Kanye West hits #1 for first of 10 weeks with “Gold Digger”

Gold Digger Kanye West with Jamie Foxx

Writer(s): Kanye West, Ray Charles, Renald Richard (see lyrics here) Released: July 5, 2005 First Charted: July 16, 2005 Peak: 110 US, 12 RR, 14 RB, 2 UK, 5 CN, 13 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.26 UK, 9.54 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.5 radio, 211.54 video, 919.99 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Kanye West first made a name for himself as a producer for artists like Jay-Z before stepping out “from behind the mixing board to establish himself as one of the finest and most successful hip-hop performers of the early 21st century.” TB “Gold Digger,” the second single from West’s Late Registration album, flips the script on the stereotypical hip-hop song where “wealth is coveted and women are mistreated” TM to spin a “tale of a man used by his woman for financial gain.” PD It’s “unusual for one of music’s kingpins to admit he’s been suckered by a woman – much less write an upbeat song about it.” TM This is “lighthearted Kanye at his best: his lyrics are funny (‘She was supposed to buy your shorty Tyco with your money/ [Instead] she went to the doctor [and] got lipo with your money’)” TM and “when it comes to killer beats, Kanye West is every bit as good as he thinks he is.” MX He “never dropped a beat deadlier than the stuttering bass drum that propels his biggest hit.” MX “The song’s backbone is a mixture of scratches, loops and handclaps set to follow the lyrics’ cadence.” TM “But just when you think ‘Gold Digger’ is nothing more than a danceable screed against money-grubbing women, Kanye throws in a story about a poor black woman who stands by her man only to see him get rich and dump her for a white girl. Everybody gets played” TM in “Kanye’s most instantly pleasurable single ever.” RS’09 In addition, Kanye didn’t just stick to “contemporary mode or aping a classic pop genre sound,” AB’00 but opted for “blending the past with the present.” AB’00 Even then he aschewed the typical route when he decided to integrate Ray Charles’ “I Gotta Woman,” but not by sampling it directly. He turned to Jamie Foxx, who won an Academy Award playing Charles in the previous year’s Ray, for a “pitch-perfect Ray Charles impersonation.” MX Two years earlier, the pair worked on the #1 “Slow Jamz” with Twista, but this proved even bigger, with 10 weeks atop the charts. Resources: AB’00 About.com (2009) “Top 100 Pop Songs of the 2000s” MX Atlanta Metromix (11/24/09). Best songs of the decade PD PopDose.com (11/24/09) The Best Songs of the Decade RS’09 Rolling Stone (12/9/09). “Songs of the Decade” TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 313. TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs” Related Links: Last updated 6/18/2023.

Kanye West released Late Registration

Late Registration Kanye West

Released: August 30, 2005 Charted: September 17, 2005 Peak: 12 US, 12 RB, 2 UK, 12 CN, 14 AU Sales (in millions): 3.1 US, 0.85 UK, 5.39 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Wake Up Mr. West Heard ‘Em Say [with Adam Levine] (11/19/05, 26 US, 17 RB, 22 UK) Touch the Sky [with Lupe Fiasco] (10/15/05, 42 US, 23 RB) Gold Digger [with Jamie Foxx] (6/16/05, 1 US, 1 RB, 2 UK) Skit #1 Drive Slow [with Paul Wall & GLC] My Way Home [with Common] Crack Music [with The Game] Roses Bring Me Down [with Brandy] Addiction Skit #2 Diamonds from Sierra Leone [remix featuring Jay-Z] (5/14/05, 43 US, 21 RB, 8 UK) We Major [with Nas & Really Doe] Skit #3 Hey Mama Celebration Skit #4 Gone [with Consequence & Cam’Ron] Diamonds from Sierra Leone Late (unlisted track) Total Running Time: 70:25

Rating: 4.296 out of 5.00 (average of 30 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The College Dropout introduced the world to a polo-shirt-wearing preppy who merged backpack-rap politics and bling-rap materialism.” RS’20 “Then, in a flash, Kanye was everywhere, transformed from respected producer to big-name producer/MC, throwing a fit at the American Music Awards, performing ‘Jesus Walks’ at the Grammys, wearing his diamond-studded Jesus piece, appearing on the cover of Time, running his mouth 24/7.” AMG “For haters eager to see Kanye hit a sophomore slump – no such luck.” AZ On Late Registration “Kanye West really started showing off.” RS’20 “One thing that remains unchanged is Kanye’s hunger, even though his head has swollen to the point where it could be separated from his body, shot into space, and considered a planet. Raised middle class, Kanye didn’t have to hustle his way out of poverty, the number one key to credibility for many hip-hop fans, whether it comes to rapper turned rapping label presidents or suburban teens. And now that he has proved himself in another way, through his stratospheric success — which also won him a gaggle of haters as passionate as his followers – he doesn’t want to be seen as a novelty whose ambitions have been fulfilled.” AMG On Late Registration, he finds himself backed into a corner, albeit as king of the mountain. It’s a paradox, which is exactly what he thrives on. His follow-up to The College Dropout isn’t likely to change the minds of the resistant” AMG and “Late Registration can’t replicate the novelty of [its predecessor] but otherwise, this is an impressively more mature and labored-over album.” AZ “As an MC, Kanye remains limited, with all-too-familiar flows that weren’t exceptional to begin with (you could place a number of these rhymes over College Dropout beats). He uses the same lyrical strategies as well. Take lead single Diamonds from Sierra Leone, in which he switches from boastful to rueful; more importantly, the conflict felt in owning blood diamonds will be lost on those who couldn’t afford one with years of combined income. Even so, he can be tremendous as a pure writer, whether digging up uncovered topics (as on ‘Diamonds’) or spinning a clever line (‘Before anybody wanted K. West's beats, me and my girl split the buffet at KFC’).” AMG “The production approach, however, is rather different from the debut.” AMG West brings in “savvy producer Jon Brion to co-produce.” RS’20 The result? “The album sounds incredible” AZ with “crude beats and drastically tempo-shifted samples…replaced with a more traditionally musical touch.” AMG “Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann), who co-produces with West on most of the tracks,” AMG “help[s] polish the songs to perfection.” AZ They “are a good, if unlikely, match. Brion's string arrangements and brass flecks add a new dimension to West’s beats without overshadowing them, and the results are neither too adventurous nor too conservative.” AMG Tracks like Heard ‘Em Say (featuring Maroon 5's Adam Levine) and “heartstring-tuggers” RS’20 like Hey Mama “are richly textured in their soulfulness while the flint-edge of Crack Music and Gone…will appeal to the street-oriented.” AZ The Just Blaze-helmed” AMG “triumphal autobiography” RS’20 “Touch the Sky tops everything laid down by [West and Brion], despite its heavy reliance on Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move on Up.’” AMG Commercially, however, the most successful song Gold Digger. Complete with Jamie Foxx doing his best Ray Charles impression, the “witty club pop” RS’20 song sailed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. “There's a few duds on here – the sickly-sweet, syrupy Bring Me Down…being one of the worst offenders – but when the album’s good, it's very, very good.” AZ This is “a near-perfect album that remade the pop landscape in West’s own oddball image.” RS’20 “Kanye’s detractors may not be swayed in their resistance to his charms but not only will his past supporters be rewarded but Late Registration has enough appeal to earn new crowds of fans.” AZ “While KRS-One was the first to proclaim, ‘I am hip-hop,’ Kanye West might as well be the first MC to boldly state, ‘I am pop.’” AMG

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Andy Kellman AZ Amazon.com review by Oliver Wang RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/16/2010; last updated 4/22/2022.