"Niggas in Paris" (censored as "Ni**as in Paris"[1]) is a song by American rappersJay-Z andKanye West from their collaborative studio album,Watch the Throne (2011). The song was produced byHit-Boy with West andMike Dean, whileAnthony Kilhoffer contributed additional production. The producers served as co-writers with Jay-Z and Reverend W.A. Donaldson, the latter of whom was credited due to asample of his work. Jay-Z envisioned the song's concept as how the two obtained their wealth, instead of showing it off.Pusha T was originally offered the beat, yet rejected it due to the playful sound. The beat was crafted by Hit-Boy and went unused until he was called byDon C, and he then provided it for the song. On September 13, 2011, the song was released to USrhythmic andurban contemporary radio stations as the album's fourth single, throughDef Jam,Roc Nation, andRoc-A-Fella.
An uptempohip-hop andclub song with elements ofWest Coast rap, "Niggas in Paris" features aminimalist beat and samples from "Baptizing Scene" by Donaldson. The song also samples a couple of excerpts ofWill Ferrell from thesports comedy film,Blades of Glory (2007). Lyrically, it carries a theme of black empowerment as Jay-Z and West discuss defying their odds to achieve extensive wealth and success. Jay-Z envisions he would have elsewise found himself in jail, while West asserts that his doctors diagnosed him with an illness for his realness. The song received acclaim frommusic critics, who highlighted Jay-Z and West's verses. Some praised thesynthesizer driven production and focus was also placed on the samples fromBlades of Glory, while some critics saw it as an album highlight.
The song was named to year-end lists for 2011 by multiple publications, such asPitchfork andRolling Stone. It was awardedBest Rap Performance andBest Rap Song at the55th Annual Grammy Awards, alongside winning Track of the Year and Best Club Banger at the2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. Later appearing on retrospective lists of numerous outlets, "Niggas in Paris" was ranked as the 81st best song of all time byNME in 2014. The song reached number five on the USBillboard Hot 100, becoming the 11th top-five hit for Jay-Z and the 10th for West on the chart. Also in the United States, it topped the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs andHot Rap Songs charts. The song also reached the top-10 in the likes of Canada, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. It was certifieddiamond in the US by theRecording Industry Association of America, standing as Jay-Z's first single to achieve this certification and West's second. The song further received triple platinum certifications in Denmark and the UK byIFPI Danmark and theBritish Phonographic Industry, respectively.
Jay-Z and West are both American rappers who have collaborated on several tracks together, such as the singles "Swagga Like Us" (2008), "Run This Town" (2009), and "Monster" (2010).[2][3] In 2010, the two began production and recording together for a collaborative record titledWatch the Throne.[3] West revealed that "Niggas in Paris" was inspired by the range of experiences he witnessed when traveling to Paris, where he had an office and a small courtyard near the retailer Colette.[4][5] Speaking withGQ in November 2011, Jay-Z explained that the song's concept is focused on how him and West obtained their wealth rather than flaunting this at everybody.[6][7] During a concert atMadison Square Garden in New York City forThe Yeezus Tour on November 24, 2013, West said that the song would not exist if it was not for him viewing singerLenny Kravitz as "the first nigga in Paris" with his rock star persona from being with models and wearing clothes from designerRick Owens.[8]
Jay-Z and West started recording the song during their sessions at Paris'Le Meurice hotel in November 2010.
The song was produced byHit-Boy, West, andMike Dean, with additional production fromAnthony Kilhoffer.[9] The beat was made by record producer Hit-Boy, who had met West in 2007 and Jay-Z through him, and had previously crafted several rejected beats for the project. Hit-Boy had planned on giving the beat to his associateChilly Chill before receiving a call fromDon C asking for it.[10] The producers co-wrote the song with Jay-Z, while Reverend W.A. Donaldson received a songwriting credit due to being sampled.[9] West came up with the idea ofsampling a couple of excerpts from actorWill Ferrell's character Chazz Michael Michaels in the 2007sports comedy filmBlades of Glory.[10] During the album's sessions, West offered the beat of "Niggas in Paris" to fellow rapper andGOOD Music signeePusha T, who rejected it as he felt it too playful for his disposition.[11] Parts of the song were taken from the album's sessions at theLe Meurice hotel in Paris during November 2010, while the later sessions at The Mercer Hotel were held over three weeks in 2011.[12]
A 22-second sample of "Niggas In Paris", showcasing the icysynthesizers,kick drums, andHit-Boy's bleeps in theminimalist production. West begins his verse as he comes in at the end of Jay-Z's performance, rapping the phrase "that shit cray!"
Musically, "Niggas in Paris" is anuptempo[13]hip hop[14][15] andclub song,[16] with elements ofWest Coast rap.[17] The song begins with an excerpt of Ferrell's declaration fromBlades of Glory: "We're gonna skate to one song and one song only."[18] It later samples Ferrell talking about how art does not need any meaning when "it's provocative ... it gets the people going",[18][19][20] which appears in the middle of West's verse and was interpreted byRolling Stone's Matthew Perpetua as summarizing the lyrical style of hip hop.[12][21] The song also features samples of Reverend W. A. Donaldson's "Baptizing Scene" (1960).[9] It has a slow,[21] cheerfulminimalist beat,[22][23] which incorporates bounciness.[24] The beat is driven by[25][26] a riff of stabs oflooped[15] icysynthesizers,[21][27] combined withkick drums.[20][28] The song includes Hit Boy's bleeps, while abraggadocio flow is used by Jay-Z and West.[10][29][30] Jay-Z raps fast,[15] whereas West begins inhalf-time before moving to a faster pace.[31] In the middle of the song, it transitions from continuoussnare shots and orchestration ofstaccato electronics to an808 breakdown.[19][31][32] The breakdown containsindustrial sounds,[19]distorted thumpingsub-bass,[10][31] and operatic backing vocals.[33] For the last 30 seconds, the song is dominated by adubstep drop.[27][34][35] The ending features studio buzz, synthesized monk voices, and static bursts.[12]
The lyrics of "Niggas in Paris" are themed around black empowerment, with Jay-Z and West discussing how they defied the odds of their backgrounds to obtain extensive wealth and success.[29][36][37] Jay-Z uses his verse to envision that had he not achieved success, he would have ended up in jail with his peers as he appreciates his freedom.[12] The rapper lists out different elements of his success such as drinks and clothing, while he justifies his arrival to Paris by rapping that if others escaped what he had they would be there "getting fucked up too".[23][28][38] West references the royal theme ofWatch the Throne by imagining himself asPrince William of Wales in the wake of his marriage toCatherine Middleton, deciding he would instead marry the twinsMary-Kate andAshley Olsen.[12] He declares that he has been diagnosed with an illness by his doctors, who apparently said he is "suffering from realness".[20][31] The rapper teases entering his zone and offers thead-lib "hah?!",[39] as well as rapping the phrases "going gorillas" and "that shit cray!"[24][31][40] The performers trade lines with each other, including Jay-Z boasting about having his "hot bitch" at home and West retorting by asking how many of these he owns himself.[41][42][43]
Release and promotion
On August 8, 2011, "Niggas in Paris" was included as the third track on Jay-Z and West's collaborative studio albumWatch The Throne,[44] a month before they unveiled its cover art with the same motif as that of their single "Otis". The artwork displays the performers' names and the song's title in white letters against the colours of theFrench flag.[45] Jay-Z and West invoked the cover for "Why I Love You", which was released as a single torhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States simultaneously with "Niggas in Paris" on September 13, 2011, through their record labelsDef Jam,Roc Nation, andRoc-A-Fella.[46][47] On the same date, the former was sent to USurban contemporary radio stations by the aforementioned labels.[48] "Niggas in Paris" was later serviced to USmainstream radio stations by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam on November 8, 2011.[49]
On February 9, 2012, Jay-Z and West premiered themusic video for "Niggas in Paris" with a projection at the front of East London'sShoreditch High Street railway station.[50] The video followed "Otis" as the second visual fromWatch the Throne, with its footage taken from the rappers' concert at Los Angeles'Staples Center on theiraccompanying tour in December 2011.[51][52] After performing the song, Jay-Z announced the video had been filmed live at the venue.[53] The music video was self-directed by West, with Jon handling the production.Good Company worked on post-production, while Daniel Pearl served as the director of photography.[54]
The music video is preceded by anepilepsy warning, informing people that it may trigger their seizures and advising of viewer discretion.[55][56] The video utilizes split screenkaleidoscopic effects to jump from Jay-Z and West performing the song at the Staples Center to footage of the crowd,[51][56] which mostly features models.[55] Mirror images are shown of the performance, which the camera pans in to. The visual incorporates laser-lights, roars from lions, and imagery of Paris landmarks such asNotre-Dame de Paris.[55][57] For the excerpt fromBlades of Glory that interrupts West's verse, a brief snippet of Ferrell's appearance in the film is displayed.[51]
Numerous reviewers placed focus on West's verse, often appreciating his lyrical style.
The song was met with widespread acclaim frommusic critics, with praise going towards Jay-Z and West's performances. Writing forPitchfork, Tom Breihan was impressed with the song's "propulsive synth riff and gigantic drums" as Jay-Z showcases his technical rap skills, while he highlighted West's lyrics about his apparent illness.[20] Michaelangelo Matos ofThe Guardian called the "percolating track" a standout onWatch the Throne for invokingWiley's production, comparing the "sick sub-bass" and a snare to static.[31] Matos hailed Jay-Z and West's performances, commenting that the phrase "that shit cray" leaves the word crazy unfinished.[31]
Paste's Ryan Reed asserted that the song proves why Jay-Z and West seemingly operating on a basis of using their first takes is good, praising its hypnotic feel. Reed considered that Jay-Z's "rhythmic gymnastics feel like spontaneous genius" despite him sounding fully possessed, while he found the "simple, synth-driven beat" to be a strong match for the minimal production.[25] The staff ofXXL saw the song as an album standout and a centerpiece of the rappers' aims to "shatter a caste system", discussing the luxury of their watches and wealth as the rappers acknowledge being a minority in how they achieved success "over Hit-Boy's pulsating production".[37]Cokemachineglow's Calum Marsh declared that it features the first earnest rapping from Jay-Z and West on the album, as the latter's "leering flow sets the standard".[62] ForPrefix Mag, Dave Park praised Jay-Z's lyrics about his past and commented how West "stop[s] at nothing to match wares with his one-time idol", interjecting himself after his lines.[42]
While Perpetua fromRolling Stone praised Jay-Z and West's performances "over a slow, menacing beat and icy synthesizer notes", he saw the song's highlight as the unexpected excerpt fromBlades of Glory about the lack of art's meaning that essentially summarizes "the art of hip-hop lyrics".[21] Erika Ramirez ofBillboard felt that West is the strongest performer on Hit-Boy's "club anthem" and observed the underlying samples from the film.[16] Nathan S. fromDJ Booth named the song as one fromWatch the Throne he listened to repeatedly and glorified the excerpts of Ferrell fromBlades of Glory, questioning if anyone else would be courageous enough to sample "an obscure [...] figure skating movie on the biggest collaborative album ever".[63] InSpin, Rob Harvilla Jesal wrote that the song's stabs of synths "gracefully withstand" two goofy samples from the film and "a violent dubstep intrusion".[27] David Amidon ofPopMatters observed the song's West Coast "blog rap bop" and how it feels like the true start of the album from the position of track number three.[17]
Some reviewers were less enthusiastic. ForUrb, James Shahan felt that though West uses his signature punchline style in a humorous manner, Jay-Z's verse comes across as "one big laundry list" of his material possessions.[28] Shahan found Jay-Z to be the main reason that the subjects of wealth and possessions become overwhelming, while he noted the "knocking kick drums and teasing synths".[28] In a mixed review atRapReviews, Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania assessed that the song is decent, yet a stronger one would be more suitable for its position as one of the album's first three tracks. Padania commented that the song functions suitably as "loud, obnoxious rap music" once listeners look past "the ringtone melody" and excessive bragging, considering "Niggas in Paris" a cringeworthy title and criticizing its heavy resemblance to fellow rapperBig Sean'sFinally Famous (2011).[33] Providing a negative review forBeats Per Minute, Sean Highkin wrote it off as sounding like aWaka Flocka Flame song with "30 seconds of dubstep stapled to the end".[34]
"Niggas in Paris" peaked at number five on the 2012 USBillboard Hot 100 Christmas issue, becoming Jay-Z's 11th, West's 10th, and their third collaboration to reach the top five.[64] The song also enteredNielsen SoundScan's 200 best-selling songs list and was one of three to use an asterisk to censor its title in November 2012.[65] In June 2023, "Niggas in Paris" was certifieddiamond by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 10 million certified units in the US, becoming Jay-Z's first to receive the certification and West's second, following his 2007 single "Stronger".[66]
Accolades
The song was named as the 12th best track of 2011 byPitchfork, whose author Ryan Dombal wrote that West's hah ad-lib successfully summarizes the "one-percent-ness ofWatch the Throne" as he commended the lyrical style of him and Jay-Z.[39] The track was voted fifth onThe Village Voice's yearlyPazz & Jop poll, receiving 64 mentions.[67]Rolling Stone named the song the second best single of 2011, with the staff praising the "minimalist thunder pegged to a tweedling synth line" and the lyrical opulence.[23]XXL crowned "Niggas In Paris" as the best song of the year and the staff praised the direction of the bouncy production as Jay-Z and West "took balling to new frontiers", noting its club appeal too.[24] For 2011, the magazine also listed the song as the "hottest beat".[68]
Complex ranked the song as the 20th best of their decade, which spanned from when the magazine was founded in 2002 to its 10th anniversary in 2012.[22] In 2014,NME ranked it as the best track of the 2010s decade so far and Emily Barker praised the "thundering tale of black empowerment" for Hit-Boy's production and Jay-Z's lyrics about Paris.[29] That same year,Pitchfork placed the song at number 36 on their list and Kyle Kramer considered it "the crown jewel" of the opulence ofWatch the Throne and the exception to the album's production due to the simplistic beat.[69] In 2015,Billboard listed it as the fifth best song of the 2010s.[41] In 2019,Business Insider ranked the track as the 35th best song of the decade andStereogum named it as the 11th best; Tom Breihan highlighted the chemistry of Jay-Z flaunting his wealth and West boasting of his rap skills.[70][35]
For the 2014 issue ofXXL that celebrated 40 years of hip-hop, the track was listed as one of the five best singles of 2011.[71] The song was chosen for the year of 2011 inThe Rap Year Book, which deconstructed the most important rap song from every year since 1979 until 2015.[72]NME named "Niggas in Paris" the 81st best song of all time in 2014.[14]Highsnobiety placed "Niggas in Paris" at number 11 on their list of West's best songs in 2017, a year beforeComplex named the song as his sixth best.[73][74] Also in 2018,Rolling Stone crowned the song as the 58th best of the 21st century so far and the staff praised its "over-the-top indulgence", as well as the hook that makes fun of haters and the "dark truth underlying the mayhem" of the lyrical content.[75] On the 20th anniversary ofBBC Radio 1Xtra in 2022, "Niggas in Paris" was voted by the station's listeners as the seventh best hip-hop track of the century.[76] In 2023,Revolt named it as one of the 11 rap songs about high fashion to get dressed to and Legendary Lade noted "braggadocious rap at its highest form".[30]
"Niggas in Paris" was awardedBest Rap Performance andBest Rap Song at the2013 Grammy Awards, with the title's first word censored as "N*****" during the announcements.[77][78] Hit Boy's work on the song marked his first Grammy wins and he felt a dream had been reached in not only winning the awards, but also sharing them with those he holds in such a high regard as Jay-Z and West.[79] At a concert in December 2012, West cited the song not receiving a nomination forRecord of the Year as one of his reasons for not attending the 2013 Grammys.[78]
The song was nominated for Best Dancefloor Anthem at the 2013NME Awards, alongside receiving a nomination for Anthem of the Summer at that year'sUK Festival Awards.[80][81] The song won Song of the Year at the 2011 Sucker Free Awards, while it was awarded as one of the Most Performed R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at the 2012BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.[82][83] At the2012 BET Hip Hop Awards, "Niggas in Paris" was awarded Track of the Year and Best Club Banger.[84]
Jay-Z and West pictured during a concert at Los Angeles'Staples Center on theWatch the Throne Tour in December 2011, where they performed the song an increased number of 10 times from the 3 repeat performances at the tour's first concert.
During the first concert on the Watch the Throne Tour at Atlanta'sPhilips Arena on October 28, 2011, West commanded the audience as he performed the song with Jay-Z, "Bounce! Bounce!"[89] Jay-Z ordered the performance to be restarted midway, with him and West performing "Niggas in Paris" three times at the concert.[12][90] The rappers performed the song repeatedly during encores on the tour and increased the number of occasions as they traveled to different cities in the US,[35][91][92] performing it 10 times for their third night at the Staples Center on December 13, 2011.[53] During a concert atRogers Arena inVancouver for the Watch the Throne Tour on December 18, 2011, Jay-Z and West set their new record for the most performances of the song by performing it 11 times.[93] The rappers then continuously delivered this amount of performances on the tour and for a show atPalais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris on June 18, 2012, they broke the record by performing the song 12 times.[12][94] In November 2020, the musical director Omar Edwards recalled that an ending section of songs including Jay-Z's "Encore" (2003) was planned instead of the repeat performances, yet it was performed repeatedly after the reactions on one night and this led to the number of performances increasing further.[95]
West brought out Jay-Z as a special guest to perform the song at the2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show atLexington Avenue Armory in New York City, where his wifeBeyoncé was in attendance.[96][97] During Jay-Z'sencore atBBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend on June 23, 2012, he was joined by West to perform the song. The rappers performed it three times, during which they instructed the audience to engage incircle pits.[98][99] During the second day of Jay-Z's appearance at the 2012Made in America Festival, he was joined by West to perform the song for the encore.[100] The rappers performed it three times for an encore duringSamsung Galaxy'sSouth by Southwest concert at the Austin Music Hall in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2014, accompanied by a 12-foot video cube at the center of the stage.[101][102] West performed the song as one of his opening numbers at theGlastonbury Festival 2015, walking around the stage while he twirled his microphone stand around.[103] He delivered a performance of it from a flying stage atdowntown Indianapolis'Gainbridge Fieldhouse for theSaint Pablo Tour's kickoff show on August 25, 2016.[104] After Beyoncé and Jay-Z performed their 2003 duet "Crazy in Love" during stops on herCowboy Carter Tour in Paris during June and Las Vegas during July 2025, he delivered a solo rendition of "Niggas in Paris" with altered lyrics to mention her.[105][106]
In popular culture
"Niggas in Paris" was used as the introductory music of theMiami Heat in the2011–12 NBA season.[107] In March 2012, Otter Spice Productions made theirbrowser gameKanye Zone available for free that is soundtracked by repetition of West's line from the song, "Don't let me get in my zone."[108][109] The game features West's head flying towards the zone in the center of the screen and the objective is to use keyboard buttons to prevent him from reaching there; Jay-Z and West appear if players lose with the line, "I'm definitely in my zone."[108][109] In April 2012, then-French presidentFrançois Hollande shared acampaign video for the year'spresidential election that used the song. The video shows Hollande on a two-day trip around suburbs of Paris as he meets with the likes of his black, Arab, and multi-ethnic supporters.[110][111]
After Jay-Z's friendGwyneth Paltrow attended a concert in Paris on the Watch the Throne Tour in June 2012, she was criticized for a tweet from her as a white person reading, "Ni**as in paris for real."[112] Paltrow responded that she simply tweeted the title of the song, yet she had identified artists at the concert as "niggas" before censoring the word in this tweet.[112] On July 9, 2013, Miami Heat playerLeBron James shared two short Instagram clips of him rapping over the song that he preceded by telling his followers "you already know what it is ..."[107] RapperFrench Montana sampled the song for the beginning of hisLil Wayne andRick Ross-featuring single "Lose It", which was produced by West with the Mekanics and released on June 25, 2015.[113]
Remixes and cover versions
In March 2012,Katy Perry performed a clean cover version of the song onBBC Radio 1, which a couple of reviewers found to be off–putting.
On March 19, 2012, singerKaty Perry delivered anacoustic cover version of "Niggas in Paris" with a backing band forBBC Radio 1'sLive Lounge special, censoring the explicit language. Katy Perry edited lines to phrases like "ninjas in London" and "that so cray", prefacing the performance by announcing it would become "real embarrassing" and she wore aNew York Yankees cap as Jay-Z has done.[114][115][116]Exclaim!'s Sarah Murphy described the performance as cringeworthy and embarrassing like the singer said, while Daniel Kreps ofSpin felt that hercadence seems to makeKreayshawn sound likeNas and dubbed it "drunk karaoke rap".[115][116] On May 29, 2012, the seven-man music collective cdza, an abbreviation of Collective Cadenza, shared their piano interpretation of the song entitled "Pianists in Paris". The interpretation features the members taking it in turns to add piano notes to the song and a music video was released, showing the collective playing the instrument.[117][118]
On October 13, 2011, rapperT.I. announced that he had recorded a verse for the remix of "Niggas in Paris", but was unsure whether it would be official. Despite not speaking to West, T.I. had allowed him to listen to the verse and thought he let Jay-Z listen in turn, although lacked certainty if the remix would be official or unofficial.[119] The remix was released the following day and features lyrics from T.I. in French, alongside him rapping that "Even in prison, I'm still the shit".[120][121] On October 18, 2011, singerChris Brown released a freestyle over the song that featuresad-libs fromT-Pain.[122] The freestyle was met with a lukewarm response and the next day, an accompanying music video was released that sees Brown appearing with a werewolf masks and fangs.[123][124] On January 16, 2012, rapperMos Def, under his real name of Yasiin Bey, shared his version of the song titled "Niggas in Poorest" for his Top 40 Underdog series of remade radio hits and this coincided withMartin Luther King Jr. Day. The version includes menacing vocal effects and vocals from Bey that were described as a rant byStereogum, discussing American culture such as the youth's pride and wickedness. Bey also addresses economic dread and poverty in the wake of theGreat Recession, declaring that "Doctors say I'm the illest / I ain't got no insurance".[125][126][127]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
^Barber, Andrew; Klinkenberg, Brendan; Scarano, Ross (January 5, 2018)."The Best Kanye West Songs".Complex.Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201431 into search. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
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