Recording and production

In 2007, the song was covered by American singer Kelly Rowland along with a rap by Travis McCoy, front man of the indie hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes, for the soundtrack of French comedy film Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008). The cover was produced by S*A*M & Sluggo.

Rowland recorded "Daylight" circa October 2007 in London, while she was promoting Ms. Kelly in the United Kingdom. Although she "had a great time recording it",^[3] she was nervous about meeting with McCoy in the studio: "When we got into the studio it was just magic together and I'm happy that it was because you always wonder how a collaboration is going to come out", she said.^[4] Stating her reasons for choosing to work with McCoy, she told British songwriter Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul: "I love the fact that Gym Class Heroes' music and sound is something different and eclectic. I figured me and Travis together would be an unusual type a duo. And I'm really happy I trusted my instincts. Because it turned out to be a really cool, different type of collaboration. To me Travis is like a rapper-slash-poet-slash-rocker, and our combination really worked!".^[5]

Initially recorded solely for the soundtrack for Asterix at the Olympic Games, Rowland was so satisfied with the track, she wanted to include it on her extended play (EP) Ms. Kelly: Diva Deluxe (2008) and release it as a single as well: "I love doing collaborations – it's always good to do something that's out the box."^[6] She also stated the cover was her favorite addition to Ms. Kelly: Diva Deluxe; the cover was also added to the deluxe edition of Ms. Kelly soon after, along with other tracks from the EP.^[4]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Daylight" was filmed in November 2007, and was directed by Jeremy Rall and produced by Gina Leonard for Siblings Inc. It was shot in New York City, ten blocks from the Empire State Building.

The video shows Rowland among a bunch of people in a party inside an apartment building alongside Travis McCoy. The video begins at 5:00 a.m. while the party is still in full swing; when the sun begins to rise and shines through the windows, the party-goers move up to the roof of the building to continue the party.

About shooting, Rowland said: "Shooting the music video for the song was hilarious, with Travis especially. He looked so funny and cute when he was riding a weird modified-bicycle in the middle of the bustling city."^[3] The other members of Gym Class Heroes made cameos in the video.

A seven-second snippet of the video premiered on NBC's Clash of the Choirs. The full video finally premiered on Vivement Dimanche in France on January 6, 2008, including clips from the Asterix at the Olympic Games film. In the United States, the video premiered via MySpace on January 17, excluding the Asterix at the Olympic Games clips; the same day, it also premiered on BET's 106 & Park as the "New Joint" of the day. In the United Kingdom, the video premiered via music channel Bubble Hits on March 19.

Commercial performance

"Daylight" debuted at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart, based solely on digital downloads. Upon its physical release on May 5, 2008, the song climbed 22 places to number 14, being the largest climber within the UK Singles Chart's top 40 that week. The song became Rowland's eighth consecutive top-20 hit in the country, although it was not as successful as the first two singles from Ms. Kelly–"Like This" and "Work", both of which peaked within the top five.

Formats and track listings

Charts

Release history