| "Back to Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song by¥$ featuringFreddie Gibbs | |
| from the albumVultures 1 | |
| Released | February 10, 2024 |
| Recorded | 2023–2024 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:55 |
| Label | YZY |
| Songwriters |
|
| Producers | |
"Back to Me" (stylized in all uppercase) is a song by the Americanhip-hopsuperduo¥$, composed of rapperKanye West and singerTy Dolla Sign, featuring American rapperFreddie Gibbs, from the duo's debut studio album,Vultures 1 (2024). It features additional vocals from American rapperQuavo. The duo produced the song alongside88-Keys, AyoAA, andWax Motif, with all producers writing it with Nicholas Balding, Sasha Hashemi, Zachary Frenes, andMike Dean. It containssamples of "Rock Box" (1984) byRun-DMC and the filmDogma (1999).
Upon the release ofVultures 1, "Back to Me" received generally positive reviewsmusic critics, who often praised Gibbs's performance on the song. It was also a commercial success, peaking at number 26 on the USBillboard Hot 100, and charted within the top-40 of several other countries. The song was Gibbs's first entry on the Hot 100. An advertisement featuring the song was intended to be aired during theSuper Bowl LVIII, but was replaced with a video of West talking to hisiPhone camera. Before its release, it was planned to have an accompanyingmusic video, as described in a February 2025 lawsuit filed against West.
While recordingVultures 1 inItaly, West asked his daughterNorth for advice on "Back to Me", asking if she liked a line that appeared midway into the song. North replied by saying that she liked the song, suggesting that West should simply say what he feels. Recounting the session in a March 2024 interview withBig Boy TV, West said that "[s]ometimes I feel likemy mom speaks through her."[1] The song was debuted during theVultures Rave listening party on December 12, 2023.[2]
In February 2025, West was sued by an anonymous ex-Yeezy employee who alleged that West subjected her to a "'calculated campaign' of harassment, discrimination,antisemitism and sexism" after learning of her Jewish identity.[3] In one of the lawsuits pages, West sends her a screenshot of a website called "backtomevideo.com", with an advertisement reading "GOT BIG TITTIES? SIGN UP HERE TO BE FEATURED IN NEW ¥$ MUSIC VIDEO", indicating that "Back to Me" was intended to have amusic video. The picture, dated January 10, 2024, shows a nude female above the page's text, who has unusually large breasts.[4] The website has since been taken down, and archived versions feature a different image and caption.[5]
"Back to Me" features a "crisp" drum break and "ethereal" vocal samples.[6] Steven J. Horowitz ofVariety compared the song's "rolling drums and bleating bass line" to that of West's 2010 single "Runaway".[7]
"Back to Me" uses a sample andinterpolation of the characterJay's lines from the filmDogma (1999): "I fell in love with you, we fell in love with you! Guys like us just don't fall out of the fucking sky, you know?" and "Beautiful, naked, big-titty womеn just don't fall out the sky, you know?"[8][9] West's interpolation of these lines is comedic in nature, as he raps them at a fast pace.[10]
"Back to Me" was released on February 10, 2024, as the fifth track fromVultures 1.[11] On the same day, West revealed a commcercial he intended to display duringthat year's Super Bowl.[12] Theminimalist video features a woman running on a treadmill as "Back to Me" plays in the background.[12] Due to the woman's clothing, which includes a see-throughtank top, many of West's fans doubted that the advertisement would be played on live television.[13] The commercial was later scrapped, and was replaced by a video of West talking to hisiPhone camera inside of a car.[14]
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The song received generally positive reviews frommusic critics, with particular praise towardsFreddie Gibbs's performance. Gabriel Bras Nevares ofHotNewHipHop said that Gibbs's performance "display[ed] why he's one of the best spitters in the game right now", additionally remarking that: "Say what you will about Ye, his collaborators, and the ugly parts of this rollout, release, and platform, but talking strictly about the music, the effort here is undeniable."[6] In a negative review ofVultures 1,The Guardian journalistAlexis Petridis stated that the standard of West's lyrics is "thrown into stark relief by an exceptionally snappy guest verse from Indiana MC Freddie Gibbs on Back to Me".[15] Writing forRolling Stone, Jayson Buford commented, "Freddie Gibbs, another eccentric loudmouth, shows up on 'Back to Me' and although the production on that song sounds like the ending to anHBO series, Gibbs's verse is strong."[16]
HotNewHipHop's Aron A. wrote that "Freddie Gibbs delivers the verse of the album, if not the year so far on 'Back To Me.' He swiftly turns Ye's cheeky interpolation of Jay's 'beautiful big t*tty women just don't fall out the sky you know' into a katana-sharp verse that's equally playful and gruff with bars like, 'Turn a bird bitch to myX like I wasElon.'"[9] ForAllMusic, Fred Thomas said that "[a] robust verse from Freddie Gibbs comes close to salvaging the otherwise uncalled-for filler of 'Back to Me'".[17] ReviewingVultures 1 forHipHopDX, Scott Glaysher felt the song is "where things get a little strange, not necessarily for Kanye, but by listeners' standards".[8] Regarding the use of lines fromDogma, Glaysher stated that "Ye and Ty Dolla's creative output gets a little mundane when they simply repeat the actor'ssoundbite with some programmed drums underneath." He described Gibbs's verse as "fierce".[8]
Naming Gibbs's verse as the eighth best rap verse of 2024,Billboard's Michael Saponara wrote that it was the most memorable part of "Back to Me", noting that his "bristling verse was so well-received at listening parties before the official version hit streaming services that West and Ty Dolla $ign removedQuavo's verse altogether."[18]
| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[19] | 27 |
| Australia Hip Hop/R&B (ARIA)[20] | 7 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[21] | 22 |
| Denmark (Tracklisten)[22] | 29 |
| Global 200 (Billboard)[23] | 16 |
| Iceland (Tónlistinn)[24] | 5 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[25] | 21 |
| Latvia (LAIPA)[26] | 5 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[27] | 49 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] | 19 |
| Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[29] | 35 |
| Portugal (AFP)[30] | 38 |
| South Africa (TOSAC)[31] | 17 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[32] | 56 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[33] | 18 |
| UK Indie (OCC)[34] | 4 |
| UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)[35] | 5 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[36] | 26 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[37] | 11 |
