Aeroméxico Connect Flight 2431

Aeroméxico Connect Flight 2431 (SLI2431/5D2431) was a Mexican domestic scheduled passenger flight bound for Mexico City that crashed on takeoff from Durango International Airport on July 31, 2018. Shortly after becoming airborne, the plane encountered sudden wind shear caused by a microburst. The plane rapidly lost speed and altitude and impacted the runway, detaching the engines and skidding to a halt about 1,000 feet (300 m) beyond the runway. The plane caught fire and was destroyed. All 103 people on board survived, but 39 passengers and crew members were injured.

A final report on the crash was released on February 23, 2019. Investigators found that the primary cause of the accident was adverse weather conditions encountered by the flight, and contributing factors included crew error, air traffic controller error, and the lack of equipment that could detect wind shear conditions at airports. Investigators determined that an unauthorized student pilot in the cockpit who was flying the plane during the takeoff caused the crew to be distracted, leading to a loss of situational awareness. The crew failed to react to dangerous weather conditions that were developing, and did not notice irregularities in the airspeed indicators that could have alerted them to potential hazards. The sole air traffic controller on duty at the airport at the time also failed to notify the aircraft of rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.

The accident and the subsequent investigation led to changes in Mexican aviation regulations to prevent unassigned crew members from being present in the cockpit of an aircraft at any time during a flight. Investigators also made several recommendations for changes in flight crew and air traffic controller training, and to improve the capabilities of weather detection equipment in place at airports to improve overall aviation safety.

## Accident

The flight, number 2431, was operated by Aeroméxico Connect and was a regularly scheduled flight from Durango International Airport to Mexico City International Airport. Originally scheduled to leave at 2:56 p.m. Central Time (UTC−06:00), the departure was slightly delayed when the first officer observed a fuel leak from the number one engine and asked maintenance crews to investigate. Crews eventually concluded that the rate of leakage was within safe limits. The aircraft left the gate at 3:14 p.m. and headed toward the end of runway 03. As the plane taxied, rain started to fall with increasing intensity, accompanied by strong gusts of wind. At 3:18 p.m., the air traffic controller reported 20-knot (23 mph; 37 km/h) winds from 90 degrees. The flight information service for the airport published an updated weather report at 3:18 p.m. indicating the presence of thunderstorms and rain, reduced visibility, and the presence of cumulonimbus clouds. The air traffic controller did not see this update because he was working alone and was attending to Flight 2431. The rain became so heavy that the tower could not see the runway. Even though the controller was in the best position to see the deteriorating weather conditions, he did not inform the aircraft about any of his observations. The flight was cleared for takeoff at 3:21 p.m. Severe wind gusts caused several trees to become uprooted at the airport, knocking down power and communication lines. A special weather update was sent out by the flight information service at 3:22 p.m. warning of thunderstorms and rain, 0 feet of visibility and a decrease in the ceiling to 0 feet, but this report was never received by the tower controller due to the power outage.

The aircraft proceeded down the runway. After it reached a speed of 147 knots (169 mph; 272 km/h), the pilot flying the plane rotated the controls to bring the aircraft airborne, and raised the gear when the craft was two feet (0.61 m) above the runway. The plane began its takeoff with a headwind, but the winds quickly shifted to a right crosswind of 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h), increasing to 33 knots (38 mph; 61 km/h) as the plane proceeded down the runway. The plane had reached its maximum altitude of about 30 feet (9 m) and a maximum indicated airspeed of 151 knots (174 mph; 280 km/h) when the wind direction suddenly shifted to a 24-knot (28 mph; 44 km/h) tailwind. The plane rapidly lost airspeed and altitude, and an audible alarm of "DON'T SINK" sounded in the cockpit. Five seconds later, the left wing struck the runway, and both engines broke away from the wings. The plane skidded off the runway and came to rest about 1,000 feet (300 m) beyond the end of the runway. All 103 people on board the plane were able to evacuate and survived the crash before a fire broke out that destroyed the aircraft.

## Aircraft

The aircraft was an Embraer 190, registration XA-GAL, msn 19000173. It was first delivered to US Airways in 2008 as N960UW before being sold to Republic Airways Holdings in 2009. Under Republic Airways ownership, the aircraft was re-registered as N167HQ, operating for Midwest Airlines, a former subsidiary of Republic, and later for fellow Republic subsidiary (at the time) Frontier Airlines, until late 2013. After Republic retired its Embraer 190 aircraft from its operations, Republic then leased N167HQ to Aeroméxico Connect in 2014, who registered the aircraft as XA-GAL. At the time of its loss, the aircraft had flown a total of 27,257 hours, and had 18,200 takeoff and landing cycles.

When it was originally manufactured, the aircraft was equipped with a Honeywell WU-880 weather radar. This system can detect storms along the flight path of the aircraft and give pilots a visual indication of the intensity of the storm. The aircraft was also equipped with a wind shear detection and escape guidance system that can detect wind shear conditions and alert the pilots using a combination of visual and audio alarms. The audio alarms are disabled in the event of a higher priority audio alarm, such as the ground proximity sensor alarm.

## Crew

The pilot in command of the flight was 38-year-old Carlos Galván Meyran, a resident of Mexico City. He held an airline transport pilot licence and had been working at Aeroméxico since 2010, as a pilot since 2011. He had a total of 3,700 logged flight hours at the time of the crash. Galván completed his captain training for the Embraer E-Jet series in June 2017 and had logged 1,064 hours in the type. He occupied the left-hand seat in the cockpit during the flight, and suffered serious injuries in the accident, requiring hip and spine surgery which doctors called successful.

The assigned first officer, Daniel Dardon Chávez, held an airline transport pilot licence and had a total of 1,973 logged flight hours, including 460 hours on the Embraer 190 aircraft. He was 25 years old at the time of the accident and was originally from Metepec, State of Mexico. He had become certified to copilot this type of aircraft in February 2018. He received minor injuries in the crash. During the flight, he was occupying the jump seat in the back of the cockpit instead of the right-hand seat normally occupied by the first officer.

Another pilot who flew for the airline, José Ramón Vázquez, was also in the cockpit. He held a commercial pilot license and had a total of 3,296 logged flight hours. He was certified to fly the Beechcraft King Air F90 and Beechcraft Super King Air 200 aircraft. He was in the process of receiving training to fly the E-Jets, but as of the time of the flight, he had only received initial classroom instruction, and had completed 64 hours of simulator time, and had not yet received his certification. He had no experience on the Embraer E190 aircraft. At the time of the flight, he occupied the right-hand seat in the cockpit normally occupied by the copilot, and was the pilot flying the plane until the last five seconds before the crash, when captain Galván took control. Vázquez received minor injuries in the crash.

Two female flight attendants were in the main cabin. The senior flight attendant had been employed by the airline since June 2012 and suffered a fractured lumbar vertebra. The junior flight attendant had been employed by the airline for about a week and received minor injuries in the crash.

## Passengers

The plane departed with 98 passengers and 5 crew members. Two of the passengers were airline employees being shuttled between locations, including the pilot in training who was in the cockpit. Of the passengers, excluding the pilot in training, 31 were Mexican citizens, 65 were United States citizens, 1 was a Spanish citizen, and 1 was a Colombian citizen.

## Aftermath

Immediately after the crash, passengers reported seeing smoke and flames as they rushed to escape the plane. Some passengers said that a door had been torn off and that plane's fuselage had broken in two, allowing them to jump directly out of a gap in the side of the aircraft. The crew was able to open the emergency exit slides and safely evacuate all of the occupants within 90 seconds. About three to four minutes after coming to a stop, and after all passengers had been evacuated, the aircraft exploded and was engulfed in flames. The air traffic controller attempted to contact the aircraft, and when it received no response he contacted the approach sector controller to see if they were in contact with the aircraft. The controller dispatched an airport service vehicle to inspect the runway. The driver saw the aircraft's engines at the side of the runway and smoke rising from beyond the runway. Airport officials activated the emergency operation center at the airport, and dispatched firefighters to assist with the rescue and to extinguish the fire.

After reports about the crash came in, Aeroméxico sent a team to Durango to provide assistance to affected passengers and their families. The company announced that it would cover all medical, accommodation, transportation, and incidental expenses resulting from the crash. It praised the actions of the crew and said that the crew's quick and efficient evacuation of the plane was instrumental in avoiding additional serious injuries and fatalities. It also said that the pilot's expertise and professionalism had prevented the loss of life in the accident.

Different sources gave conflicting reports about the number of injuries from the incident. The Ministry of Health initially reported that there were 18 passengers injured. The Red Cross said there were 97 injuries. The governor of Durango told media that 49 people had been treated for injuries at hospitals. Two days after the crash, Aeroméxico reported that 17 passengers were still hospitalized, 16 were in the process of being released, and 24 had already been released from medical care. The final official accident report stated that there were 14 serious injuries and 25 minor injuries.

About a month after the crash, Aeroméxico announced that the three pilots who were in the cockpit that day had been fired from the company. It said that while it did not feel that the crash was the fault of the pilots, they had violated company procedures by not following their assigned roles during the flight by allowing the trainee pilot to take control of the aircraft. The labor union representing the pilots protested the termination, saying that the decision was carried out based only on a preliminary accident report, and that a full investigation into the accident was still ongoing. Shortly afterward, Mexico's Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) issued a change in regulations that prohibited airlines from allowing inactive pilots and flight attendants from flying in the cockpit of aircraft. Aeroméxico pilots opposed this change and called for a strike, viewing the sudden removal of a travel benefit as a violation of their collective bargaining agreement between the union and the airline. After negotiations, the union representing the pilots agreed to a change in the agreement, where all non-working flight crews will have reserved seats in the main cabin, and continue to be denied access to the cockpit.

## Investigation

Shortly after the crash, the DGAC announced that it had formed commission to investigate the crash. The commission received assistance from the US National Transportation Safety Board and the US Federal Aviation Administration. Additional assistance was provided by Embraer SA, who had built the aircraft, and General Electric Co., who had built the engines on the aircraft. Investigators quickly located the flight data recorders for the aircraft and found them to be in perfect condition.

On September 5, a little over a month after the accident, José Armando Constantino Tercero, the lead investigator from the DGAC, announced that the final conclusion had not yet been reached, but that the cause of the accident appeared to be sudden wind shear from a microburst. He said that the pilots had not received any notice of the adverse conditions prior to starting the takeoff, and that neither human nor mechanical failure appeared to be to blame for the crash. He also said that analysis of the cockpit voice recorder revealed that an unauthorized pilot training was taking place during the flight, and that the trainee pilot had been occupying the copilot seat and flying the plane until shortly before the crash. This was not in accordance with aviation regulations, and he said that administrative proceedings had been initiated. Nevertheless, he stressed that neither the presence nor the actions of any of the pilots caused the accident. Shortly afterward, the airline announced that it had fired the three pilots who were in the cockpit of the flight.

The investigators conducted a series of flight tests in full flight simulators in Mexico and Brazil using the same weather conditions that existed at the time of the flight, with crews with similar levels of experience as the crew of Flight 2431. The simulator crews were not given advance notice of the situation that they were about to encounter. In one situation, the flight crew turned on the weather radar, recognized the signs of wind shear from the variations and visual cues on the instruments, and successfully aborted the takeoff. In a second scenario, the wind shear weather conditions were not loaded into the simulator until after the takeoff roll had started. In that case, the simulated flight reached a maximum altitude of about fifteen feet (5 m) before losing altitude and impacted the ground with the landing gear. The simulator group concluded that because the crew did not notice the presence of wind shear during the takeoff, they could not have been able to recover the aircraft in time to avoid the accident.

### Final report

On February 23, 2019, the final report was released. It concluded that the accident was caused by "impact with the runway caused by a loss of control of the airplane during the final phase of takeoff as a result of wind shear at low altitude which caused a loss of speed and altitude." The investigation found no mechanical malfunctions in the aircraft that led to the accident.

The report identified contributing factors to the accident caused by the flight crew. One factor was that the pilot of the plane, who was not a certified instructor, was giving an instruction to a student pilot, who was flying the plane at the time. This caused a loss of situational awareness and the pilots did not maintain a "sterile cockpit", one that was free from distractions. It found that among other mistakes, the pilot and the student pilot failed to notice that the airspeed indicator on the pilot's side was giving different information than the airspeed indicator on the copilot's side. Notification of this fact could have provided information about the dangerous weather conditions at the time. Additionally, it found that the pilots failed to follow standard operating procedures during the flight, including configuring the aircraft for the weather conditions that were encountered immediately before and during the takeoff.

Investigators also identified contributing factors related to the air traffic controller. The report said that the tower controller failed to follow proper procedures that were in place for weather conditions creating the possibility of low altitude wind shear. It faulted the controller for failing to inform the departing flight about the rapidly deteriorating visibility and changes in wind speed and direction. It said that the controller did not have adequate supervision and assistance in the air traffic control tower.

The investigation made several recommendations to the airline to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future. It said that the airline should make changes to its operating procedures to prevent a person who is not an assigned crew member from taking the controls of the aircraft during any phase of that flight. It recommended additional training for air crews on sterile cockpit procedure, to ensure that crews are able to maintain full awareness of the aircraft and external conditions. It recommended additional training on how to recognize potential wind shear situations in storms and address those situations during flight. It recommended training on the use of maximum thrust during takeoff, the verification of the aircraft configuration for the current weather conditions, and the active monitoring of airspeed, altitude, and vertical speed instruments during takeoff. It recommended changes to procedures for identifying and resolving situations where there is a disagreement between flight instruments. It recommended procedures for establishing a safe altitude before raising the landing gear. Because the commission found that incorrect barometric pressures had been entered into the flight control computer of the aircraft, it recommended additional care be exercised by flight crews in keeping track of the information that it receives from air traffic control to guarantee that the information used for the flight is correct. The third pilot had been listed as a passenger, but his absence from the passenger compartment had not been noted by the flight attendants. The commission recommended that the airline revise its cabin crew operating procedures to identify and address situations where passengers are not in their expected place on the plane.

The commission made additional recommendations to the airport operator and the Mexican civil aviation agency. The commission stated that air traffic controllers should not operate alone and that there should be additional personnel to receive and communicate adverse weather conditions to aircraft. The commission found that the DGAC had not published guidelines on how to recognize wind shear situations, or the hazards of wind shear in different types of storms. The commission recommended that the DGAC develop a program to identify and classify the level of risk in storms. The commission also found that the airport did not have equipment to detect the presence of wind shear, so it recommended that the agency implement a program to install facilities to detect variations in the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical direction of winds. This additional information may be included in navigational aids. The commission recommended that airports identify and eliminate risks that can interrupt power, voice communications, and data communications in the control towers. Finally, the investigation found that CCTV cameras installed at the airport were helpful during the investigation, but the investigation was hampered by the lack of timestamps on the video. A recommendation that all cameras in place at airports include timestamps on recordings was made.

## See also

Other Flights Brought Down By Microbursts:

- Delta Air Lines Flight 191
- Pan Am Flight 759
- 1956 Kano Airport BOAC Argonaut crash
- 1950 Air France multiple Douglas DC-4 accidents
- United Nations Flight 834
- USAir Flight 1016
- Martinair Flight 495
- Eastern Airlines Flight 66

Aircraft that crashed in Mexico, July 2018

Airliner accidents and incidents caused by microbursts

Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error

Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather

Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2018

Aviation accidents and incidents in Mexico

Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Embraer E-Jet family


William Pūnohu White

William Pūnohuʻāweoweoʻulaokalani White (; August 6, 1851 – November 2, 1925) was a Hawaiian lawyer, sheriff, politician, and newspaper editor. He became a political statesman and orator during the final years of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the beginnings of the Territory of Hawaii. Despite being a leading Native Hawaiian politician in this era, his legacy has been largely forgotten or portrayed in a negative light, mainly because of a reliance on English-language sources to write Hawaiian history. He was known by the nickname of "Pila Aila" or "Bila Aila" (translated as Oily Bill) for his oratory skills.

Born in Lahaina, Maui, of mixed Native Hawaiian and English descent, White was descended from Kaiakea, a legendary orator for King Kamehameha I. Representing Lahaina in the legislative assemblies of 1890 and 1892, he became a political leader for the Liberal faction in the government and established himself as a leader in the opposition to the unpopular Bayonet Constitution of 1887. Throughout the terms of both legislatures, White led attempts to pass bills calling for a constitutional convention. He was criticized by the missionary Reform party for his support of the controversial lottery and opium bills. He and Joseph Nāwahī co-authored the proposed 1893 Constitution with Queen Liliʻuokalani. They were decorated Knight Commanders of the Royal Order of Kalākaua for their service and contribution to the monarchy. When an attempt by the queen to promulgate this constitution failed on January 14, 1893, White's opponents falsely alleged he had tried to incite the people to storm ʻIolani Palace and harm the queen and her ministers. White denied these charges and threatened to sue the newspapers. Three days after the attempted promulgation, the queen was deposed in a coup during the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893.

During the Provisional Government of Hawaii and the Republic of Hawaii that followed it, he remained loyal to the monarchy. Returning to Lahaina, he helped organize native resistance on Maui and was arrested for running out a pro-annexationist pastor at Waineʻe Church. He was elected in 1896 as honorary president of the Hui Aloha ʻĀina (Hawaiian Patriotic League), a patriotic organization established after the overthrow to oppose annexation. In 1897 he became an editor of the short-lived anti-annexationist newspaper Ke Ahailono o Hawaii (translated as The Hawaiian Herald) run by members of the Hui Kālaiʻāina (Hawaiian Political Association). Following the annexation of Hawaii to the United States, he was elected as a senator of the first Hawaiian Territorial legislature of 1901 for the Home Rule Party. Afterward, his political fortune declined with the party and his many attempts to win re-elections from 1902 to 1914 ended in defeats, although he was elected the first sheriff of Maui County for a brief period before his election was declared void due to inconsistencies in the 1903 County Act.

## Early life and family

White was born on August 6, 1851, at Lahaina, on the island of Maui, to John Kahue White, Jr. and his wife Kahalelana. His paternal grandparents were John White, Sr. and Keawe. He was of Native Hawaiian and English descent, thus known as a hapa-haole in Hawaiian and as a "half-caste" in the English press. His paternal grandfather John White, Sr. was regarded as one of the oldest foreign-born residents in Hawaii at the time of his death. Known as "Jack" White, he was an Englishman originally from Plymouth, Devon. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he served on the frigate HMS Amelia. Sometime in 1796 or 1797, he arrived in Lahaina and later settled as a permanent resident in 1802. During the final years of the conquest and unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii, he served as a foreign advisor in the court retinue of King Kamehameha I. He received lands on Maui in the Great Mahele in 1848. After residing in the Hawaiian Islands for more than sixty years, he died on August 9, 1857. He was living with his son-in-law, Maui sugar planter Linton L. Torbert (William's uncle), around the time of his death.

From his paternal grandmother Keawe, he was descended from Kaiʻākea, his great-grandfather and an aliʻi (high chief) of Molokaʻi, who served as a political counselor, orator and many other different positions during the reign of the first Hawaiian king Kamehameha I. In 1902, the Ka Nupepa Kuokoa printed a brief biography, noting: "... Kaiʻākea was a wise counsellor in ancient times in his occupation taught by his grandfathers from Kapouhiwaokalani to the sons, Mahinuiakalani and Kauauanuiamahi and Kuikai, on down to Kukalanihoouluae, the own father of Kaiʻākea. From these comes Kaiʻākea's political knowledge, that as an architect, an orator, a composer of the historical and genealogical chants, an important genealogical source for these islands and the one who by himself and with his chiefly children arranged the genealogy of the major chiefs of Hawaii, Maui, and Molokai from the high chiefly ranks to the low chiefly ranks."

During the 1860s, White was educated at the Luaʻehu School, the Anglican mission boarding institution run by Archdeacon George Mason in Lahaina. Founded by Anglican Rev. William R. Scott in 1863, this institution was a precursor of the present-day ʻIolani School in Honolulu. White was educated with Curtis P. Iaukea, Samuel Nowlein, Robert Hoapili Baker, and other future Hawaiian leaders.

White married the Chinese-Hawaiian Esther or Ester Apuna Akina (1855–1943), sister of fellow statesman Joseph Apukai Akina. They had four known children including Ellen Kananihemolele White (1875–1942), wife of politician David Kalei Kahāʻulelio, and Samuel Tensung Leialoha White (1886–1962), who became an assistant city engineer for Honolulu.

## Political career during the monarchy

During the early 1880s, White worked as a police officer in Kohala, on the island of Hawaii. According to later opinions, he "made the reputation of being a good officer". It was in this capacity that he first came into the political arena. In the general election of 1884 he was nominated as one of the many National (Governmental) Party members and ran for a seat in the Hawaiian legislative session of 1884, as a representative from Kohala. He received no votes in this election. Godfrey Brown (an Independent) defeated National Party member George Panila Kāmauʻoha, a colleague of White's in the Kohala police force at the time and also later a member of the 1892 legislature.

In April 1884, Kāmauʻoha was removed from his position for malfeasance and White was appointed his successor as deputy sheriff of North Kohala. Prior to this, the police department of Kohala had gained a reputation for corruption. After his appointment, the new deputy sheriff became popular in the community for his competency, "strict attention to his duties, as well as his thorough integrity". During his tenure, news reports claimed "he is acknowledged by all law-loving residents to be by far the best one we have had for many year, He is not to be bought, and is no respecter of persons or position, especially when the interest of the public are concerned. However, he did not hold this position for long and was succeeded by J. W. Moanauli. By 1885, White had moved to Hilo where he had begun practicing law.

He became an agent to take acknowledgements to instruments on September 12, 1884. On January 1, 1886, he was listed as one of the speakers at a political rally at Halawa. He later became a member of the Hui Kālaiʻāina (Hawaiian Political Association), a political group founded in 1888 to oppose the Bayonet Constitution and promote Native Hawaiian leadership in the government. After the adoption of the constitution, White gave a speech in Hilo speaking out against it. He criticized the exclusion of the Chinese and Japanese from the vote, especially focusing on the latter group because of Hawaii's treaty with the Empire of Japan. By 1890, he had returned to his native island of Maui.

As a political leader, White received strong support in the Native Hawaiian community. During his terms in the legislature, he became known by the nickname of "Pila Aila" or "Bila Aila" (Oily Bill) for his ability to speak to and humorously charm large crowds. He embraced this moniker although his opponents used it negatively to denigrate him as a slick, smooth-talking demagogue who negatively influenced his constituents. In the Hawaiian tradition, his skills as an orator were attributed to the kuleana (responsibility) of his family as descendants of Kaiakea.

### Legislature of 1890

From 1890 to 1893 White served two terms as a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Hawaiian legislature, for the district of Lahaina on the island of Maui. In his first term, he initially ran as a member of the Reform Party against the National Reform Party candidate J. Nazareta. In 1887, the Reform Party (consisting of many descendants of American missionaries and Hawaiian conservatives) had become the established governmental party following King Kalākaua's coerced signing of the Bayonet Constitution. White was opposed to the constitution, and may have switched allegiance at a later point to the National Reform Party, which was established in opposition to the Reform Party in this session.

In a mass meeting at Palace Square on September 9, 1890, he allied with many other leading National Reform politicians in calling for a constitutional convention to draft a replacement for the constitution. Speeches were made by legislators Joseph Nāwahī of Hilo, John E. Bush, Robert William Wilcox and John K. Kaunamano of Oahu, and Luther W. P Kanealii of Maui, among other speakers. Reportedly, Representative Wilcox told the crowd that "any National Reform Party member of the legislature who voted against the convention bill 'ought to be torn limb from limb'". At the end of the meeting, White gave the final speech, which "made all who understood Hawaiian, laugh". However, when the constitution convention bill went up for the vote of the legislature on October 1, it was defeated by a vote of 24 to 16.

White and Bush proposed a bill to the legislature to amend the 1887 constitution to give women the right to vote during this session. The bill did not pass. Had it been made into law, Hawaii would have preceded New Zealand as the first nation to allow women to vote. In 1892, Nāwahī would attempt to pass another bill supporting women's suffrage but it also failed.

The 1890 biannual session commenced on November 14. A few months later, in January 1891, King Kalakaua died while in San Francisco and was succeeded by his sister Queen Liliʻuokalani. White and his wife Ester marched alongside other legislators and their spouses in the funeral procession of the deceased king.

### Legislature of 1892–93

In 1891 White changed his party allegiance, joining the National Liberal Party. He and Wilcox were chosen as the stump orators to travel around the other islands and canvass for the new party. The Liberal Party wanted increased Native Hawaiian participation in the government, as well as a constitutional convention to draft a new constitution to replace the unpopular Bayonet Constitution. However, the party soon became divided between radicals and more conciliatory groups. Joseph Nāwahī and White became the leaders of the factions of the Liberals loyal to the queen against the more radical members such as John E. Bush and Robert William Wilcox, who were advocating for drastic changes such as increased power for the people and a republican form of government. Newspaper accounts noted that, during a meeting of Hui Kālaiʻāina on December 4, 1892, White reportedly said that he had "always abhorred the idea of a republic".

In the February 1892 election, White ran on the National Liberal ticket and defeated Reform candidate John W. Kalua for the seat of Lahaina in the House of Representatives. From May 28, 1892, to January 14, 1893, the legislature of the Kingdom convened for an unprecedented 171 days, which later historian Albertine Loomis dubbed the "Longest Legislature". This session was characterized by a series of resolutions of no confidence, resulting in the ousting of a number of Queen Liliʻuokalani's appointed cabinet ministers, and debates over the passage of the controversial lottery and opium bills.

During this session, White presented petitions for a new constitution from his constituents and introduced a bill on June 29 to convene a constitutional convention that was referred to a select committee. He supported the lottery bill and the opium bill, which were intended to alleviate the economic depression in the islands' sugar industry caused by the passage of the McKinley Tariff. The bills were controversial, dividing the legislators. He was one of three members to introduce an opium licensing bill (July 9) for legislative debate although the final bill adopted was another version written by Clarence W. Ashford. On August 30, he introduced the lottery bill, aimed at creating a national lottery system for raising governmental revenue, which was supported by the queen. According to Liliʻuokalani, White "watched his opportunity and railroaded the last two bills through the house". Both these bills passed the legislature after contentious debates.

Along with his political ally Nāwahī, White was decorated with the honor of Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalākaua at a ceremony in the Blue Room of ʻIolani Palace on the morning of January 14, for his work and patriotism during the legislative session. The legislative assembly was prorogued on the same day, two hours later, at a noon ceremony officiated by the queen at Aliʻiōlani Hale, which stood across the street from the palace. The Daily Bulletin newspaper noted: "All of the Hawaiian members of the Legislature were present, and one of them, Rep. White, displayed a star of the Order of Kalakaua".

## Overthrow

As a strong proponent for a new constitution, White helped Queen Liliʻuokalani draft the 1893 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Nāwahī was the other principal author, and Samuel Nowlein, captain of the Household Guard, was another contributor. These three had been meeting with the queen in secret since August 1892 after attempts to abrogate the Bayonet Constitution by legislative decision through a constitutional convention had proved largely unsuccessful. The proposed constitution would increase the power of the monarchy, restore voting rights to economically disenfranchised Native Hawaiians and Asians, and remove the property qualification for suffrage imposed by the Bayonet Constitution, among other changes. On the afternoon of January 14, after the knighting ceremony of White and Nāwahī and the prorogation of the legislature, members of Hui Kālaiʻāina and a delegation of native leaders marched to ʻIolani Palace with a sealed package containing the constitution. According to William DeWitt Alexander, this was pre-planned by the queen to take place while she met with her newly appointed cabinet ministers in the Blue Room of the palace. She was attempting to promulgate the constitution during the recess of the legislative assembly. However, these ministers, including Samuel Parker, William H. Cornwell, John F. Colburn, and Arthur P. Peterson, were either opposed to or reluctant to support the new constitution.

Crowds of citizens had gathered outside the steps and gates of ʻIolani Palace expecting the announcement of a new constitution. Among them were White and members of Hui Kālaiʻāina who had presented a sealed package containing the constitution. After the ministers' refusal to sign the new constitution, the queen stepped out onto the balcony and asked the assembled people to return home, declaring "their wishes for a new constitution could not be granted just then, but will be some future day". Representative White also gave a speech to this crowd on the palace steps although the exact nature of what he said is disputed. Opponents of the monarchy, especially the conservatives in the Reform Party, later claimed he gave an inflammatory and violent speech inciting the crowd to storm the palace and "go in and kill and bury" either the queen or her cabinet ministers. The speech may have been in Hawaiian and was only paraphrased in the English press. On January 16, The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, an English newspaper in Honolulu, sympathetic to the Reform Party, reported:

> Rep. White then proceeded to the steps of the Palace and began an address. He told the crowd that the Queen and the Cabinet had betrayed them, and that instead of going home peaceably they should go into the Palace and kill and bury her. Attempts were made to stop him which he resisted, saying that he would never close his mouth until the new Constitution was granted. Finally he yielded to the expostulations of Col. Boyd and others, threw up his hands and declared that he was pau, for the present. After this the audience assembled dispersed.

The political fallout of the queen's actions led to citywide political rallies and meetings in Honolulu. Anti-monarchists, annexationists, and leading Reformist politicians including Lorrin A. Thurston formed the Committee of Safety in protest of the "revolutionary" action of the queen and conspired to depose her. In response, royalists and loyalists formed the Committee of Law and Order and met at the palace square on January 16. White, Nāwahī, Bush, Wilcox, and Antone Rosa and other pro-monarchist leaders gave speeches in support for the queen and the government. However, in their attempts to be cautious and not provoke the opposition, they adopted a resolution stating that "the Government does not and will not seek any modification of the Constitution by any other means than those provided in the organic law". In this mass meeting, White also gave a speech denying the violent charges printed in the press against him, claiming that "the other fellows, meaning the Reformers, are crying out before they are hurt" (another paraphrasing published in The Daily Bulletin). Minister Cornwell (one of the individuals the papers claimed he intended to harm) later stated in his testimony in the Blount Report:

> A few remarks were made by the Hon. William White, the representative for Lahaina, to the effect that, while the people regretted the Queen's inability to grant the wishes of the people, they accept the assurances of the Queen and await the proper time, which, if they were successful at the next election to be held, would be at the meeting of the Legislature in 1894. The insurgents have falsely reported the remarks of Mr. White, and in their press and otherwise represented him as making an incendiary and threatening speech. The falsehood of such statement, well known to us who were witnesses at the scene, will shortly be proven in the courts of justice, as Mr. White has retained counsel for the purpose of bringing a damage suit for malicious libel against the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, the principal organ of the reform party.

## Opposition to the overthrow and annexation

These actions and the radicalized political climate eventually led to the overthrow of the monarchy, on January 17, 1893, by the Committee of Safety, with the covert support of United States Minister John L. Stevens and the landing of American forces from the USS Boston. After a brief transition under the Provisional Government, the oligarchical Republic of Hawaii was established on July 4, 1894, with Sanford B. Dole as president. During this period, the de facto government, which was composed largely of residents of American and European ancestry, sought to annex the islands to the United States against the wishes of the Native Hawaiians who wanted to remain an independent nation ruled by the monarchy.

### Resistance on Maui

Residents of Maui began circulating petitions protesting the establishment of the Provisional Government in the districts of Wailuku and Makawao. White was still in Honolulu during the events of the coup d'état, and The Hawaiian Gazette reported rumors that he was one of the candidates for a Hawaiian embassy to Washington, DC, to ask for the restoration of the monarchy under the queen's niece Princess Kaʻiulani. Departing Honolulu on February 7, he returned to Lahaina on the inter-island steamer Waialeale. White remained a royalist and an agent of the deposed monarch on Maui and wrote "to the Queen and others about covert issues surrounding her possible re-instatement".

In May 1893 he helped organized the native community of Lahaina in removing the pro-annexationist Reverend Adam Pali of Waineʻe Church. Angered by the political stance of their pastor, the native congregation and the trustees of the church voted to remove Pali and asked him to vacate the residence owned by the church by July 8. However, these efforts were later undone by the central authority in Honolulu and the Maui Presbytery. During their meeting in June, the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (HEA) ruled against the vote of the native congregation. In July the Maui Presbytery reinstated Pali and excommunicated the members of the congregation, including White, who had voted to remove him. The English press in Honolulu cast White in a negative light, claiming he had proved to be a "negative influence over the simple people of the parish". On July 8 a confrontation took place between the leaders of the congregation, in physical control of the church, and supporters of Pali, which included Lahaina Circuit Judge Daniel Kahāʻulelio. Using his official position, Kahāʻulelio ordered the arrest of White and the four other leaders of the congregation on charges of "riot and unlawful assembly". They were imprisoned in the local jail to await trial. Represented by John Richardson, the personal attorney of the queen, their trial lasted three days, from August 2 to August 5, 1893. Judge William Henry Daniels, of the Wailuku Circuit Court, found no evidence that the defendants had organized or provoked a confrontation and acquitted them of the charges. Consequently, after Pali's reinstatement, church attendance at Waineʻe plummeted from seventy-five to thirteen members. The excommunicated members continued their resistance and worshipped at the nearby Hale Aloha Church instead.

Waineʻe Church was burned down on June 28, 1894, after sparks from a rubbish fire ignited the wooden belfry of the church. Although the fire was accidental, annexationist Sereno Edwards Bishop, writing in 1897, blamed the Hawaiian royalists and those who had opposed Pali for the burning of the building. He stated: "The excellent pastor of this church, Reverend A. Pali, had become obnoxious to a majority of his people on account of politics. He had favored the abolition of monarchy, having become, like a majority of his colleagues in the pastorate, exceedingly disgusted with the increasing heathenish tendencies of the court. The dissension arising from Pali's attitude had led to the burning of the fine old stone church by partisans of the Royalist side, and the people were too weak to rebuild." This biased, false report has been repeated in the conventional history of Hawaii written with the use of English language sources. The church was later rebuilt and destroyed multiple times and was renamed Waiola Church in 1953.

### Return to Honolulu

White became a member of Hui Aloha ʻĀina o Na Kane (Hawaiian Patriotic League for Men), a patriotic group founded shortly after the overthrow of the monarchy to oppose annexation and support the deposed queen. A corresponding female league was also founded. The ranks of the men's group were largely composed of the leading native politicians of the former monarchy, including Nāwahī, who served as its president. A delegation (not including White) was elected by its members to represent the case of the monarchy and the Hawaiian people to the United States Commissioner James Henderson Blount sent by President Grover Cleveland to investigate the overthrow. During this politically uncertain time, White traveled to Honolulu at the end of 1893 on the steamer W. G. Hall upon hearing rumors of the monarchy's restoration and returned to Lahaina in January when he discovered the reports were false. The native resistance, the results of the Blount Report, and President Cleveland's refusal to annex the island stopped the annexationist scheme and prompted the Provisional Government to establish an oligarchical government, styling itself the Republic of Hawaii, until a more favorable political climate emerged in Washington. In April 1894 White and John Richardson gave a speech at Lahaina opposing the new regime and asking the people not to participate in the election of delegates to the constitutional convention in Honolulu. Members of Hui Aloha ʻĀina gave speeches and held meetings across much of the island, and it was reported that foreigners and natives alike in Maui (with the exception of the residents of Hana) were strongly against the attempts to establish a republic.

At the beginning of January 1895, Robert William Wilcox launched a counter-revolution against the forces of the Republic. Its ultimate failure led to the arrest of many sympathizers of Wilcox and the militant efforts to restore the queen, including Liliʻuokalani and Nāwahī, who were arrested for misprision of treason. Nāwahī died in 1896 from tuberculosis complications contracted during his imprisonment. After Nāwahī's death, White and other Hui Aloha ʻĀina delegates from the different island branches congregated in Honolulu for the election of a new leadership council on November 28, 1896, coinciding with Lā Kūʻokoʻa (Hawaiian Independence Day). In this meeting in which White presided as chairman, James Keauiluna Kaulia was elected as the new president. Two days later, White was chosen as the honorary president of Hui Aloha ʻĀina, over Edward Kamakau Lilikalani, by a majority of the assembled members. The Hawaiian Star reported, "In accepting the position Mr. White thanked the members for the honor and pledged himself to labor for the best interests of the society. He called upon the delegates to inform their constituents of his election and ask them to give him their cordial aid in his work."

In 1897 White became the editor of Ke Ahailono o Hawaii (translated as The Hawaiian Herald), a Hawaiian-language newspaper founded by Hui Kālaiʻāina. After the overthrow, this Hawaiian political group switched its political agenda toward opposing annexation to the United States and restoring Liliʻuokalani. White co-owned the paper with David Keku and John Kahahawai. The assistant editor was Samuel K. Pua, a colleague of White's in the 1892–93 legislature from Oahu, although Pua would resign in October of the same year. At the conception of Ke Ahailono o Hawaii, the English newspaper The Independent noted that "The New venture under the control of Messrs. White and Pua, should indeed be a White Flower of journalism, although the genial 'Sam' could change the euphony by adding another terminal vowel to his name." The paper was published at Honolulu's Makaainana Printing House, owned by F. J. Testa. Weekly issues were published from June 4 to October 29, 1897. In May 1899 Testa sued White and the four other proprietors of the newspaper including David Kalauokalani (president of Hui Kālaiʻāina) for unpaid printing costs of the short-lived paper. The court ruled in favor of Testa awarding him the amount of \$743,40, although White was only required to pay one-fifth of \$447.50 because he left the venture when the "troubles" started. The decision was reversed on appeal.

After assuming office in 1897, United States President William McKinley signed the treaty of annexation for the Republic of Hawaii, but it failed to pass in the United States Senate after the Kūʻē Petitions were submitted by Kaulia, Kalauokalani, John Richardson and William Auld as evidence of the strong resistance of the Native Hawaiian community to annexation. Members of Hui Aloha ʻĀina collected over 21,000 signatures opposing an annexation treaty. Another 17,000 signatures were collected by members of Hui Kālaiʻāina but not submitted to the Senate because they were asking for the restoration of the queen and the delegates. The petitions were used as evidence of the strong resistance of the Hawaiian community to annexation and the treaty was defeated in the Senate. After the failure of the treaty, Hawaii was instead annexed by means of a joint resolution called the Newlands Resolution, in July 1898, shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War.

In September 1898 White took an oath of allegiance to the United States and the Republic of Hawaii in order to renew his license to practice law in the inferior courts of the Hawaiian Islands. A few days later on September 12, David Kalauokalani, Robert William Wilcox and other members of Hui Kālaiʻāina held a meeting at the Palace Square. White was slated as a possible speaker at the meeting, in the newspaper The Hawaiian Star printed the morning of September 12, although it is not certain if he attended the meeting later in the evening. Many Hawaiians had accepted annexation was to stay. Despite divided opinions among the Hawaiian leaders, they sent a memorial requesting the restoration of the monarchy and "the old order" to the board of commissioners established to finalize the laws and annexation of the islands to the United States.

## Territorial government

Following the establishment of the Territory of Hawaii in 1900, White became a member of the Home Rule Party, which was formed by the former leaders of Hui Aloha ʻĀina and Hui Kālaiʻāina. The party consisted of Native Hawaiians who had been leaders during the monarchy and other former royalists and loyalists such as Robert William Wilcox, who was elected the first congressional delegate from Hawaii under the Home Rule ticket. During this period, the party would share the political stage and contend with the Republicans and Democrats.

### 1901 legislature

There had been speculation since May 1899 that he would be a candidate for office in the new territorial government. In November 1900 election White was elected to the inaugural Territorial legislature, established under the Hawaiian Organic Act, as a senator from the Second District (corresponding to Maui, Molokaʻi. Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe). During this term, his brother-in-law, Joseph Apukai Akina, would serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives while his son-in-law David Kalei Kahaulelio served as sergeant-at-arm of the Senate.

During this session, the Native Hawaiian legislators attempted to pass new laws in the interest of the local people, who included Hawaiian taro farmers, patients of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement and victims of the 1900 Chinatown fire, among others. In total, fifty-one bills were introduced in the Senate and one hundred and twenty-six in the House, although only nineteen bills were submitted by both houses for ratification. They proposed creating a governmentally funded education program for poor Hawaiian students similar to the Education of Hawaiian Youths Abroad program initiated during the reign of King Kalākaua. A pension for the deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani and appropriation to repair the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii were also proposed. They promoted the use and study of the Hawaiian language, especially in the government and courts. Ignoring the Organic Act which mandated the sole use of English in the legislature, this session was conducted in both Hawaiian and English with the aid of an interpreter. Many of the territorial legislators in this session did not speak English. They also created the first county bill, which would have created five counties named after former Hawaiian aliʻi.

However, their agenda was obstructed by the Republicans and the appointed members of territorial government, especially Governor Sanford B. Dole, the former president of the Republic. In this session, the Home Rulers attempted to decentralize control away from the governor and empower local government by passing a bill creating the first counties in Hawaii. This county bill was defeated by Dole through a pocket veto after the prorogation of the regular session. The legislative assembly was later mockingly dubbed the "Lady Dog Legislature" because of extensive debate on House Bill No. 15, which pertained to the repealing of an 1898 tax on ownership of female dogs. This nickname was used by opponents of the Home Rulers to denigrate the group and the difficulties of the 1901 legislature would later be used as evidence of the incompetence of Native Hawaiian political leadership. Historian Ronald William, Jr., noted:

> Hawaiʻi's first territorial legislature has been disparaged in modern published sources with its native leadership characterized as incompetent, ineffective, and shallow. In contrast, the primary-source record of that body reveals a competent, prepared, and engaged native leadership addressing foundational concerns of their constituents through the drafting and support of numerous legislative bills. It conveys a story of legislative leaders hamstrung by a territorial system in which two of the three governmental branches, the judiciary and executive, were appointed. A bitter struggle between these appointed and elected factions resulted in the neutering of much of the agenda of the native-led legislature. The discrepancy between the narratives speaks volumes about the larger elision of Hawaiian voice and action in published histories of Hawai‘i.... Native leaders of the 1901 legislature were neither incompetent nor intimidated. These men, chosen to represent the people of Hawai‘i, had supported their nation in significant ways prior to getting the call to serve in this capacity. In the lead up to the opening of the legislature in which they would serve, they had prepared diligently and during this brief law-making session they had worked determinedly to fulfill the kuleana [responsibility] bestowed upon them by their constituents. These native leaders of the first territorial legislature had continued a dedicated and determined legacy of service to their people.

### Declining political career

In the next election, for the 1903 legislature, White ran again for senator on the Home Rule ticket. Despite expecting an easy victory, he was defeated by Republican candidate Charles H. Dickey. White accepted the defeat graciously. Many Home Rule members of the previous legislature also lost, including his brother-in-law Speaker Akina. Referring to these defeated politicians as the "Lady Dog Members", The Hawaiian Star reported "all went down to defeat on their Lady-Dog record". During this same election, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, who bolted from the Home Rule Party with many of his followers to join the Republicans, defeated Wilcox for the position of Hawaii's delegate to Congress, resulting in the decline of the Home Rule Party and allowing the Republicans to gain the upper hand.

A second county bill was passed by the 1903 legislature and approved by Governor Dole, forming Maui County and four other counties on the main Hawaiian Islands. The first local territorial elections for the county boards of Maui and the other counties were held on November 3. In this election, White ran as the Home Rule candidate for Sheriff of Maui County and defeated the Republican candidate Lincoln M. Baldwin, who had held the previously appointed position of sheriff. The Home Rule Party ended up dominating in the local elections on Maui. Shortly after his election, White and David Haili Kahaulelio, the elected county clerk for Maui, wrote to Dole's successor, Governor George R. Carter, asking him to assemble a conference where the newly elected county officials across the territory could discuss how the county governments should be conducted.

The county act came into effect on January 4. However, it was soon placed on hold by the Hawaii Supreme Court, awaiting a ruling on its constitutionality. Acting under the instruction of the governor, High Sheriff Arthur M. Brown ordered the former appointed sheriffs to resume their posts from the elected officials. Brown sent a telegraph, on January 14, to Sheriff Baldwin ordering him to resume his former position and asking White to vacate his office. They expected some amount of difficulty from White, and Brown considered sending a force from Honolulu under Deputy High Sheriff Charles F. Chillingsworth to quell any possible insurrection. Baldwin assembled men from his former police force and retook the sheriff's office, but White refused to relinquish his position, insisting that he wanted "further advice from the Attorney General as to what he should do". The board of supervisors met and decided that White should hold office until there was an official notification from Honolulu on the matter. Both Baldwin and White agreed to wait. On January 16, 1904, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled the second county bill as unconstitutional because it ran counter to the Organic Act, effectively voiding the previous local elections. When the official decision was received, White resigned as sheriff. Permanent county governments were finally established by an act of the following legislature of 1905. Opting to run for the lesser position Deputy Sheriff of Lahaina, White lost the county election of June 1905, to the Republican Charles R. Lindsay, Jr. by a margin of 112 to 212. Republican William E. Saffery was elected as the sheriff of Maui County. The election resulted in overwhelming Republican victory with only two Home Rule victories in Wailuku for county supervisor and deputy sheriff.

The rest of White's political career was marked by a successive period of electoral defeats caused by his continued adherence to the declining Home Rule Party. In November 1904 he ran for the territorial senate for a third time, on a dual Home Rule and Democratic ticket. However, since 1903 the Home Rulers had been steadily losing power to the Republicans, and White was defeated by Republican candidate Samuel E. Kalama by a margin of 810 to 1311. In 1906 he ran for the territorial senate for a fourth time, as a Home Ruler. His supporters described him as "Safe, sane, and conservative" in their petition letters nominating him for the election. However, he was defeated again by the Republican candidate William J. Coelho by a narrow margin of 1225 to 1281. After relocating to Oahu in 1907, he returned briefly to Maui to run as a Democrat in the 1908 election for the senate seat from Maui, but was defeated by a margin of 1152 to 1158. In Honolulu, he ran in the general elections of 1910 and 1912, as a senator for the fourth and fifth district of Oahu, on the Home Rule ticket, but he performed poorly in both elections. The Home Rule Party formally disbanded in 1912 although a few candidates, including White, unsuccessfully ran in the primary elections of 1914.

## Election records

Following is the election records from 1884 to 1914 based on the results published by English language newspaper in Hawaii.

## Death and legacy

From 1901 to 1903 White was the proprietor of the Ka Lei Nani Saloon in Lahaina, which was advertised in The Maui News. In later life, he moved from Lahaina to Honolulu in 1907. After an illness of eight months, he died on November 2, 1925, at his home at 604 Kalihi near North Queen, in Honolulu. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Kaʻahumanu Society Cemetery, next to where his widow (a lifelong member of the society) would later be laid to rest. In 2017, historian Ronald William, Jr. raised the funds for a marker for White's grave through a GoFundMe campaign. The grave marker was unveiled on August 6, the anniversary of White's birth.

Despite his popularity in the native community, White was portrayed negatively in the English-language press in his lifetime and in the published histories after his death. As a consequence of his opposition to the powers that overthrew the monarchy and later annexed the islands to the United States, White remains obscure in Hawaiian history. Recent research efforts in Hawaiian academia using Hawaiian language sources have shed more light on White and many other early Native Hawaiian resistant leaders like him.

In Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, Liliʻuokalani praised the work of Nāwahī and White:

> The behavior of these two patriots during the trying scenes of this session, in such marked contrast to that of many others, won them profound respect. They could never be induced to compromise principles, nor did they for one moment falter or hesitate in advocating boldly a new constitution which should accord equal rights to the Hawaiians, as well as protect the interests of the foreigners. The true patriotism and love of country of these men had been recognized by me, and I had decorated them with the order of Knight Commander of Kalakaua.

## Honors

- Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalākaua.

Hawaiian lawyer, sheriff, politician and newspaper editor

Hawaiian Kingdom people of English descent

Members of the Hawaii Territorial Legislature

Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Representatives

National Liberal Party (Hawaii) politicians

National Reform Party (Hawaii) politicians


Nothin' on You

"Nothin' on You" is the debut single of both American rapper B.o.B and featured American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. It is the lead single from the former's debut studio album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray (2010). It was first released on December 15, 2009, via digital download by Atlantic Records. The track was written by B.o.B, Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, with the latter three also handling its production as the Smeezingtons. "Nothin' on You" was initially recorded by Lupe Fiasco, but Atlantic Records' chairman, Craig Kallman, gave it to B.o.B after being displeased with Fiasco's version. The song took several months to finish and was created from a hummed melody by Mars and Lawrence.

"Nothin' on You" is a pop rap, R&B and Southern hip hop ballad. Some music critics praised its catchiness and feel-good vibe, while a few criticized Mars' performance. Lyrically, the record aims at a woman's heart by means of flattery. The single reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, and reached the third and fifth spot in Australia and New Zealand, respectively, and the top ten in Canada. It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and once by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and Music Canada (MC). It ultimately landed at number 11 on the Billboard Year-End in 2010, making it one of the most popular songs of that year.

The music video, directed by Ethan Lader, with animation done by George Rausch, was filmed in Los Angeles. It features cutout animation, which takes multiple collages and taps them one over each other, in this case depicting various women. The video is interpolated with footage of the performers playing instruments along with Lawrence. The track has been covered by various recording artists and parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was nominated for Record of the Year, Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 53rd Grammy Awards. The song was performed live at The Ellen DeGeneres Show and at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Both artists have promoted it during their respective several tours.

## Background and production

During the summer of 2009, the Smeezingtons were booked for a week of writing sessions for Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B and Travie McCoy. Bruno Mars and Philip Lawrence usually hummed melodies, while Aaron Bay-Schuck, former Atlantic A&R, encouraged both of them to develop the best of those melodies, such as "Nothin' on You" and "Billionaire". In the beginning, they only had scratch chorus demos of "Nothin' On You" and "Billionaire", with a guitar on the backing track and Mars singing on top of it. In an interview to MTV News Mars and Lawrence explained how the song was created. "Me and Phil always had that hook", said Mars; "It was a different melody at first, though," Lawrence added. In 2013, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Mars revealed he took inspiration from Prince's "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (1994) for the hook of "Nothin' on You". The instrumental of the song was composed when Ari Levine programmed the drums, based on an old-school hip-hop beat. When Mars heard it, he started playing the piano and "Magically, that melody worked with this track we were doing", the latter explained. "Nothin' on You" was finished a few months later, around November, with B.o.B working with the Smeezingtons to shape it. It was recorded with a couple of different arrangements.

Initially, Mars was not supposed to feature on the hook, but his "charisma" when singing it, made the label want to keep his voice after he recorded the final version. However, when "Nothin' on You" was being shown to different music industry decision-makers, one of them tried to give the song to a "blue-eyed blonde" artist instead of Mars, due to his race. That experience made the singer reach his lowest point so far in his career. Mars concluded, "Even with that song in my back pocket to seal the deal, things like that are coming out of people's mouths. It made me feel like I wasn't even in the room." According to American record producer Jim Jonsin, Atlantic Records' chairman, Craig Kallman, wanted him to work on the track for Lupe Fiasco. However, Jonsin pressured Kallman to give the song to B.o.B. Fiasco stated that Kallman told him his lyrics and performance on the record were "wack". Fiasco claimed that the repeated denigration from the label drove him to a breaking point, and to feel "suicidal". Afterwards, his verses were removed and new ones were written by Mars and B.o.B. An unmixed version of the song with Fiasco's verses and Mars's vocals leaked later in the same year. B.o.B. wrote his rendition with Mars, Lawrence, and Levine, who also handled production as the Smeezintons. Levine and Mars played all the instruments on the track, with Brody Brown playing the bass. Levine recorded, engineered and mixed the song at Levcon Studios in California. It was mastered by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound, NYC.

## Release

"Nothin' on You" was first made available in the United States via digital download on December 15, 2009, by Atlantic Records. American rhythmic contemporary radios began adding the track onto their playlists on February 2, 2010, being released under Atlantic Records and Grand Hustle. BBC Radio 1Xtra added a remix of the song onto their playlists featuring American rapper Big Boi on April 9, 2010. On May 14, 2010, an EP of the song, containing the album version of the song, a remix and its respective radio cut, an instrumental and a cappella of the original version, was issued in several countries. On May 17, 2010, the radio version of "Nothin' on You" was released in the UK via digital download by Atlantic Records, as well as on CD single, which also contained B.o.B's "Haterz Everywhere" featuring Wes Fif. The same CD single was also made available in Germany on May 21, 2010. On June 15, 2010, the song was released in South Korea with Jay Park's vocals, instead of Mars's verses, by Warner Music Group Asia Pacific. In 2010, a 12" single containing different versions of "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes" was issued by Atlantic Records in the United States.

## Composition and influences

"Nothin' on You" has been described as a pop rap, R&B and Southern hip hop ballad. It has been described as "slow" and "lulling", having an "uplifting melody". Pitchfork's Jayson Greene said the whole album sounds "sticky-sweet" for "modern-rock radio", including "Nothin' on You". Angus Batey from The Guardian called the recording "glorious, euphoric, essentially old-fashioned kind of love song". The track is backed by a beat produced by the Smeezingtons (a production outfit which includes Bruno Mars). According to the digital sheet music the recording was composed in a time signature of common time and in the key of B major, and follows a chord progression of E9–Cm9–Dm–F, with a tempo of 104 beats per minute. B.o.B and Mars's vocals span from F4 to B5.

Lyrically, the song describes B.o.B throwing away his old habits and telling the girl he loves he wants to "settle down", while flattering her. Ashley Lyle from Billboard said that Mars "reassures his lady that there's no one like her" with the verses "I could be chasing, but my time would be wasted". B.o.B, during his verses, makes references appealing not only to younger supporters, "Just like that, girl, you got me froze/ Like a Nintendo 64", but also to older admirers, "Baby you the whole package, plus you pay your taxes". David Jeffries said that the rapper "courts the ladies" on the song along with Mars. He added that B.o.B transmitted his "positive vibes" on "Nothin' on You". B.o.B compared the song's "spirit" to "Bonita Applebum" by A Tribe Called Quest. Mars stated that the lyrics are about someone, saying they come from "real-life experience, whether it's at the time or me back-tracking to how I felt at another moment."

## Reception

### Critical

"Nothin' on You" received generally positive reviews from most music critics. Billboard's Evan J. Nabavian gave the song a 4 out of 5 stars, noting that the song explores the swell appeal "between Mars' delicately delivered melodies and B.o.B.'s Southern twang." He compared it to Lupe Fiasco's duet with Matthew Santos' "Superstar" (2007), "especially its feel-good, singalong hook". The review concluded with positive feedback for the recording's lyrics and references. The same rating was given by Nick Levine of Digital Spy. He called the track a "smash" and praised its piano and hook. Levine concluded that although it doesn't show the same class as "Empire State of Mind" (2009) by Jay Z and Alicia Keys, "it's all so goddamn catchy you'd be a fool to give a hoot." Lee Tyler from Blues & Soul's awarded the single 8 out of 10 stars, and commented "Whilst not being content to just please the ear – B.o.B's debut single "Nothin' On You" seems ... laden with instant charisma, stopping only to refresh the parts others cannot reach of late." The critic added, "A delight from start to finish". Angus Batey thought the song would have stuck out in 2010, even without B.o.B's verses, since it is a clear departure from the "in-the-club, eyeing-up-the-booty clichés that have come to pass for romance in hip-hop".

Kenny Herzog of Spin felt "Nothin' on You" to be the only "high point" on the record and called it straightforward "buoyant R&B". David Jeffries of AllMusic began by complementing B.o.B's persona, who he says is "filled with positive vibes and he isn't above pouring on the sweetness as he courts the ladies." Jeffries found "Nothin' on You" to be "perfectly packaged for some Hollywood romantic comedy." Mike Diver from the BBC labeled the single "sweet, summertime RnB", and also said "much of this impressive set showcases a deep appreciation of one of hip hop's four elements, MCing". M.T. Richards of Slant Magazine gave "Nothin' on You" a negative review, calling it "anticlimactic" and a "slow, lulling song that sounds like it was recorded in the midst of a drab winter, and I'll take Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno over Bruno Mars." Pitchfork's senior editor, Jayson Greene shared the same opinion, dubbing it as a low moment on the album and criticized Mars's crooning as sounding like an "air-conditioned sub-Coldplay".

"Nothin' on You" was named one of the 100 best summer songs in a list compiled in 2010 by The Daily Telegraph. Becky Bain of Idolator, when comparing B.o.B's and Lupe Fiasco's versions of "Nothin' on You", noticed the lack of "audacious and energetic vocals" of the latter, as B.o.B has "more personality" on the track.

### Accolades

In 2010, the song was nominated for Choice Music: Single at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, as well as, Best Collaboration at the BET Awards 2010 and Reese's Perfect Combo Award along with Verizon People's Champ Award at the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards. In the same year, "Nothin' on You" won the category Song of the Year at the 2010 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2011, "Nothin' on You" was nominated for Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and Record of the Year at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. It was nominated for Top Rap Song at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. The single received two awards from ASCAP, one from the Pop Music Awards as one of the Most Performed Songs and Top Rap Song from the Rhythm & Soul Music Awards.

## Commercial performance

### North America

In the United States, "Nothin' on You" debuted at number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100, spent 28 weeks on the chart and topped it on week ending May 1, 2010. It stayed there for two consecutive weeks. The single spent 34 weeks on the Hot Rap Songs chart, peaking at number one on the issue date of April 24, 2010. The recording topped the Pop Songs and Rhythmic Songs, spending 22 and 29 weeks on each chart, respectively. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the song was only able to peak at number five, on its 30 weeks spent there, in the issued date of May 29, 2010. As of December 2010, "Nothin' on You " has sold 2,668,000 copies in the US. Later, by September 2012, that number rose to 3,062,000 copies sold, which led it to be certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart and in the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, the track placed at number 11 and one, respectively. In Canada, the song didn't reciprocate the success it found in the United States, since it chart in the top 10 on the issue date of June 12, 2010, with 22 weeks on its chart run. Nevertheless, it was certified platinum by Music Canada (MC), denoting 80,000 copies sold.

### International

In the first week in the United Kingdom, May 29, 2010, the song topped the list, with a total of 85,333 copies, replacing Roll Deep and Jodie Connor's "Good Times" at the top of the chart. In January 2020, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the recording a platinum plaque for track-equivalent sales of 600,000 copies. It also debuted at number one on the UK R&B chart, succeeding Jason Derulo's "Ridin' Solo". The single reached number one in the Dutch Top 40, making the Netherlands the first country where it reached the top spot on a national chart, on the issue date of April 24, 2010. It did so after eight weeks on the chart run and it was able to spend two consecutive weeks on the top. As of May 20, 2010, the song debuted at its peak position of number seven.

It charted at number 12 in Italy and received a gold plaque by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI). In Australia it debuted at number 25 in the ARIA Singles Chart and six weeks later reached its highest peak, number three. It spent sixteen weeks on the Australian chart. After its success in the country, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified it platinum for selling 70,000 digital copies. In New Zealand, the song spent eighteen weeks on the chart and it was number five for one week. Grenade sold 7,500 copies sold, earning a gold certification by the Recorded Music NZ (RIANZ). In South Korea, two versions of the song were released, one featuring Mars and another with Korean-American rapper and singer and ex-2PM member, Jay Park. Both versions reached number one on the South Korea International Singles (Gaon). As of January 2016, the original version sold 431, 657 copies in South Korea. On the 2010 Year End Chart list of Gaon, it was number one in South Korea.

## Music video

### Background and concept

Filmed in Los Angeles, California, the music video for "Nothin' on You" was directed by Ethan Lader, and the animation process was conducted by George Rausch. They first shot the video with a white background, and Lader then edited it with Final Cut Pro. This was followed by printing over 3,000 frames onto paper. A team of eight people was in charge of tearing every frame by hand, which were then animated and photographed individually with a digital camera. Finally, the frames were imported back into Final Cut Pro. "We took digital stills of and keyed in after animation", Lader concluded, "It was a process and a half".

### Development and synopsis

The stop-animation video is similar to the one used in "Womanizer" by Sliimy, also directed by Lander. The music video for "Nothin' on You" premiered on March 9, 2010. It features multiple collages of women taping over each other. In the video B.o.B is seen traveling the world, in cities such as London, Paris, Tokyo, Georgia (Atlanta) and New Orleans, searching for beautiful girls. The woman he chooses is revealed towards the end of the video. During the video there is a scene in which B.o.B plays guitar and sings, Mars plays the drums, and Philip Lawrence plays the piano. Eugena Washington, the second runner-up of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 7, appears as one of the many girls in the video. Five years after the release of the music video for "Nothin' on You", on July 10, American indie pop/rock band American Authors released a video for their song "Go Big or Go Home" with the same "paper cut-out technique". It was also directed by Lander.

### Reception

Alyssa Rosenberg of The Atlantic criticized the song's video, saying that it was too "literal", since the track is "about seeing pretty girls! And there are pretty girls to be seen!. However, Rosenberg also thought the collage concept was "cute". The video was nominated at the 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan in the Best New Artist Video category. It was also nominated for Video of the Year at the BET Awards 2010, and Best Hip Hop Video at 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards.

## Live performance

B.o.B and Mars made their debut performance of "Nothin' on You" at MTV Spring Break, on March 26, 2010. Nearly a month later, on April 20, they performed the song at The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The next day, B.o.B sang it alone at SOB's in New York City. The song was also played on late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! by B.o.B and Mars, who played the guitar, backed up by a band, on May 13, 2010. Jayson Rodriguez said B.o.B was "boisterous and energetic" during the show. Becky Bain from Idolator, commenting on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance, thought that despite Mars and B.o.B playing the track in several places, it still sounded "lovely". In the same year, on June 23, B.o.B performed the song at The Wendy Williams Show. A couple of days later, on June 27, B.o.B performed the song at the BET Awards pre-show. B.o.B. and Bruno Mars performed a medley of "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes" along with Hayley Williams at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. On December 1, B.o.B and Mars performed the song at "Grammy Nominations Concert Live!!: Countdown to Music's Biggest Night". In the same month, the track was sung at Z100's Jingle Ball 2010. In 2011, the song was performed twice only by B.o.B, first on SXSW and then at SuperTraxx. The single was also sung during Lopez Tonight. It was the eleventh song of Mars's debut world tour, The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour (2010), and eleventh on the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour (2011). It was seventh along with "If I Knew" (2014 set list) on his second world tour, The Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013–14). The single was part of some shows during the 24K Magic World Tour (2017–2018) interpolated with "It Will Rain" (2011). B.o.B performs the single on all his tours.

## Cover versions and media usage

In 2010, Jay Park recorded a solo cover of the track and posted it on YouTube. The effect was so strong that the original version went back to the top of iTunes. In the same year, American rapper XV's cover of the song was included in his mixtape 30 Minute Layover (2010). Dead Prez sampled the song for their 2010 mixtape with DJ Drama titled Turn Off The Radio Volume 4: Revolutionary But Gangsta Grillz. The recording is called "The Beauty Within", with additional vocals by Antonia Jenaé. The American group Boyce Avenue covered "Nothin' on You" along with Justin Timberlake and T.I.'s duet, "My Love" and "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement and Ryan Tedder; they included it in their sixth EP, Acoustic Sessions, Vol. 1, released on December 6, 2010. In 2011, South Korean girl group Wonder Girls covered "Nothin' on You". In the same year, "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a parody of the song called "Another Tattoo", which is featured on his album Alpocalypse (2011). "Nothin' on You" is featured in the movie Just Go With It (2011). Leeteuk from the boyband Super Junior covered the song during the band's concert tour Super Show 6 in 2014, and it's recording was subsequently released in the live album Super Show 6 – Super Junior World Tour Concert Album in 2015.

## Track listing

- Digital download

1. "Nothin' on You" (Album Version) – 4:29

- Digital download – EP

1. "Nothin' on You" (Album Version) – 4:29
2. "Nothin' on You" (TC Switch-Up Remix) – 3:57
3. "Nothin' on You" (TC Switch-Up Extended Remix) – 5:25
4. "Nothin' on You" (Instrumental Version) – 4:23
5. "Nothin' on You" (Acapella version) – 4:21

- Promo CD

1. "Nothin' on You" (Short Radio Edit) – 3:42

- CD single

1. "Nothin' on You" (Album Version) – 4:29
2. "Haterz Everywhere" (Album Version) (featuring Wes F.I.F) – 3:28

- 12" single Nothin' on You & Airplanes

1. "Nothin' on You" (Album Version)  – 4:29
2. "Nothin' on You" (Instrumental)  – 4:29
3. "Airplanes" (Explicit)  – 2:59
4. "Airplanes" (Amended)  – 2:59
5. "Airplanes" (Instrumental)  – 2:29

## Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray.

- Bobby Simmons, Jr. – lead vocals, songwriting
- Bruno Mars – lead vocals, songwriting, instrumentation
- Philip Lawrence – songwriting
- Ari Levine – songwriting, instrumentation, engineering, recording, mixing
- The Smeezingtons – production
- Brody Brown – instrumentation
- Chris Gehringer – mastering

## Charts

### Weekly charts

### Year-end charts

## Certifications

## Release history

## See also

- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 2010
- List of number-one singles from the 2010s (UK)
- List of UK R&B Singles Chart number ones of 2011
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2010
- List of Billboard Hot Rap Songs number-one songs of the 2010s
- List of Billboard Rhythmic number-one songs of the 2010s
- List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2010 (U.S.)

2009 single by B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars

Song recordings produced by the Smeezingtons

Songs written by Philip Lawrence (songwriter)