me: 'Fun, Fun, Fun' and the titular track is also featured in the soundtrack. Out of the eight songs, three original tracks, written by Williams, were featured in the album as well as the tracks 'Another Irish Drinking Song', ' I Swear' and ' Y.M.C.A.' were incorporated into the album.

The soundtrack to the film featured 24 tracks – eight songs and the remainder of the album, consists of original score tracks. The original music was composed by Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams, whom previously scored for Despicable Me. The album was released on July 2, 2013, through Back Lot Music. Despicable Me 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the 2013 film Despicable Me 2 the sequel to Despicable Me (2010).

Despicable me 2