That was my point." She showed her draft to co-songwriters and producers Tim James and Antonia Armato, who suggested adding it to "Breakout". Originally, "7 Things" was more "soft and nice" but Cyrus says she "went nuts" during the recording process and gave the song a harder sound. Cyrus had initially chosen "Fly on the Wall" as the lead single from "Breakout", but replaced it with "7 Things" because she felt it was a "better introduction" to the album. Allegations that "7 Things" was about Nick Jonas, lead singer of the Jonas Brothers, arose soon after the song's premiere on the May 13, 2008 broadcast of the "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show". Cyrus and Jonas had dated for a year and a half before breaking up in late 2007. Cyrus claimed, "Nick and I loved each other" and that after the breakup she "bawled for a month straight" while trying to rebel "against everything Nick wanted [her] to be". Henry Freeland of "Paste" described "7 Things" as "the list of reasons she hates an ex-boyfriend (who just might be lead Jonas Brother, Nick)" and her "concern [...] that all of this hatred only leads them to love Maybe-Nick [...] all the more". Blogger Molly Lambert, quoted in "The New York Times" said, "[Cyrus] had recently broken up with her first serious boyfriend — a fellow Disney celebrity, Nick Jonas, of the Jonas Brothers, who was also her arena-concert tour mate during their secret two-year affair. In the video for '7 Things' she wears Nick’s diabetes dog tags while singing about how his vanity and insecurity undermined their relationship." Jessica Herndon of "People" similarly points out the necklace and the fact that Jonas, "who split with Cyrus in late 2008 after two-and a half years of dating – has Type 1 diabetes and is a spokesperson for awareness of the disease." When asked if the allegations were true, Cyrus said,  Jonas responded to the allegations with, "I think it's funny. Honestly, I'm not insecure, my friends are cool—so it can't be about me!" According to "Tiger Beat" magazine, when Cyrus' best friend Mandy Jiroux was asked if "7 Things" was about Jonas; she responded, "yes".  "7 Things" is a pop song with a length of three minutes and 33 seconds.