# Dust My Shoulders Off

"Dust My Shoulders Off" is a song by Chinese singer and songwriter Jane Zhang. It features American producer Timbaland, and was released on October 14, 2016, through Montage Records. It was included on Zhang's first English-language studio album, Past Progressive (2019).

## Critical reception

Jennifer Dill of E! Online said "The song tells the story of someone who may be having a rough day but who quickly decides to 'dust her shoulders off' in swaggy fashion. It features a catchy beat and a heartening don't-sweat-the-small-stuff vibe." PopCrush's Bradley Stern stated "The fresh and breezy, feel-good ode to sh-sh-shaking off the blues, gliding across folk-y harmonies recalling Oh Land and Timba and Jim Beanz’s knocking hip-hop beats, really doesn’t sound like anything on radio right now. 'The world keeps spinning, life goes on and on / I won’t cry for long' she confidently croons across the quirky and carefree production, shrugging off all of life’s little inconveniences. It's no secret that breaking into the American market in a big way is still an all-but-impossible feat for any Asian act — from any country. (Sad, but true.) We're inching there at a snail's pace with acts like Utada and CL, and BTS just notched the highest Korean-language debut on the Billboard 200 yet this week, but to see Jane riding high on the Top 10 out of nowhere is an absolute unexpected delight: it's not only a massive victory for C-Pop, but for the Asian music market as a whole. Here's hoping this is only the start of Jane's US success story."

## Music video

On October 21, 2016, a 34-second teaser of the video was revealed. The music video, directed by Outerspace Leo, was released on October 28, 2016.
Eleven famous paintings are recreated and reenacted for this music video:
* Edward Hopper "Nighthawks" (1942)
* Vincent van Gogh "Selfportrait" (1889)
** in which van Gogh is bitten in his ear by Mike Tyson
* Jean-François Millet "The Gleaners" (1857)
* Johannes Vermeer "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (c. 1665)
* Andrew Wyeth "Christina's World" (1948)
* Georges Seurat "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (1884)
* Edvard Munch "The Scream" (1893)
** in which the screamer's memory is erased by the Men in Black
* Salvador Dalí "The Temptation of St. Anthony" (1946)
* Maurits Cornelis Escher "Ascending and Descending" (1960)
* Maurits Cornelis Escher "Another World Gallery"(1946)
* René Magritte "The Son of Man" (1964)
** in which the Son of Man transforms to Salvador Dalí

## Live performances

In November 2017, Jane Zhang performed "Dust My Shoulders Off" at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai, China, along with "Work for It" and "808".

## Accolades

| Year | Organization | Award | Result |
| 2016 | Hello Asia! C-Pop Awards | Best Single | Nominated |
| 2017 | Red Dot Design Award | Best of the Best | Won |
| 2017 | Golden Melody Awards | Best Music Video | Nominated |
| 2017 | ADC Annual Awards | Motion / Music Video: Bronze Cube | Won |
| 2017 | London International Awards | Music Video / Animation：Bronze | Won |

## Charts

| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
| US Digital Songs (Billboard) | 31 |

## Release history

| Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
| Worldwide | October 14, 2016 | Digital download | Montage | |

## Trivia

* The song has been used on various Hulu commercials.