Songfacts®:

• Alexis Jordan is an American singer-songwriter and actress from Columbia, South Carolina. Her father is of Puerto Rican heritage and her mother has African American, Native American and European ancestry. Alexis's family relocated to Santa Clarita, California when she was 11, which is when she began writing songs to accompany her singing ability.
  
  Her big break came in 2006, when aged 14, she reached the semi-finals of the reality contest show America's Got Talent. Despite not reaching the final, Alexis began to expand on her musical career and started uploading her songs on YouTube while submitting demos and by 2008 her YouTube page was racking up millions of views. This exposure lead Alexis to the attention of the production and writing team, Stargate (Miss Independent, Only Girl (In The World)) who contacted her. They flew the teenage singer out to New York for a meeting and recording session with rapper/music executive Jay-Z, who signed her to his Roc Nation-imprint spin-off Star Roc and became her mentor. This is her debut single release.
• The song, which conveys a message of self-joy and empowerment was written by New York based singer/songwriter Autumn Rowe and produced by Stargate. It predominantly samples "Brazil (2nd Edit)" by Canadian dance music DJ/Producer deadmau5.
• Jordan told Just Jared how the song came about. "Stargate brought me 'Happiness' and after I heard it, I had to record it right away! I was so excited because it's a universal record and really uplifting. I think the world needed an uplifting song. And it's got a dance vibe, too. When you listen to it (sings), you just want to sing it all day. And anyone can hum, right?"
• Alexis discussed the song's meaning in an interview with Seventeen Magazine: "'Happiness' is a great message. You need to find love within yourself before you find it in someone else. Meaning, you find who you are first more than anything. My second single, 'Good Girl,' has the message that no one's perfect. Like, I can be a good girl. I have made mistakes in the past but I want to better myself."
• The song peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart. Discussing its success, Jordan told Digital Spy: "I'm actually really surprised because it was something we were just putting out there as a warm-up to the album. I'm very happy!"