"Jail" is a song by American rapperKanye West from his tenth studio album,Donda (2021). The song includes vocals from fellow American rapperJay-Z. It contains an interpolation ofThe Boomtown Rats' 1979 song "Sleep (Finger's Lullaby), whose memberJohnnie Fingers is credited as a songwriter. Towards the end of the album, another version of the song titled "Jail pt 2" appears, which includes more vocals fromDaBaby andMarilyn Manson. It won the award forBest Rap Song at the2022 Grammy Awards.
West extensively contributed to fellow rapperJay-Z's sixth studio album,The Blueprint (2001), and signed a recording contract with the latter's record label,Roc-A-Fella Records. West has since co-produced several Jay-Z albums, while Jay-Z executive produced and guest appeared on several of West's earlier albums.[2] The duo's collaborative album,Watch the Throne, was released in 2011, though they had a falling out five years later when West criticized Jay-Z during the former'sSaint Pablo Tour. Jay-Z addressed the fallout on the intro to his thirteenth studio album4:44 (2017), and also assured in a promotional interview that he needed to speak with West for resolving their "family business", before the latter alleged their issues started after his wedding toKim Kardashian in 2014.[2]
On July 22, 2021, West ended the first listening event forDonda atMercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta by playing a song that includes a verse from Jay-Z.[2][5] The verse was reportedly recorded at 4pm on the previous day, apparently being rushed by Jay-Z for the event.[2][6] The song's title was unveiled as "Jail" and during the album's third listening party atSoldier Field in Chicago, a version was played that replaced Jay-Z's verse with one from fellow rapperDaBaby.[7] The replacement was widely condemned by fans, due to DaBaby's July 2021 homophobic rant.[7] The final version re-added Jay-Z and removed DaBaby, marking the first track to include him and West since they both appeared onDrake's "Pop Style" (2016).[5][7] Despite this, Pt. 2 features vocals from the aforementioned DaBaby as well as Marilyn Manson, who himself was embroiled in controversy, as he was accused of sexually harassing actressEvan Rachel Wood.
Jay-Z's performance on "Jail" was alternately praised and derided by music critics
"Jail" received mixed reviews. Thomas Hobbs ofThe Guardian was unimpressed by West's lyrics on the track, describing them as "blunted" when compared to his previous work; he also considered its "dad-rock riffs" to be "slightly flat" and its melody "meandering".[8] In her review forThe Independent, Roisin O'Connor condemned the "sluggish one-two punch of the motif" as derivative of the "superior jabs" onKendrick Lamar's "Humble" (2017).[9]AllMusic's Fred Thomas dubbed it "a banger with no bang" besides its "last seconds".[10] Conversely, Paul Thomas ofRolling Stone described it as "pure catharsis" and "clear-eyed" in its examination of "the threat police pose", highlighting it as one of the tracks offDonda which display a "sincere darkness".[11] In his review forVariety, Chris Willman called it a "pleasingly genre-crossing surprise" with "power chords and anthemic chorus lines that somebody likeImagine Dragons might give their dragons' eye teeth for".[12]Clash's Mike Milenko considered it "a half-decent Kanye cut".[13]
Jay-Z's appearance divided critics.Jon Caramanica ofThe New York Times simply described it as "decent",[14] while Tom Breihan ofStereogum wrote that "it's not peak Jay"; he considered his "underwhelming" verse to be inferior to the other guest appearances onDonda, and assessed that he "gets through his awkward verse on charisma and accumulated goodwill".[15] Thomas panned his "atrociously written" verse, arguing that "it sounds like a rehearsal take from someone who knows he's written C-grade material".[11]HipHopDX's David Aaron Brake called it "one of the worst verses of his career", and joked that "Kanye awoke him from a nap and asked him for some quick bars in 30 minutes or less".[16] In contrast, Nina Hernandez ofThe A.V. Club hailed it as "one of Jay's most successful feature verses in several years" and a "clear high point" onDonda.[17] Similarly, Milenko found Jay-Z to be "at his most recent best, sneering into the mic with a cockiness that is unmatched even by Ye himself".[13] Riley Wallace ofExclaim! considered that he provided one of the "shiniest gems" on the album with his verse,[18] while Rhian Daly called it "a thrill" in her review forNME.[19]
"Jail" debuted at number 10 on the USBillboard Hot 100, becoming West's 20th top-10 hit on the chart and making him the 21st act to have this amount of top-10s.[20] The debut was almost entirely driven by streaming, with the song entering the USStreaming Songs chart at number three and amassing 24.2 million streams.[21] The song reached number two on both the USChristian Songs andGospel Songs charts.[22][23] It debuted at number three on the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, standing among West's seven simultaneous top-10 hits that tied him withDrake's record on the chart.[24]
In Australia, "Jail" opened at number five on theARIA Singles Chart.[25] The song experienced similar performance in New Zealand, entering theNZ Singles Chart at number six.[26] Elsewhere, it reached number eight on theIcelandic Singles Chart.[27] The song debuted at number seven on theIrish Singles Chart, placing among West's three entries from the album in Ireland.[28] It entered theUK Singles Chart at number 11, also standing as one of his three entries in the United Kingdom.[29]
The second part of the song, titled "Jail pt 2", was premiered to a controversial reception at the third and final public listening party atSoldier Field inChicago on August 26, 2021. It was subsequently released asDonda's 24th track on August 29, 2021.[10][30] Initially, the song appeared on the album'sSpotify track list while blanked out and unavailable to play, until it became playable at 10pm.[31][32] West posted screenshots to hisInstagram of texts between him and his manager Bu Thiam demonstrating that the song was not able to be released due to DaBaby's management refusing to clear his appearance, with West replying: "I'm not taking my brother off. He was the only person who said he would vote for me in public."[32][33] He also accusedUniversal Music Group of having blocked the song's inclusion on the album; sources at the company denied the allegations and called them "preposterous".[30][32][33]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 35. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 35. týden 2021 in the date selector. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
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