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.

R.I.P. Ray Charles: His Top 50 Songs

Ray Charles Top 50 Songs

R&B singer Ray Charles (click link for DMDB encyclopedia entry) was well known for integrating multiple genres into his music. He was born Ray Charles Robinson on 9/23/1930 in Albany, GA. He died on 6/10/2004. His family moved to Greenville, Florida while he was still an infant. He was partially blind at age 5 and completely blind at age 7 from glaucoma. He studied classical piano and clarinet at the State School for Deaf and Blind Children, St. Augustine, Florida from 1937 to 1945. He worked with local Florida bands before moving to Seattle in 1948. He formed the McSon Trio (aka Maxim Trio and the Maxine Trio) with guitarist Gossady McGhee and bassist Milton Garret. His first recordings were in the King Cole Trio style. He formed his own band in 1954. Among his career highlights are his 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and songs “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962), both featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era 1954-1999. Those two songs and “What’d I Say” (1959) also rank in the DMDB top 1000 of all time. Singer/actor Jamie Foxx won the Academy Award for Best Actor portraying Charles in Ray! For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.) 1. I Can’t Stop Loving You (1962) #1 US, RB, AC, UK, AU 2. Georgia on My Mind (1960) #1 US 3. What’d I Say (1959) #1 RB 4. Hit the Road Jack (1961) #1 US, RB 5. Yesterday (1967) 6. I Gotta Woman (1955) #1 RB 7. Crying Time (1965) #1 AC 8. Hallelujah I Love Her So (1956) 9. Busted (1963) 10. Your Cheatin’ Heart (1962) 11. You Don’t Know Me (1962) #1 AC 12. Ol’ Man River (1963) 13. You Are My Sunshine (1962) #1 RB 14. Eleanor Rigby (1968) 15. America the Beautiful (1972) 16. That Lucky Old Sun (1963) 17. Makin’ Whoopee (1964) 18. Let’s Go Get Stoned (1966) #1 RB 19. Unchain My Heart (1961) #1 RB 20. One Mint Julep (1961) #1 RB 21. Take These Chains from My Heart (1962) 22. Come Rain or Come Shine (1960) 23. Here We Go Again (1967) 24. Lonely Avenue (1956) 25. Drown in My Own Tears (1956) #1 RB 26. Together Again (1965) #1 AC 27. Don’t Set Me Free (1963) 28. Born to Lose (1962) 29. Night Time Is the Right Time (1959) 30. No One (1963) 31. Ruby (1960) 32. Sticks and Stones (1960) 33. Baby It’s Cold Outside (with Betty Carter, 1961) 34. Without Love (with Aretha Franklin, 1974) 35. Hide Nor Hair (1962) 36. Don’t Change on Me (1970) 37. Mess Around (1953) 38. My Heart Cries for You (1964) 39. Baby Grand (with Billy Joel, 1986) 40. Without Love There Is Nothing (1963) 41. If You Were Mine (1970) 42. At the Club (1962) 43. I’m Movin’ On (1959) 44. No One to Cry To (1964) 45. A Tear Fell (1964) 46. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was (1969) 47. Booty Butt (1970) 48. I Choose to Sing the Blues (1966) 49. Swanee River Rock (1957) 50. In the Heat of the Night (1967) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Ray Charles Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 5/20/2019; last updated 6/6/2022.