Famous (Kanye West song)
"Famous" | ||||
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Giampiero Scalamogna | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Kanye West singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Famous" on YouTube |
"Famous" is a song by American rapper
Upon its release, "Famous" was met with both critical acclaim and scrutiny for a controversial lyrical reference to American singer-songwriter
In June 2016, West released a music video for "Famous" depicting wax figures of
Background and composition
In May 2016,
Reception
Critical response
Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot called the song "an example of just how brilliant and infuriating West can be at the same time", noting its controversial Swift-referencing lyric while going on to praise the production and Rihanna's guest vocals.[14] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote that the controversial lyric "feels like a piece of bathroom graffiti made to purposefully reignite the most racially-charged rivalry in 21st-century pop".[15] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis described the song's position on The Life of Pablo as being "a flatly fantastic piece of music that may be the best thing on the album".[16]
Time staff named "Famous" one of the best songs of the year 2016 and wrote of it that:
Kanye West is a genius musician and a world-class provocateur, and "Famous" is yet another piece of proof those two qualities are inextricably intertwined. He weaves The Life of Pablo's hardest-knocking beat, chords cribbed from Nina Simone, and Sister Nancy's reggae classic "Bam Bam" into a vibrant tapestry, and he uses all of that beauty to crack open his long-simmering spat with the biggest pop star on the planet. The court of public opinion won't ever reach a verdict on Taylor [Swift] v. Kanye — did she consent to being mentioned? Did she double-cross Kanye? At least we can all agree that "Famous" captures West in all of his complicated, vital glory.[17]
Accolades
The track was positioned at number 10 on Time's list of 2016's best songs.[17] Slant named it the second best single of 2016.[18] German magazine Juice named it the seventh best international rap song of 2016.[19]
The song received
Controversy
The song includes a controversial lyric in reference to West's interruption of Taylor Swift's 2009 VMA acceptance speech and its aftermath:
For all my South Side niggas that know me best
I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex
Why? I made that bitch famous
(Goddamn!)
I made that bitch famous.[22]
Upon the song's release, the lyric was heavily publicized and criticized by media outlets,
In a June 2016 interview with
West can be heard telling Swift, "I just had a responsibility to you as a friend, you know, and thanks for being so cool about it."[22] The recording of the call without Swift's consent was illegal and broke Californian telephone call recording law.[33] Following the video's release, Swift released a statement stating "being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination", claiming West did not tell her she would be referred to as "that bitch".[22]
On the same day as the video's release, Kardashian tweeted about National Snake Day, saying "They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days! 🐍". This tweet was interpreted as being aimed at Swift, and the hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsASnake became trending. In September 2016, Swift started using a filter created by Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom to automatically delete comments using the snake emoji on her profile.
Later developments
By August 2017, Swift was using images of snakes in the promotional material of her sixth studio album,
In June 2019, on her
In March 2020, a 25-minute leaked video of the same telephone conversation between West and Swift surfaced, in which West tells Swift about the line "I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex" and asks, "What if later in the song I was also to have said, uh… 'I made her famous'?" Swift objects to that lyric, telling West she "pulled 7 million off Fearless" before the 2009 VMA incident. After West reveals the "owe me sex" line, Swift appears to be explicitly relieved that West did not call her a bitch, saying, "I'm glad it's not mean, though [...] I thought it was going to be like, 'That stupid, dumb bitch.' But it's not. So I don't know."[6] West does not mention the "I made that bitch famous" line, confirming Swift's previous claim that she did not consent to being called "that bitch."[6] The video was widely shared on social media, and the hashtag #KanyeWestIsOverParty and #TaylorToldTheTruth became trending on Twitter.[6] In an Instagram story, Swift did not address the leak in detail, instead urging her followers to donate to relief efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic.[38] In response, Kardashian posted a series of tweets accusing Swift of lying and denied editing the video, saying "I never edited the footage (another lie) – I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn't change the narrative."[39] Swift's publicist Tree Paine responded to Kardashian with a tweet of the original statement and captioned it "when you take parts out, that's editing."[40]
In August 2020, West went on a Twitter rant and in one of the tweets, he may have referenced his old feud with Swift with the caption "Not gonna use a snake emoji cause you know why... I'm not sure if Christians are allowed to use snake emoji". The snake emoji was previously used by Kardashian when she indirectly called Swift a "snake".[41]
Swift addressed the controversy in an interview with Time in December 2023, calling it "a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar." She added: "that took me down psychologically to a place I've never been before... I went down really, really hard."[42]
Music video
The song's music video premiered at a
Two days prior to the video's release, West showed the video to Dirk Standen of
The video earned nominations for Best Male Video and Video of the Year at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards,[53] along with Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards Japan,[54] and Best Video at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards,[55] also the video got a nomination for Best Video at the 2017 NME Awards.[56]
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from West's official website.[57]
- Production – Kanye West & Havoc
- Co-production – Noah Goldstein for Ark Productions, Inc., Charlie Heat for Very Good Beats, Inc. & Andrew Dawson
- Additional production – Hudson Mohawke, Mike Dean #MWA for Dean's List Productions & Plain Pat
- Engineering – Noah Goldstein, Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean
- Rihanna vocals recording – Marcos Tovar
- Rihanna vocals assistance – Jose Balaguer
- Rihanna vocal production – Kuk Harrell
- Swizz vocals recording – Zeke Mishanec
- Mix – Manny Marroquin at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, CA
- Mix assisted – Chris Galland, Ike Schultz & Jeff Jackson
- Vocals – Rihanna and Swizz Beatz
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[85] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada)[86] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[87] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France ( SNEP)[88]
|
Gold | 100,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI)[89] | Gold | 200,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI)[90] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF)[91] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[92] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[93] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | March 28, 2016 | Digital download | [94] | |
United States | Rhythmic contemporary radio | [95] | ||
Urban contemporary radio
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Italy | April 15, 2016 | Contemporary hit radio | Universal | [96] |
See also
References
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