My buddy Mark Ronson hit me up earlier this year needing my ‘mammoth guitar sound’ and I happily obliged,” he wrote.

I'm Just Ken" was one of the first songs written for Barbie the Album. Producer Mark Ronson was inspired to write the ballad after reading the Barbie script and sympathizing with Ken's character. [4] Would Barbie have received this enlightenment if she hadn’t travelled to the real world, and met people along her path who helped her understand who she was? Possibly, possibly not. But her favourite song was suggesting self-realisation right from the very start. Wang, Jessica (July 19, 2023). "Wolfgang Van Halen and Josh Freese also bring Kenergy to Barbie Land". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved October 14, 2023. My buddy Mark Ronson hit me up earlier this year needing my ‘mammoth guitar sound’ and I happily obliged. Honoured for the opportunity to contribute some guitar playing throughout this hilarious/surreal/heartfelt movie.”

Ahead of Barbie 's release, Warner Bros. released a clip of Gosling's performance of "I'm Just Ken" on July 10, 2023. [9] [10] A "behind-the-scenes" music video mixing rehearsal footage with clips from the actual musical sequence in the film was released on August 21, 2023. [11] Personnel [ edit ] The song’s also been a constant in other popular culture as shorthand for a powerful moment of emoting. It got a shout out from a drunk Jim and Andy in The Office (US) – and who here hasn’t felt something encroaching a spiritual awakening from a couple of glasses of wine, only for it to recede again with the rest of the bottle? – and it’s had previous form as the perfect road-trippin’ tune, as Ali, Sarah and Maura from Transparent sing along to it on the way to a festival; like Barbie, it’s a song of empowerment, and to pump them up for whatever may lie on the road ahead of them.

He added: “And there is an unspoken Ken code that if you buy another Ken’s style, you have to give them your most prized possession. So, I hope you will accept the Ken guitar as my humble offering. Besides, Ken doesn’t really play anyway. So, it will be much better in your hands.” Another thing to say about Barbie is that it is very, very funny. Robbie’s almost C-3PO-ish deadpan delivery provides plenty of laughs, but it’s Gosling who’ll end up as your favourite toy,” it read. Famously, Gosling also polished up his piano prowess for La La Land in 2016, where he played a gigging jazz pianist with lofty ambitions. In press interviews promoting the film, Gosling told Jimmy Kimmel that it really was him playing the piano: “I had to play the whole theme of the movie on the piano in one take, without messing up.” Ronson recorded a demo of "I'm Just Ken" and sent it to director Greta Gerwig, although he wasn't expecting it to be included in the film. Gerwig, however, loved the song and played it for Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken. [4] Gosling stated that it affected him "deeply" [3] and asked if he could perform it in the film. [5] Gerwig had to rewrite an important scene in the film to accommodate the new addition. [4] [6] I have a lot of textural stuff throughout the film with two major spots where I do some soloing Wolfgang Van HalenVanHoose, Benjamin (July 10, 2023). "Ryan Gosling Flexes His Muscles and Sings His Ken Anthem in New 'Barbie' Sneak Peek". People . Retrieved October 14, 2023. IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 202332 into search. Retrieved August 14, 2023.

With big incel vibes from the start – witness the chorus: “I wanna push you around/ Well, I will, well, I will/ I wanna push you down/ Well, I will, well, I will/ I wanna take you for granted/ Yeah, I wanna take you for granted” – it is the antithesis of what Barbie hopes for on her return to Barbie Land. This is not the song to win them over, Kens, it only serves to make the anti-brainwashing of the other Barbies more urgent.

Watch Ryan Gosling's ‘Just Ken’ from the Barbie movie featuring Slash:

This Barbie has a playlist for every road trip! Well, less a playlist and more a signature song that is played – and sung along to, of course – every time she puts pedal to the metal in her pink Corvette. This is her ride-or-die, hype-em-up, mantra of a song to belt out when she wants to remind herself of who she is: she’s Barbie, and she’s just fine!

For Gerwig, she felt the song from her childhood perfectly aligned with Ken’s troubled state of mind: “It was playing all the time on Quad 106.5 when I was in seventh grade,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I really loved that song. I listened to it all the time and I was like, ‘I feel it. Something’s in this.’” Hi Jimin, it’s Ryan Gosling here,” he said. “I noticed that your Permission To Dance video outfit is the same as my Ken outfit in the upcoming movie Barbie. I have to give it to you, you wore it first and you definitely wore it better.” To no one’s surprise and everyone’s delight, it seems that Gosling is a multi-talented musician with plenty of strings to his bow.IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 202332 into search. Retrieved August 14, 2023. This song is so good, I want to play my guitar at a woman on the beach with this while staring uncomfortably into her eyes for 4 minutes,” is just one of the many new comments on the YouTube video of this song, which has soared with plays over the weekend, taking it up to 106 million views. Jeffrey, Joyann (August 4, 2023). "Ryan Gosling makes Billboard's Hot 100 chart. He's not the 1st actor to do so". TODAY.com . Retrieved August 7, 2023.