| "Dead Presidents" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byJay-Z | ||||
| from the albumReasonable Doubt | ||||
| Released | February 20, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Studio | D&D Studios (New York City) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:28 (Original) 4:27 (Dead Presidents II) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Ski Beatz | |||
| Jay-Z singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Dead Presidents" onYouTube | ||||
"Dead Presidents" is a 1996 song by AmericanrapperJay-Z. It was released as the first promotional single for Jay-Z's debut albumReasonable Doubt, though it did not directly appear on the album: a different version of the song with the same backing track and chorus but with different lyrics called"Dead Presidents II" appeared onReasonable Doubt. "Dead Presidents II" was voted number 2 inRolling Stone's Top 50 Jay-Z Songs.[1]
The title is slang for money because portraits of dead American presidents appear on mostFederal Reserve Notes.[2]
The song was produced bySki. "Dead Presidents"samples multiple artists includingLonnie Liston Smith's "A Garden of Peace"[3][4] for the track's melody andA Tribe Called Quest's "Oh My God (remix)" for its percussion; the chorus is a sample ofNas rapping "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me", from his 1994 song "The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)".
In aYouTube video calledSki Beatz - the making of Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents" beat[5]Ski explains how he filtered out the high frequency content of the melody sample (using a lowpass filter) to achieve a more prominent bass line without replaying one in. Ski'sBeats, Rhymes & Samples mixtape contains the Q-Tip remix in the context of a "Dead Presidents" sample because the original from "The World is Yours" had altered lyrics in connection to the sampled vocals. At the end of the sample from the chorus, you can hear the "Whose" from "Whose world is this?" from the beginning of the chorus of "The World is Yours".
The music video features cameos byThe Notorious B.I.G.,AZ,Lil' Cease,Damon Dash,Kareem "Biggs" Burke,Smoothe da Hustler, and Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith.
Nas was originally invited to re-rap the chorus for Jay-Z and appear in the track's music video, but he declined. Some view these two actions as the catalyst of the Jay-Z vs. Nas feud.[6]
When Nas and Jay-Z directly feuded, both rappers discussed the merit of the sampling in the song in individual "diss" records. In Nas' track "Stillmatic Freestyle," he says:
You show off, I count dough off when you sample my voice.
Jay-Z responds to Nas' claims in his song "Takeover" with the lines:
So yeah, I sampled your voice; you was usin' it wrong: you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song. And you ain't get a coin nigga you was gettin' fucked then; I know who I paid God,Serchlite Publishing.
The line was later used inCassidy's 2005 hit "I'm a Hustla":
Yeah I used dude's voice props to the boy Shawn, He made it a hot line, I made it a hot song.
In 2005 at Jay-Z'sI Declare War concert, he performed "Dead Presidents II" with Nas, officially ending their feud.
Jay-Z recorded a track called "Dead Presidents 3" around the time ofThe Black Album but it was never completed. The unfinished song was leaked onto the internet in the fall of 2007, around the release ofAmerican Gangster. In it, Jay-Z referenced some of his lyrics from the original "Dead Presidents" and he used the sample but the sample was played in reverse and had a darker more atmospheric and sinister feel to it.
In July 2013 during a rareTwitter Q&A, a fan asked Jay-Z if "Dead Presidents 3" would be released, which led to Jay-Z givingYoung Guru andJust Blaze the permission to release the track on Young Guru'sSoundCloud account.[7]
Many artists have released remixed versions of Dead Presidents with original lyrics (often freestyles) performed over the original sample and chorus. Notable artists to release versions of Dead Presidents includeCharles Hamilton,Lil B,Lil Wayne,Drake,Slug of Atmosphere,Chamillionaire,J. Cole,Kendrick Lamar,Pusha T,Akala,Lupe Fiasco,Kano,Logic,Slaughterhouse,AZ,Curren$y, andDJ Premier, who recorded a version with reworked instrumentals fromJay-Z's original lyrics and vocals fromNas'The World is Yours (Remix).
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard Hot 100[8] | 50 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[9] | 17 |
| USHot Rap Songs (Billboard)[10] | 4 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[11] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
