The music video was filmed in Miami, Florida. Two women approach a mansion, which is throwing a large party. The women knock on the door to attend the party, and one of the women (actress Lauren London), asks for Pharrell. The security guard at the door "doesn't know who they are talking about", and will not let them inside. The other girl, who is her friend (The Price Is Right game show model Lanisha Cole), tells the security guard "Neptunes Presents Clones", and they are allowed into the party. Once the girls are inside, Pharrell is immediately smitten towards both women throughout the video, and scenes of the party guests having fun are shown, with Jay-Z also in attendance.2
"Frontin'" peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In the UK, the song also charted inside the top 10, peaking at number six in the UK Singles Chart and spending 10 weeks within the top 75. It was Pharrell's biggest solo hit until 2013's "Happy" (his biggest hit as a collaboration being "Blurred Lines" with Robin Thicke and T.I.).
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
On February 11, 2004, the track was covered by British neo-jazz artist Jamie Cullum for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. Williams was very impressed by the cover after it was played to him on a visit to the show, and this led to Cullum providing backup vocals for "You Can Do It Too", a track on Pharrell's first solo album In My Mind. The cover appeared as a bonus track on the US release of Cullum's album Twentysomething. Cullum's version was released as a single and reached number 12 in the UK.
"Frontin'" was also covered live by Maroon 5, featuring Chad Hugo and rapper Mos Def, who replaced Jay-Z's verse with impromptu rapping from A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum", in an apparent reference to similarities between parts of the tracks. New Orleans native Trombone Shorty and his band and Orleans Avenue covered the song on their 2005 debut album, Orleans & Claiborne.27 During the 2012 International Yardfest at Howard University, American singer Leah LaBelle performed her 2012 single "Sexify" as part of a medley with "Frontin'".28 In 2014, UK garage group Disclosure remixed the song.29
American rapper GoldLink also performed a live cover of the song on Like a Version.
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