Willy William is now a two-time member of YouTube’s Billion Views Club. The French singer’s music video for his 2015 track, “‘Ego,” has officially hit 1 billion views, the video streaming platform confirmed Wednesday (Sept. 20).
The sparse visual for the track — which only features the colors black, white and gray — sees William grappling with his inner-monologue and looking into the mirror to fight off a dark smoke that threatens to overtake his spirit. The video additionally features a ballet dancer, professional fire breather, drummer, gymnast and krump dancer.
The artist took to Instagram to share his excitement at the news, noting that it is just the third song released in French to reach the 1 billion view landmark. “1 BILLION VIEWS FOR A SONG 100% IN FRENCH, 3RD FRENCH SONG TO PASS A BILLION VIEWS, JUST AFTER @off.indila AND @stromae,” he wrote in all caps, referencing videos by Indila and Stromae. “Thank you all and thank you @seblafrite for the final push. 1 BILLION VIEWS FOR A FRENCH SONG. THANKS Y’ALL.”
The video marks the second video for William to reach the impressive milestone. Alongside J Balvin, the pair’s collaborative track “Mi Gente” — which later included a Beyoncé feature — also surpassed 1 billion views and now sits at 3.2 billion on the platform. The song, released in 2017, earned William his first and only hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 3 and spending a total of 30 weeks on the chart.
Revisit the music video for “Ego” above.
