| "Who Gon Stop Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song byJay-Z andKanye West | |
| from the albumWatch the Throne | |
| Released | August 8, 2011 |
| Studio | (The Mercer) Hotel (New York) |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:17 |
| Label | |
| Songwriters |
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| Producers |
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"Who Gon Stop Me" is a song by American rappersJay-Z andKanye West from their collaborative studio album,Watch the Throne (2011). The song features additional vocals fromMr Hudson,Swizz Beatz, andVerse Simmonds. It was produced by Sham "Sak Pase" Joseph and West with additional production fromMike Dean; the producers served as co-writers with Jay-Z, Simmonds, andFlux Pavilion. The song's concept came from Simmonds and Joseph, the former of whom followed Jay-Z and West's mindset to write thehook.
Flux Pavilion believed the song differed from hissampled track "I Can't Stop", after Jay-Z and West added their own work. Anexperimental track that combinesdubstep andgrime with rap music, "Who Gon Stop Me" prominently samples Flux Pavilion's "I Can't Stop". Lyrically, the song sees West expressing his determination to live a lifestyle of extravaganza and Jay-Z honoring his success from their positions asAfrican Americans. The song received moderately positive reviews frommusic critics, who mostly highlighted West's performance. Some praised its dubstep sound, while critics were more lukewarm towards Jay-Z's performance and were mixed towards his lyricism.
The song reached numbers 44 and 60 on the USBillboard Hot 100 andCanadian Hot 100, respectively. It received agold certification in the United States from theRecording Industry Association of America. Jay-Z and West performed "Who Gon Stop Me" live on theirWatch the Throne Tour (2011–2012), later beginning their set with the song atSamsung Galaxy'sSouth by Southwest concert in 2014. It is featured inBaz Luhrmann'shistorical romance drama filmThe Great Gatsby (2013), an adaptation of the 1925 novelof the same name.
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).[1][2] In 2010, the rappers began production and recording together for a collaborative record titledWatch the Throne.[2] In July 2011, Puerto Rican rapperVerse Simmonds said that he started working with his production partner Sham "Sak Pase" Joseph immediately onWatch the Throne after being recruited byDef Jam'sartists and repertoire Vice PresidentBu Thiam. The duo dedicated a week to recording, taking influence from Britishelectronic dance music for "Who Gon Stop Me", and Simmonds soughtdubstep material while maintaining ahip-hop feel.[3] Simmonds and Joseph came up with the song's lyrical concept after they started its creation; the beat was crafted by the producer and the rapper wrote thechorus. He placed himself in the mindset of Jay-Z and West to pen thehook, apparently receiving comparisons to how the rappers sound when he recorded his reference track.[3] Simmonds and Joseph naturally found their chemistry in the studio as they bounced off of different sounds there, not feeling under pressure when creating.[4] The rapper contributed additional vocals to the song, along withMr Hudson andSwizz Beatz.[5]
"Who Gon Stop Me" was produced by Joseph with West, whileMike Dean contributed additional production. The producers co-wrote the song with Jay-Z, Simmonds, and English dubstep producerFlux Pavilion.[5] In March 2012, Flux Pavilion toldHipHopDX that he was not able to truly identify the feeling of being recognized outside of his genre, particularly by artists of Jay-Z and West's fame, after the song'ssample of "I Can't Stop". Flux Pavilion saw the recognition as "absolutely magical" after he crafted the beat in his bedroom and questioned if the rappers were aware of this, feeling happiness about "I Can't Stop" as one of his favourite recordings despite doubting just how good it was.[6] The producer appreciated "Who Gon Stop Me" for differentiating from his recording and believed it would not be Jay-Z and West's track if they had only rapped over his beat, instead of adding their own work.[6]
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Musically, "Who Gon Stop Me" is anexperimental track,[7] combining dubstep andgrime with rap music.[8][9][10] The song relies on samples of Flux Pavilion's "I Can't Stop" in the production, incorporating the recording'sdrop during West's chorus and using itssynths.[9][10][11] West's voice isdistorted into a growl while he mutters on the chorus and the song includes a heavybassline,[12] which cuts out for its beat switch.[7][10] The beat switch featuressirens and liquified synths during itscoda,[13] as Jay-Z raps for the last two minutes and takes brief pauses while speeding up his pace.[9][10]
In the lyrics of "Who Gon Stop Me", West expresses determination to live a highly extravagant lifestyle after having managed to inspire black youths looking for success. On the hook, West compares the victims of the likes of inner-city violence,[9] slavery, and poverty throughout American history tothe Holocaust for the millions of people lost.[12] He also addresses haters and struggles from the past by rapping "Til I die/ I'mma fuckin ball".[14] Jay-Z honors his own success in the face ofAfrican American oppression,[15] believing that he could achieve this again if he had to restart.[12] He raps about his criminal past and offers a "middle finger" to his former life, congratulating himself on graduating "from the corner" despite not having adiploma.[9][16]
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On August 8, 2011, "Who Gon Stop Me" was included as the ninth track on Jay-Z and West's collaborative studio albumWatch The Throne, released by their record labelsDef Jam,Roc Nation, andRoc-A-Fella.[17] The song was met with lukewarm reviews frommusic critics, with general praise for West's vocals.Spin journalist Brandon Soderberg depicted the dubstep sample of "I Can't Stop" as giving "a tangible menace to this beat" through being repurposed "to score Kanye's provocative yelp" about violence and Jay-Z's lyrics about his troubled past then his present success, finding the latter to move between "two divergent paths" of legal and illegal.[9] Soderberg highlighted the synths and sirens in the midst of its sample that is followed by West's strong hook conveying the point of "a mass slaughter of people" as a holocaust contrary to how this is framed, with his provocativeness making listeners "reconsider politically loaded language" as the violence in southern and western states is focused on.[9] Writing forRolling Stone, Matthew Perpetua felt the song showcases West's vocal talent that is "processed into a sinister, tinny growl" and Jay-Z delivers a worthy performance too.[7] Erika Ramirez ofBillboard described "Who Gon Stop Me" as an ideal song "for wildin'", expressing that Jay-Z and West give "the middle finger" to their haters and past struggles.[14] Randall Roberts from theLos Angeles Times commented that the song's title echoes the words of kings and despots throughout time as they gain power, showing the rappers as "more nimble and disciplined" than rulers who died such as KingHenry VIII.[18] ForPitchfork, Tom Breihan highlighted it for West swearing inPig Latin and "turning dubstep-rap into a viable subgenre".[8] Andy Gill fromThe Independent picked the song as one from the album to download, although he considered the theme of black-on-black violence to receive "less empathy" than on "Murder to Excellence" as Jay-Z raps about graduating from the corner with no diploma and indicates "disdain for those less able to effect that manoeuvre".[16]
In a lukewarm review atUrb, James Shahan felt interested in the song's dubstep production and lyrical references ranging from the Holocaust toOprah Winfrey, although considered the mentions of "black cars, broads, [and] straps" to be hypocritical.[19] Shahan found West to be a stronger performer than Jay-Z, who he saw as "stretching perhaps a bit too much to just sound comfortable".[19]Tiny Mix Tapes' Ross Green noted that West's "metallic, frequency-distorted chorus" appears atop the drop from "I Can't Stop" and becomes "the most unexpected grime banger of all time", until the beat switch where Jay-Z uncontrollably delivers "aimless rhymes" with too many pauses of breathing and he felt the album would be improved if this second half was removed.[10] Focusing on Jay-Z's performance forSpin, Rob Harvilla called the song a determined attempt to hide his narcissism as he tries to impress by mentioning famous painters, providing an "equally goofy but no less effective rise-of-the-machines dystopian squall" that is still stronger than the rapper's 2006 song "Beach Chair".[20] Providing a mixed review inRapReviews, Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania described it as "another diverting moment" onWatch the Throne for the influence of British music through dubstep and resemblance to RKZ's "Gonna Be That", though he questioned if West's lines about the Holocaust would cause backlash.[21]Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole stated that it would be generous to consider the song's "ham-fisted rabble-rousing" merely as bad as rapperMos Def's worst material with criticism for West's performance, although he believed fellow album track "Made In America" to be worse.[22] Julian Benbow fromThe Boston Globe criticized West over the dubstep sampling, which he saw as an example of what Jay-Z had "made a career steering clear of".[23]
Following the release ofWatch the Throne, "Who Gon Stop Me" charted at number 44 on theBillboard Hot 100,[24] without being released as a single. The debut marked the only track not released as a single from the album to chart on the Hot 100 and it was the result of download numbers alone.[12] The track debuted at number 19 on the USDigital Songs chart, standing behindDrake's "Headlines" as the second highest debut of the week and it debuted at number six on the componentR&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart.[25][26] On March 16, 2013, the track entered the USHot R&B Songs chart at number 21.[27] In April 2015, "Who Gon Stop Me" wascertified gold by theRecording Industry Association of America for pushing 500,000 certified units in the United States.[28] It was also the album's only non-single to chart in Canada, debuting at number 60 on theCanadian Hot 100.[29]
Throughout Jay-Z and West'sWatch the Throne Tour that ran from 2011 until 2012, they performed the song.[30] During the performance of the song for the tour's opening concert atPhilips Arena in Atlanta on October 28, 2011, Jay-Z performed its later lyricsa capella after a technical issue with the music's timing.[31] For Jay-Z's set atBBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend on June 23, 2012, he was joined by West to perform the song.[32] Jay-Z and West performed it at the start ofSamsung Galaxy'sSouth by Southwest concert at the Austin Music Hall in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2014, accompanied by red lasers amidst smoke.[33] The rappers were accompanied by a 12-foot video cube at the center of the stage as they appeared atop large metal boxes, which showed a video of a shark on their screens.[34][35]
The song was used inBaz Luhrmann's filmThe Great Gatsby (2013) that is an adaptation ofF. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novelof the same name, appearing in a scene whereTobey Maguire playsNick Carraway observes black people drinkingMoët in a drop-top car while listening to Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" (2001).[36] In 2014,Complex listed "Who Gon Stop Me" among their 25 pregame jams for players from theNational Basketball Association for its aspirational inspiration.[37]
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[5]
Recording
Personnel
| Chart (2011–13) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[38] | 60 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[39] | 44 |
| USR&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[26] | 6 |
| USHot R&B Songs (Billboard)[40] | 21 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[41] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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