| "No Mistakes" | |
|---|---|
| Song byKanye West | |
| from the albumYe | |
| Released | June 1, 2018 |
| Recorded | 2018 |
| Studio | West Lake Ranch,Jackson Hole, Wyoming |
| Genre | Hip hop |
| Length | 2:03 |
| Label | |
| Songwriters |
|
| Producer | Kanye West |
"No Mistakes" is a song by American rapperKanye West from his eighth studio album,Ye (2018). The song features vocals fromKid Cudi,Charlie Wilson andCaroline Shaw. It was produced by West, while co-produced byChe Pope and Shaw, with additional production fromMike Dean and Eric Danchick. The producers of the song, with the exception of Danchick, wrote it alongsideCyhi the Prynce,Malik Yusef, Kenneth Pershon andBump J. Songwriting credit was added forSlick Rick due to the songsampling his work and as it samples music by the Edwin Hawkins Singers,Edwin Hawkins was credited as a songwriter. The song contains samples of "Children Get Together", performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, as well as "Hey Young World", performed by Slick Rick.
In the lyrics of the song, various self-righteous outbursts are delivered by West. "No Mistakes" received generally positive reviews frommusic critics, who often appreciated Wilson's vocals. Some praised the song's Slick Rick sample, while critical assessment of West's verse was less positive. It charted in the top 50 of the charts forAustralia,Canada,Ireland,Slovakia, and theUnited States in 2018. The song has since been certified gold in the US by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In June 2018, Kanye shared a video of North West singing itschorus. A version of the song with different lyrics was performed by theSunday Service Choir during rehearsal in January of the following year.
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Kanye West and fellow rapperKid Cudi first collaborated on the track "Welcome to Heartbreak", which features the latter and is from West's fourth studio album808s & Heartbreak (2008).[1] The two later experienced a troubled relationship at times, including Kid Cudi branding West as a "hater" in September 2016.[1] In March 2018, he was spotted with West inWyoming;Ye was recorded that year at West Lake Ranch in the state's valleyJackson Hole.[1][2][3][4] Kid Cudi was one of the first attendees to arrive at the album's listening party in the valley on May 31, 2018, and contributed vocals to the track "Ghost Town" as well as "No Mistakes".[5][6] American singerCharlie Wilson was previously featured on West's tracks "Good Friday" (2010) and "Bound 2" (2013), and the song includes vocals from him.[7] In 2015, West released a remix of808s & Heartbreak track "Say You Will" (2008), featuring American violinist and singerCaroline Shaw.[8] The credits forYe were updated on June 13, 2018, crediting Shaw for having contributed vocals and production to "No Mistakes".[9] The song was produced by West and co-produced byChe Pope alongside Shaw, while additional production was handled byMike Dean and Eric Danchick.[6]
American rapperSlick Rick received songwriting credit because he wrote "Hey Young World" (1989), which the songsamples.[10] Due to having wrote "Children Get Together" (1971) by Americangospel group the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the work that "No Mistakes" samples, the group's leaderEdwin Hawkins was posthumously credited as a songwriter on the song.[10] It was also written by West, Dean, Pope,Cyhi the Prynce,Malik Yusef, Kenneth Pershon, andBump J.[6] "Hey Young World" had previously been sampled by frequent West collaboratorJay-Z on the track "All Around the World", produced byNo I.D., from his seventh studio albumThe Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002).[11]
"No Mistakes" features a sample from "Children Get Together", written by Hawkins and performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, which is used for the main piano portion that is played throughout. It also samples the "believe it or not" vocals from "Hey Young World", as written and performed by Slick Rick.[10][12] At multiple points within the track, the vocals from the recording arelooped.[12][13] The recording is ahip hop sample, and the track was noted for including a tender tone.[11][14][15]
Wilson and Kid Cudi perform thechorus of the track, featuring the two of them singing, "Make no mistake, girl, I still love you."[16] The lyric is repeated throughout the chorus and has been interpreted as a reference to West's love for his wifeKim Kardashian despite the issues during their relationship at times.[16][17][18] From his position as a multi-millionaire, West delivers a series of self-righteous outbursts within the track.[19] Certain lyrics are used by West to reference the issues with money that he faced after hospitalisation in 2016.[20]
On June 1, 2018, "No Mistakes" was released as the fifth track on West's eighth studio albumYe.[14] Wilson shared a link to the song on his official website, alongside an image featuring lyrics from it.[21] Kardashian shared a rehearsal video of West's gospel group theSunday Service Choir toInstagram on January 13, 2019.[22] The clip featured the group performing a reworked version of the song, with them using alternate lyrics for the chorus.[22]
The track was met with generally positive reviews frommusic critics, several of whom praised Wilson's vocals. Michelle Kim and Sheldon Pearce fromPitchfork pointed out the Slick Rick sample in praise, citing it as an example of when the album's "signature chops prove that Kanye remains among rap's most savvy samplers," and the lines "Truth told, I like you/Too bold to type you/Too rich to fight you/Calm down, you light skin!" were listed by Kim and Pearce as being among the notable "Kanye-isms" onYe.[13] "No Mistakes" was viewed alongside fellow album track "Yikes" by Andrew Barker ofVariety as "West operating in vintage mode," with him directing praise towards the sample loops.[23] InThe Observer,Kitty Empire noted the track for featuring a "buttery first verse and chorus."[19] One of the "moments of true, transporting beauty onYe" was listed by Tom Breihan ofStereogum as being "Wilson's voice surging skyward on [the track], soaring above those pianos like a phoenix in flight."[24] Writing for theLos Angeles Times, Mikael Wood called West and Wilson's singing "just astounding."[25]Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian praised West's lyricism and the track's "crashing drums," as well as its Slick Rick sample.[26]Greg Kot from theChicago Tribune noted "a hint of tenderness" in Wilson and Kid Cudi's "melodic refrain."[15]Exclaim! writer Kyle Mullin commented that the track's "soaring backing vocals and strategically spliced" Slick Rick sample both "harken back to Yeezy's more soulful" era of his second studio albumLate Registration (2005).[27]AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung stated that the song features "uplifting, old-school production," which he viewed as "recalling early-2000s Kanye."[14]
A number of reviewers were more critical. Craig Jenkins, forVulture, praised the song's composition, especially the "booming" chorus from Wilson, "spectral" bass and diced Slick Rick lines, but characterized it as an offbeat love song and slammed the message of West's verse.[28]Billboard's Michael Saponara picked it as the second worst track onYe, though praised Wilson's "soothing" chorus.[7]Christopher Hooton ofThe Independent panned it as "barely even a song", characterizing its chorus as "lacklustre" and West's verse as "half-assed."[29] InThe Boston Globe, Julian Benbow branded the song "bafflingly underwhelming."[30]
Following the release ofYe, "No Mistakes" debuted at number 36 on the USBillboard Hot 100.[31] The song also entered the USStreaming Songs chart, peaking at number 17, with streams of 21.2 million.[32] Simultaneously, it reached number 21 on the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[33] On March 1, 2021, the song was certifiedgold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 500,000 certified units in the United States.[34]
"No Mistakes" has its best chart performance in Canada, peaking at number 27 on theCanadian Hot 100.[35] On theIrish Singles Chart, the song reached number 38.[36] It debuted at numbers 46 and 50 on theARIA Singles Chart and SlovakiaSingles Digitál Top 100, respectively.[37][38] The song charted at number 65 on both theGreece International Digital Singles chart andPortuguese Singles Chart.[39][40]
On the evening of June 3, 2018, Kanye tweeted out a video of his daughter North West singing the chorus of "No Mistakes".[16] The clip features West holding a box ofYoo-hoo and wearing a night gown, and she looks directly into the camera while singing.[41] Accompanying the video, Kanye West captioned it with a trio of heart-eyed emojis.[42] The video gathered positive reactions from fans of West onTwitter, surpassing over a million views.[42] Prior to sharing it, West had been joined by his family for the album's listening party in Wyoming.[43] Users of Twitter believed thatDrake was dissed in the song, which had been echoed in some reviews.[26][28][44]
Recording
Personnel
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[45] | 46 |
| CanadaHot 100 (Billboard)[46] | 27 |
| France (SNEP)[47] | 195 |
| Greece International Digital Singles (IFPI)[39] | 65 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[36] | 38 |
| Portugal (AFP)[40] | 65 |
| Slovakia Singles Digital (ČNS IFPI)[38] | 50 |
| UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[48] | 26 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[49] | 36 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[50] | 21 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[34] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
