My Drive Thru

Various media outlets reported in May 2008 that Casablancas, Santigold (Santi White) and Williams had teamed up to create the song for Converse's centennial "Three Artists, One Song" campaign.{{ cite web | url=https://www.nme.com/news/the-strokes/36666 | title=The Strokes team up with Santigold | work=NME | publisher=IPC Media | date=May 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517215222/https://www.nme.com/news/the-strokes/36666 |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }} White told Gigwise.com that Casablancas and White recorded "My Drive Thru" separately, "so it ends up being just this weird long song with sort of everybody with lots of their own personalities separate."{{ cite web | url=http://www.gigwise.com/news/43175/exclusive-santogold-records-song-with-the-strokes-and-pharrell-williams | title=Santogold records song with the Strokes and Pharrell Williams | author=Jason Gregory | work=Gigwise.com | date=May 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 }} Williams worked with Casablancas and White individually in Miami, New York City and Los Angeles.{{ cite web | url=http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/creative/features/e3i5dab627a6e5e9f67b9d373d85c06e5cf | title=Converse turns up the noise | author=Eleftheria Parpis | work=Adweek | publisher=Nielsen Company | date=July 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006232924/https://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/creative/features/e3i5dab627a6e5e9f67b9d373d85c06e5cf | archive-date=October 6, 2008 }} Santogold described the song as "such a Pharrell track." White continued that she wasn't worried about the song being for a brand. "It's like one of the main ways to get our music heard now, and so it's stupid for artists to shy away from that."

Williams, who appears on and produced the song, spoke of the collaboration:{{ cite web | url=http://www.xfmmanchester.co.uk/Article.asp?id=740179 | title=The Strokes, Santogold and N.E.R.D. team up for Converse single | work=Xfm Manchester | publisher=Xfm | date=June 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813181040/http://www.xfmmanchester.co.uk/Article.asp?id=740179 | archive-date=August 13, 2008}} {{cquote|I've always wanted to work with Julian and I'm a big fan of The Strokes. Santigold is super-talented and she cares about music so much that it's not just about sound, it's a visual aesthetic. Working together on original music that crossed all of our inspirations was completely refreshing and I love the track.}}

"My Drive Thru" was made available as a free music download from the Converse website. The track received thousands of daily downloads, according to Converse.

The Times made "My Drive Thru" their track of the day, calling it "a three-headed Frankenstein monster of coolness" that was "a lovely attempt to allow guitar music, beats and R'n'B to come together in one happy bundle."{{ cite web | url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4130706.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616022628/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4130706.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 16, 2011 | title=My Drive Thru by Santogold, Pharrell Williams and Julian Casablancas | author=Neil Queen | work=The Times | publisher=News International | date=June 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 }} Paste referred to the song as "a pulsating, guitar-driven grab bag of a dance track."{{ cite web | url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/06/converse-kicks-unite-pharell-santogold-julian-casa.html | title=Converse kicks united Pharrell, Santogold, Julian Casablancas | author=Julia Askenase | work=Paste | publisher=Paste Media Group | date=June 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 }} Stereogum said the song was "a single-riffed blend that laces up elements of Pharrell, Santi & Julian's day jobs into a perfectly produced summertime pop cocktail."{{ cite web | url=https://stereogum.com/archives/new-santogold-julian-casablances-pharrell-my-drive_010274.html | title=Santogold, Julian Casablancas & Pharrell – "My Drive Thru" | work=Stereogum | date=June 9, 2008 | accessdate=July 14, 2008 }} Gigwise.com was less positive, saying "the beat is repetitive, even a bit boring at times, but what saves it is the interaction of Santi White and Casablancas."{{ cite web | url=http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/tracks/43852/singled-out--june-16th-2008 | title=Singled Out! – June 16th, 2008 | author=Jason Gregory | work=Gigwise.com | date=June 1, 2008| accessdate=July 14, 2008 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122090525/http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/tracks/43852/singled-out--june-16th-2008 | archivedate=November 22, 2008 }} Pitchfork Media felt that "the beat should get your shoes tapping, but it doesn't sound like an example of artists taking the corporate dollar to make something they couldn't profitably do on their own."{{cite web | url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/51170-new-music-santogold-julian-casablancas-and-pharrell-my-drive-thru-mp3 | title=New Music: Santogold, Julian Casablancas, and Pharrell: "My Drive Thru" [MP3] | author=Marc Hogan | work=Pitchfork Media | date=June 9, 2008 | accessdate=July 14, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714071413/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/51170-new-music-santogold-julian-casablancas-and-pharrell-my-drive-thru-mp3 | archive-date=July 14, 2008 | url-status=dead }}

A music video was created for a two-and-a-half-minute version of "My Drive Thru", directed by Psyop's Marie Hyon and Marco Spier. It builds on the campaign's paper doll chain theme, where people are connected by their Converse shoes. "The artists were filmed on a soundstage using three HD cameras and then animated using CGI. The production took about four months to complete as well as the use of nearly 10,000 paper cutouts of the artists." The video uses stop motion, and creates the illusion that Casablancas, White and Williams are all "unfolding" like paper dolls. The video clip debuted on MySpace and MTV on July 9, 2008.{{ cite web | url=http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3630244 | title=Converse gets creative online | author=Douglas Quenqua | work=clickZ | publisher=Incisive Media | date=July 1, 2008| accessdate=July 16, 2008 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718023604/http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3630244 | archivedate=July 18, 2008 }} According to reports, it was one of the top ten shared videos in its first day of release, with over 750,000 streams.{{ cite web | url=http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080715005250&newsLang=en | title=Converse launches new advertising campaign built around the hit summer track My Drive Thru | work=Business Wire | date=July 1, 2008| accessdate=July 16, 2008 }} The music video was shortened into 30-second and 60-second cinema and television advertisements which debuted on July 14, 2008.

The Converse '3 Artist 1 Song' initiative has led to a series of other collaborations. In 2010, All Summer was released, written and produced by Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, featuring Kid Cudi and Bethany Consentino of Best Coast. In 2012, "DoYaThing" was released, featuring Gorillaz, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and Andre 3000 of Outkast.

"My Drive Thru" was featured in one episode of CSI: Miami

{{Reflist|2}}

• [https://myspace.com/conversemydrivethru My Drive Thru] on Myspace

{{Julian Casablancas}}

{{Santogold}}

{{Pharrell Williams singles}}

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Category:2008 singles

Category:Pharrell Williams songs

Category:Santigold songs

Category:Song recordings produced by the Neptunes

Category:Songs written by Pharrell Williams

Category:Songs written by Santigold

Category:Songs written by Julian Casablancas