The remixed version of the song was a number-one hit in Spain for two weeks in February and March 1999.ĪllMusic editor Tom Demalon described the song as "uplifting" and noted that it "best exemplified Des'ree's smooth blend of pop/ R&B music and power-of-positive thinking lyrical style." Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "adventurous artist delves into her new " I Ain't Movin'" album, pulling out this percussive mover." He added, "Des'ree has a deep alto range and a compelling style that renders anything she sings a sophisticated musical gift. 5 in March 1995, and staying 44 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. The original release first charted in September 1994 in the United States and slowly climbed the charts peaking at No. This version, entitled the "1999 Mix" was added to a re-issue of her third studio album Supernatural. The latter release of "You Gotta Be" charted in its highest position out of all three releases in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. "You Gotta Be" was released several times in the United Kingdom: first on 28 March 1994, then on 27 February 1995 after it had become a US top-10 hit, and again on 22 March 1999 in a remixed version because of its use in the 1999 Ford Focus advertising campaign and following the success of Des'ree's previous singles " Life" and " Kissing You". You have to be cool and calm in situation, and then you have to be bold and strong in another situation." Des'ree drew inspiration for "You Gotta Be" from the Shakti Gawain book Creative Visualization which had abetted the singer's recovery from a painful romantic break-up "I've always been blindly optimistic, and that helped me rise from my melancholia," explains Des'ree who it is said "swears by daily affirmations." Release ĭescribed by Stuart Elliott in The New York Times as "an infectiously sunny tune about the affirmative powers of self-confidence," "You Gotta Be" according to Des'ree is, like all the songs on its parent album, "about having the inner strength to figure out who you are" with "You Gotta Be" specifically being "born out of me stopping myself and thinking every day how you gotta be something.
In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "You Gotta Be" at number 562 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". The song was used in several television advertisements over the following years, and a 1999 remix single became a top-10 hit in Des'ree's native UK and a number-one hit in Spain. As of 13 June 1998, the single sold 358,000 copies in United States, and it received gold certifications in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The song was released as a single around the world in 1994, becoming a top-40 hit in several countries and a top-10 hit in the United States and Australia. It is the third track on Des'ree's second album, I Ain't Movin' (1994), and the opening track on the US release of the album. " You Gotta Be" is an R&B and soul song by British singer Des'ree, written by the singer with the track's producer, Ashley Ingram.