| "Dead Presidents" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by
Jay-Z from the album Reasonable Doubt |
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| B-side | "Ain't No Nigga" | ||||
| Released | February 20, 1996 | ||||
| Format | |||||
| Genre | East Coast |
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| Label | Roc-A-Fella Records | ||||
| Writer | Shawn Carter David Willis Lonnie Liston Smith Nasir Jones Peter Phillips |
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| Producer | Ski | ||||
| Jay-Z singles chronology | |||||
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"Dead Presidents" is the first single released in promotion of rapper Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt. Its lyrics about the drug dealing underworld have made it a hip hop classic and a staple in Jay-Z's collection of tracks. The song's producer Ski samples Lonnie Liston Smith's "A Garden of Peace" for the track's melody and "Oh My God (Remix)" for its percussion. The single was a commercial success as indicated by its RIAA certification as a gold single in June of 1996.
The actual single "Dead Presidents" does not appear on Jay-Z's debut album, but instead "Dead Presidents II" does. "Dead Presidents II" has the same beat and chorus as the original, but different lyrics. This version can be found on Jay-Z's 2002 greatest hits compilation Chapter One: Greatest Hits.
Steve Juon of RapReviews.com considers the "Dead Presidents" music video--directed by Abdul Malik Abbott--to be of "movie quality."[1]
Feud with Nas
The song's chorus uses a sample from the "The World Is Yours" by Nas. Nas was originally invited to re-rap the chorus for Jay-Z and appear in the track's music video, but he declined. Some view these two actions as the foundation of their feud.
When Nas and Jay-Z feuded directly, both rappers discussed the merit of the sampling in the song in individual "diss" records. In Nas' track "Stillmatic Freestyle," he says: "You show off, I count dough off when you sample my voice." Jay-Z responds to Nas' claims in his song "Takeover" with the lines: "So yeah, I sampled your voice; you was usin' it wrong/You made it a hot line; I made it a hot song. And you ain't get a coin nigga you was gettin' fucked then; I know who I paid God, Serchlite Publishing".
In 2005 at Jay-Z's I Declare War concert, he performed "Dead Presidents II" with Nas officially ending their feud.
Production
In a YouTube video named Ski Beatz - the making of Jay'Z Dead Presidents Beat, Ski explains how he produced the beat for "Dead Presidents." The equipment he used includes an SP1200 drum machine and an Akai S950 sampler. He samples the melody of "A Garden of Peace" by Lonnie Liston Smith and the drums from "Oh My God (Remix)" by A Tribe Called Quest. In the video, Ski claims to have sampled the original "The World Is Yours," as opposed to the Q-Tip remix as many people suspect; Ski confirms this claim in an interview with HNNLive.com.[2] Oddly, Ski's Beats, Rhymes & Samples mixtape contains the Q-Tip remix in the context of a "Dead Presidents" sample. In the video, he also explains how he filters out the high and low amplitudes of the samples to get a smoother bass line.
Single track list
A-Side
- "Dead Presidents (Clean)"
- "Dead Presidents (LP Version)"
- "Dead Presidents (Instrumental)"
B-Side
- "Ain't No Nigga (LP Version)"
- "Ain't No Nigga (Instrumental)"
References
- ^ Juon, Steve. In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 Review at RapReviews.com. Retrieved on July 9, 2007.
- ^ Hatfield, Quinton. "Roc-A-Biz: Ski Beatz". HNNLive.com. January 7, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
See also
External links
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