"Niggas in Paris" | ||||
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Single by Jay-Z and Kanye West | ||||
from the album Watch the Throne | ||||
Released | September 13, 2011 | |||
Recorded | 2010–2011 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 3:39 | |||
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Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Jay-Z singles chronology | ||||
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Kanye West singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Niggas in Paris" on YouTube |
"Niggas in Paris" (censored as "Ni**as in Paris" and edited for radio as "In Paris" or simply "Paris"[1]) is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album, Watch the Throne (2011). The song was produced by Hit-Boy with West and Mike Dean, while Anthony 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 a sample of his work. West took inspiration from the duality of Paris for the song, comparing it to examples like the hood and Hollywood. Jay-Z envisioned the concept as how the two obtained their wealth instead of showing it off, using it as a momentary question of their status. Pusha T was originally offered the beat, yet rejected it due to the playful sound. The beat was crafted by Hit-Boy in five minutes and went unused until he was called by Don C, then he provided it for the song.
An uptempo hip hop and club song with elements of West Coast rap, "Niggas in Paris" features a minimalist beat and samples from "Baptizing Scene" by Donaldson. The song also samples a couple of excerpts of Will Ferrell's character Chazz Michael Michaels from the sports 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 generally positive reviews from music critics. It won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 11th top-five hit for Jay-Z and the 10th for West on the chart. Outside of the United States, it peaked within the top 10 of the charts in the United Kingdom.
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 titled Watch the Throne.[3] West revealed that "Niggas in Paris" was inspired by the duality he witnessed when traveling to Paris as he cited his own examples of the hood and Hollywood, and him conversing with Karl Lagerfeld and Jay-Z during one hour. He described himself as "where art meets commercial" and made effort to dress up at fashion shows in Paris while listening to Jay-Z, concluding: "Jeezy in Paris, that's what it is."[4] West said that the song's title came about "because Niggas was in [sic] Paris", where he had an office and a small courtyard near the retailer Colette.[5] He compared the need for the album's odes before the song to bringing flowers to a door first.[5] Speaking with GQ 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. The rappers felt shocked with their impressive status and used it as a moment to question, "What are we doing here? How did we get here?"[6][7] Jay-Z acknowledges the struggle that he made it past to reach success after having known many people who failed, placing himself in an entirely different category to people's children who studied at Harvard University.[6][7] During a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City for The Yeezus Tour on November 24, 2013, West said that the song would not exist if it was not for singer Lenny Kravitz having been "the first nigga in Paris" with his rock star appearance.[8]
West came up with the idea of sampling a couple of excerpts from actor Will Ferrell's character Chazz Michael Michaels in the 2007 sports comedy film Blades of Glory;[9] he agreed and was flattered by the usage on the song. Ferrell laughed when he first listened to the song due to a surreal feel and was appreciative, attempting to film a piece for the video boards of Jay-Z and West's concerts that never materialized. He also became aware of further opportunities to be sampled within hip hop music, considering the suitability of his films like Step Brothers (2008) and Melinda and Melinda (2004).[10] In December 2013, Ferrell mentioned how he was later referenced in various hip hop songs and "Niggas in Paris" is the only one he cannot say the title of himself, joking that he sounds "ever whiter" when referring to it as "N-words from Paris".[11] The song also samples Reverend W. A. Donaldson's "Baptizing Scene" (1960), which West sampled again on "Wouldn't Leave" from his 2018 album Ye.[12]
During the album's sessions, West offered the beat of "Niggas in Paris" to fellow rapper and GOOD Music signee Pusha T, who rejected this offer. Pusha T felt it was too playful when he was "in demonic rap mode" and when writing tracks such as "My God", he did not want to change his focus to the beat's club appeal that West indicated.[13] In May 2013, Pusha T compared the sound of the song to a video game and commented that West does send artists material they do not always connect with, then deliberately tries to prove them wrong.[14] After record producer Hit-Boy first met West in 2007, he was later introduced to Jay-Z through him and engaged in recording sessions with the rappers at The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, Manhattan for three weeks. Hit-Boy crafted a few beats for Watch the Throne that were initially not used at all, until he received a call from Don C asking for the beat of "Niggas in Paris". The producer then scrapped the plans for his associate Chilly Chill to upload the beat on a mixtape and he had recorded it quickly, feeling grateful as Jay-Z and West told him "that's our biggest record".[9] The song was one of Hit-Boy's most simple works and he had overestimated how much he was ready for its success, feeling he truly grew up and placed himself under pressure to make a hit at the same level. Hit-Boy went against his preferred method of working on music for hours by creating the beat in five minutes and it inspired him to continue creating, realizing it is never known "what's gonna touch people" and anything that is meant "to line up will line up".[9] Following the song's success, Hit-Boy felt he reached his peak as he moved into a mansion with five studios and his popularity continued into 2012. He remained there and went bankrupt within five years after investing his money in his peers, having made millions of dollars mostly from his Interscope deal rather than the song's publishing deal that went wrong.[15] Parts of the song were taken from the album's sessions at the Le Meurice hotel in Paris during November 2010, while the later sessions at The Mercer Hotel were held in 2011.[16] "Niggas in Paris" was produced by Hit-Boy, West, and Mike Dean, with additional production from Anthony Kilhoffer. The producers co-wrote the song with Jay-Z, while Donaldson received a songwriting credit due to being sampled.[17]
Musically, "Niggas in Paris" is an uptempo[14] hip hop and club song,[18][19][20] with elements of West Coast rap.[21] The song begins with an excerpt from Blades of Glory of Ferrell's declaration: "We're gonna skate to one song and one song only."[10] It later samples Ferrell talking about how art does not need any meaning when "it's provocative ... it gets the people going",[10][22][23] which appears in the middle of West's verse and was interpreted by Rolling Stone's Matthew Perpetua as summarizing the lyrical style of hip hop.[16][24] The song also features samples of Donaldson's "Baptizing Scene".[17] It incorporates a slow, bouncy, cheerful, and minimalist beat.[24][25][26][27] The beat is driven by[28][29] a riff of stabs of looped[19] icy synthesizers,[24][30] combined with kick drums.[23][31] The song includes Hit Boy's bleeps, while a braggadocio flow is used by Jay-Z and West.[9][32][33] Jay-Z raps fast,[19] whereas West begins in half-time before moving to a faster pace.[34] In the middle of the song, it transitions from continuous snare shots and orchestration of staccato electronics to an 808 breakdown.[22][34][35] The breakdown contains industrial sounds,[22] distorted thumping sub-bass,[9][34] and operatic backing vocals.[36] For the last 30 seconds, the song is dominated by a dubstep drop.[30][37][38] The ending features studio buzz, synthesized monk voices, and static bursts.[16]
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.[32][39][40] 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.[16] 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".[27][31][41] West references the royal theme of Watch the Throne by imagining himself as Prince William of Wales in the wake of his marriage to Catherine Middleton, deciding he would instead marry the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.[16] He declares that he has been diagnosed with an illness by his doctors, who apparently said he is "suffering from realness".[23][34] The rapper teases entering his zone and offers the ad-lib "hah",[42] as well as rapping the phrases "going gorillas" and "that shit cray!"[25][34][43] 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.[44][45][46]
On August 8, 2011, "Niggas in Paris" was included as the third track on Jay-Z and West's collaborative studio album Watch The Throne, released by their record labels Def Jam, Roc Nation, and Roc-A-Fella. On September 8, 2011, Jay-Z and West unveiled the cover art for "Niggas in Paris". The artwork maintains the same motif as that of their 2011 single "Otis", while it displays the performers' names and the song's title in white letters against the colours of the French flag.[47] They invoked the cover for "Why I Love You", which was released as a single to rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States simultaneously with "Niggas in Paris" on September 13, 2011, through Def Jam, Roc Nation, and Roc-A-Fella.[48][49] On the same date, the former was issued to US urban contemporary radio stations by the aforementioned labels.[50]
The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Rolling Stone commented on the song by saying "Jay and Ye come in hard over a slow, menacing beat and icy synthesizer notes, but regardless, this cut is mostly memorable for including an unexpected sample of dialogue from the Will Ferrell/Jon Heder ice-skating comedy Blades of Glory. 'No one knows what it means, but it's provocative,' says Ferrell with deep conviction, essentially summing up the art of hip-hop lyrics."[24] Erika Ramirez of Billboard commented on the song by saying, "Kanye steals the show on the Hit-Boy produced club anthem. A sampling of dialogue from the 2007 film Blades of Glory is tucked in between."[20] The Guardian called the song a standout track on the album and also commented by saying "This percolating track could have been produced by Wiley, with sick sub-bass and a snare that sounds like static. Both rappers are in excellent form, with West repeating 'That shit cray'. Kanye begins at half-time and speeds up. Among the lines that jump out: "I'm suffering from realness" and 'Don't let me get in my zone.' A standout track."[34] Pitchfork complimented that the song possessed great moments by Kanye West and said the following: "It also features this great Kanye moment, 'Doctors say I'm the illest because I'm suffering from realness/Got my niggas in Paris, and they going gorillas.'"[23]
Digital Spy placed the track on their 24th spot of the best songs of 2011,[51] while Consequence ranked it 13th on their list of the year's top 50 songs.[19] The song was named as the 12th best track of 2011 by Pitchfork, whose author Ryan Dombal wrote that West's hah ad-lib successfully summarizes the "one-percent-ness of Watch the Throne" as he commended the lyrical style of him and Jay-Z.[42] Amazon named it the eighth best song of 2011.[52] The track was voted fifth on The Village Voice's yearly Pazz & Jop poll, receiving 64 mentions.[53] 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.[27] 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.[25] For 2011, the magazine also listed the song as the "hottest beat".[54]
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.[26] 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.[32] That same year, Pitchfork placed the song at number 36 on their list and Kyle Kramer considered it "the crown jewel" of the opulence of Watch the Throne and the exception to the album's production due to the simplistic beat.[55] In 2015, Billboard listed it as the fifth best song of the 2010s.[44] In 2019, Business Insider ranked the track as the 35th best song of the decade and Stereogum named it as the 11th best; Tom Breihan highlighted the chemistry of Jay-Z flaunting his wealth and West boasting of his rap skills.[56][38]
For the 2014 issue of XXL that celebrated 40 years of hip hop, the track was listed as one of the five best singles of 2007.[57] The song was chosen for the year of 2011 in The Rap Year Book, which deconstructed the most important rap song from every year since 1979 until 2015.[58] NME named "Niggas in Paris" the 81st best song of all time in 2014.[18] Highsnobiety placed "Niggas in Paris" at number 11 on their list of West's best songs in 2017, a year before Complex named the song as his sixth best.[59][60] 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.[61] On the 20th anniversary of BBC Radio 1Xtra in 2022, "Niggas in Paris" was voted by the station's listeners as the seventh best hip-hop track of the century.[62] 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".[33]
"Niggas in Paris" was awarded Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2013 Grammy Awards, with the title's first word censored as "N*****" during the announcements.[63][64] 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.[65] At a concert in December 2012, West cited the song not receiving a nomination for Record of the Year as one of his reasons for not attending the 2013 Grammys.[64] It was nominated for Best Dancefloor Anthem at the 2013 NME Awards, alongside receiving a nomination for Anthem of the Summer at that year's UK Festival Awards.[66][67] 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 2012 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.[68][69] At the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards, "Niggas in Paris" was awarded Track of the Year and Best Club Banger.[70]
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
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Business Insider | The 113 Best Songs from the 2010s | 35
|
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Billboard | The 20 Best Songs of the 2010s (2010–15) | 5
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Consequence | Top 100 Songs of the 2010s | 44
|
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Fact | The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s (2010–14) | 64
|
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NME | The 50 Best Tracks Of The Decade (2010–14) | 1
|
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Pitchfork | The 200 Best Tracks of the Decade (2010-14) | 36
|
|
Stereogum | The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s | 2
|
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Way Too Indie | The 50 Best Songs of the Decade (2010–15) | 13
|
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Uproxx | The Best Songs of the 2010s | 80
|
On February 9, 2012, Jay-Z and West premiered the music video for "Niggas in Paris" with a projection at the front of East London's Shoreditch High Street railway station.[73] The video followed "Otis" as the second visual from Watch the Throne, with its footage taken from the rappers' concert at Los Angeles' Staples Center on the accompanying tour in December 2011.[74][75] 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.[76]
The music video is preceded by an epilepsy warning, informing people that it may trigger their seizures and advising of viewer discretion.[77][78] The video utilizes split screen kaleidoscopic effects to jump from Jay-Z and West performing the song at the Staples Center to footage of the crowd,[74][78] which mostly features models.[77] 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 as Notre-Dame de Paris.[77][79] For the excerpt from Blades of Glory that interrupts West's verse, a brief snippet of Ferrell's appearance in the film is displayed.[74]
The music video received a nomination for Video of the Year at the 2012 BET Awards, losing the award to "Otis".[80] At the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, the visual was nominated for the awards of Best Editing and Best Hip-Hop Video.[81] The video received a nomination for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2012 Antville Music Video Awards, while it was nominated for Best International Urban Video at the 2012 UK Music Video Awards.[82][83] As of June 12, 2023, the music video has received over 386 million views on YouTube.[4]
Prior to release as a single, "Niggas in Paris" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 75 following the album's release, standing as its second highest charting non-single behind "Who Gon Stop Me".[84] For the chart issue of the Hot 100 dated November 6, 2011, it entered the top-20 at number 17.[85] Around a month later, the track reached number eight on the Hot 100, with 113,000 digital units. The track became the first top-10 single from Watch the Throne and Jay-Z's 18th top-10 on the Hot 100.[86] It rose two places for the chart dated December 18, 2011, then peaked at number five on the Hot 100 Christmas issue. The song became the 11th top-five hit of Jay-Z and the 10th for West on the chart, while it marked their third collaboration to reach the top-five.[87] For 2012, the track ranked as the 40th biggest release on the Hot 100.[88] "Niggas in Paris" lasted for 36 weeks on the chart.[89] As of May 31, 2018, the song ranks as West's eighth biggest hit of all time on the Hot 100.[90]
Upon the album's release, the track debuted at number 99 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[91] It later entered the top-10 of the chart at number six on the issue dated October 9, 2011.[92] The track gradually climbed the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the next month, peaking at number one on November 12.[93] It remained at this position for seven weeks and remained on the chart for a total of 45 weeks.[94] On the decade-end Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the 2010s, the track ranked as the 36th most successful release.[95] The track also topped the US Hot Rap Songs chart for 10 weeks, on which it totaled 36 weeks.[96] "Niggas in Paris" reached number three on the US Rhythmic chart, while it peaked within the top-20 of the Dance/Mix Show Airplay and Pop Airplay charts.[97][98][99] Across the 2010s, the track received the second most radio spins for Rhythmic and sixth most for Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.[100] It surpassed 3,000,000 digital sales in the US on November 4, 2012, standing as one of the three songs from Nielsen SoundScan's 200 best-selling songs list that uses an asterisk to censor its title.[1] On June 12, 2023, "Niggas in Paris" was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 10 million certified units in the US. The track marked the first to receive this RIAA certification for Jay-Z and the second for West, following his 2007 single "Stronger".[4]
In Canada, the track peaked at number 16 on the Canadian Hot 100.[101] On May 9, 2012, "Niggas in Paris" received a platinum certification from Music Canada for selling 80,000 units.[102] Elsewhere, the track entered the UK Singles Chart at number 76 on February 25, 2012, rising over the following weeks to peak at number 10. The track spent 53 weeks on the chart, with 6 of these being within the top-20.[103] For 2012, it ranked as the 31st most successful track and the 17th most streamed in the United Kingdom.[104][105] "Niggas in Paris" ranks as the 18th highest-selling hip-hop song of all time in the UK up to April 17, 2017, while it stands as Jay-Z's second biggest song in the country as of August 19.[106][107] As of August 5, 2021, the track is West's fifth most successful single in the UK, with 1,520,000 sales and 91 million streams.[108] On January 20, 2023, "Niggas in Paris" was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shelving 1,800,000 units in the country.[109] In Scotland, the track peaked at number 14 on the Scottish Singles Chart.[110]
On June 8, 2012, the track entered the Danish Tracklisten Top 40 at number 21 and fell down 10 places within two weeks. The track exited the chart and re-entered at number 21 on July 6, shortly before peaking at number 19.[111] "Niggas in Paris" was awarded with a triple platinum from IFPI Danmark for shipments of 270,000 units in Denmark on June 5, 2018.[112] It reached number 22 on the Irish Singles Chart, while charting at number 26 on the Hungarian Single Top 40.[113][114] Elsewhere in Europe, the track attained top-50 positions in France,[115] the Netherlands,[116] Austria,[117] Germany,[118] Switzerland,[119] and Sweden.[120] For 2012, it ranked as the 45th biggest track in France.[121] "Niggas in Paris" was certified double platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie and Swedish Recording Industry Association in Germany and Sweden, respectively.[122][123] On November 3, 2019, the track received a platinum certification from Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana for selling 50,000 copies in Italy.[124] In New Zealand, it reached number 38 on the NZ Singles Chart.[125] The track was awarded with a double platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments of 140,000 copies in Australia on December 3, 2015.[126]
The song has been performed on the Watch the Throne Tour. MTV News said with "the track's Will Ferrell intro ('We're gonna skate to one song and one song only') brought on the moment that everyone was waiting for."[127] USA Today commented "at one point, as Jay-Z and West performed Niggas in Paris from their new hit CD, Watch the Throne, West exhorted the audience to 'Bounce! Bounce!' The resulting stomping had Philips Arena rocking and shaking in a way that it hasn't for the Hawks in a long time."[128]
In early stops, the song was performed three times. Kanye West and Jay-Z began performing the song more than thrice at the Miami show at American Airlines Arena by performing the song five times. The song was played six times at the TD Garden in Boston on November 21, 2011 setting a record for the tour at the time. It was then broken when it was performed seven times at The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was again broken on December 1, 2011 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois when the duo performed the song 8 times.
On December 12, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, the song was played a total of 9 times, a record which would stand until the next night, when the duo performed the song 10 times. The crowd was also told that cameras had been brought to the concert for the record breaking December 13 performance to film the music video for the song. West brought out Jay-Z as a special guest to perform the song at the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City, where Beyoncé was in attendance.[129][130] During the Final Tour Stop in Vancouver the aforementioned record was met again with the duo performing the song ten times on the final night, December 18 at Rogers Arena, despite several newspaper articles claiming that it was performed a total of eleven times.[131][132][133][134]
On June 1, 2012 during their first date in Paris, at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, they actually broke the record, performing the song 11 times. They claimed themselves that the record was held by Los Angeles, when Jay-Z said: "The record is held by L.A. with ten times. [..] But this song isn't called "Niggas in Los Angeles". [...] We gotta break that record and bring it to 11", thus ending the rumors concerning the record being broken in Vancouver. The last record (established in Paris as well) has been broke again on June 18, 2012, performed 12 times in Paris at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. During Jay-Z's encore at BBC 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 in circle pits.[135][136]
During the second day of Jay-Z's appearance at the 2012 Made in America Festival, he was joined by West to perform the song for the encore.[137] West performed the song as one of his opening numbers at the Glastonbury Festival 2015, walking around the stage as he twirled his microphone stand around.[138]
The official remix features rapper T.I. Remixes or freestyles on the production created by other artists include a remix by Chris Brown and T-Pain, a freestyle by Game titled "Niggas in Compton", a freestyle by Meek Mill which appeared on his mixtape Dreamchasers, a remix by Busta Rhymes, a remix by Chevy Woods titled "Taylors in Paris", a freestyle by Trey Songz which appeared on his mixtape #LemmeHolDatBeat2 titled "Trigga In Africa", a remix by E.S.G. titled "Niggas in Houston", and a remix by Felony titled "Niggas in Harris.[citation needed] Mos Def made a freestyle to the song called "Niggas in Poorest".[citation needed] Other rappers that did freestyles include Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Freddie Gibbs, Emilio Rojas, Traphik, and Romeo Miller.[citation needed] Casper has at times performed a German version of the track at concerts.[citation needed]
American post-hardcore band Pierce the Veil performed a clean part of the song on their 2011 No Guts, No Glory Tour.[139]
In March 2012, Katy Perry performed a clean version cover of the track as part of a Live Lounge special for Fearne Cotton's show on BBC Radio 1.[140] American alternative metal band Faith No More covered the song live in 2012.[141] The British rap metal/progressive metal/djent band Hacktivist released a cover of the song with an accompanying video in August 2013.[142] Watsky released a freestyle of the song called "Ninjas in Paris".[143]
The song was used in a promo for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.[144]
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[17]
Recording
Personnel
Weekly charts[edit]
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Year-end charts[edit]
Decade-end charts[edit]
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[126] | 2× Platinum | 140,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA)[169] | Gold | 15,000* |
Canada (Music Canada)[102] | Platinum | 80,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[112] | 3× Platinum | 270,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[170] Streaming |
2× Platinum | 3,600,000† |
Germany (BVMI)[122] | 2× Platinum | 600,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI)[124] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF)[123] | 2× Platinum | 80,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[109] | 3× Platinum | 1,520,000[108] |
United States (RIAA)[171] | Diamond | 10,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
United States | September 13, 2011 | Rhythmic[49] and Urban radio[50] | |
November 8, 2011 | Mainstream radio[172] |
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