"All of the Lights" is a song by American rapper Kanye West and is the fourth single from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This song has a lot of features, including Rihanna, Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Elton John, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, The World Famous Tony WIlliams, Drake, and Elly Jackson. Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Fergie, Elton John, and Alicia Keys being the most notable features on the track, Rihanna on the Chrous, Kid Cudi on the break, Fergie having a verse, and Elton John and Alicia Keys being on the outro. Other features like, John Legend, The-Dream, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, and The World Famous Tony WIlliams being the choir, and Drake and Elly Jackson being backup vocals.
Background[]
The early title for "All of The Lights" was previously "Ghetto University" in the Good Ass Job era when the production on the song was just beginning. Malik Yusef said that the original demo for the song contained a sample of Muhammad Ali saying "The champ is here"; Yusef attempted to create rhymes around it, but ended up telling the engineer to remove the sample to clear space on the song[1]. After having taken the sample out, Yusef eventually came up with the "all of the lights" part after thinking about his son's first words which were "light";[2]
In a 2013 interview with The Breakfast Club, Kanye said that the song took two years to finish, and talked about the creation and process of the song;
"'All The Lights' is a futurist song that started out as a Jeezy record with horns on it, then we put in another bridge, then Dream wrote the hook, then Rihanna sang it, and by the time you got it, it was to the level of like, the Nike Flyknit or something like that[3]
During the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 10, 2010, Rihanna was interviewed by MTV News staff. In the interview, she shared that Kanye West had played his album for her three months earlier and that "All of the Lights" was one of her favorite tracks. She commented, "So when he asked me to come up to the studio at 2 o'clock in the morning, I had to go because I loved it; I knew it was that song."
I Elly Jackson discussed the song's vocal layering, explaining, "He got me to layer up all these vocals with other people, and he basically wanted to use his favorite vocalists from around the world to create a really unique vocal texture on his record. But it's not the kind of thing where you can pick it out."
Popularity[]
The song was well received by critics and fans, critics complimented the detailed production and the dramatically-themed style. The single was also an international success, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, was the 59th most popular song of 2011, and number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the United States, being the 12th most popular song on that chart in 2011, while it also attained respectable chartings in several other countries. It won West a grammy for Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2012 grammy awards. As of December 2011, the song has sold over 1,561,000 digital units in the United States. As of November 2020, it has been certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA
Music Video[]
The music video for the song, directed by Hype Williams, features strobe-lit footage of Kanye West and Rihanna, with Kid Cudi also appearing in the video. Due to the excessive flashing lights, West included an epilepsy warning at the beginning of the video. Later, he released a revised version that contained fewer flashing lights to eliminate the need for the warning. Watch the original version of the music video or Watch the revised version of the music video
Lyrics[]
All of the lights (All of the lights, all of the lights)
Lights, lights
All of the lights
[Chorus: Rihanna, Choir]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights
[Post-Chorus: Elly Jackson, Rihanna, Choir]
Fast cars, shooting stars
All of the lights, all of the lights
Until it's Vegas everywhere we are (All of the lights)
If you want it, you can get it for the rest of your life
If you want it, you can get it for the rest of your life
[Verse 1: Kanye West]
Somethin' wrong, I hold my head
MJ gone, our n***a dead
I slapped my girl, she called the feds
I did that time, and spent that bread
I'm heading home, I'm almost there
I'm on my way, heading up the stairs
To my surprise, a n***a replacing me
I had to take him to that ghetto university
[Pre-Chorus: Kanye West, (Choir, Rihanna)]
(All of the lights), lights
Cop lights, flashlights, spotlights
Strobe lights, street lights (All of the lights, all of the lights)
Fast life, drug life, thug life
Roc life every night (All of the lights)
[Chorus: Rihanna]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights
[Verse 2: Kanye West]
Restraining order, can't see my daughter
Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me in that order
Public visitation, we met at Borders
Told her she take me back, I'll be more supportive
I made mistakes, I bumped my head
Them courts sucked me dry, I spent that bread
She need her daddy, baby, please
Can't let her grow up in that ghetto university
[Pre-Chorus: Kanye West, (Choir, Rihanna)]
(All of the lights), lights
Cop lights, flashlights, spotlights
Strobe lights, street lights (All of the lights, all of the lights)
Fast life, drug life, thug life
Roc life every night (All of the lights)
[Chorus: Rihanna]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights
[Bridge: Kid Cudi]
Gettin' mine, baby
Gotta let these n****s know, yeah
Gettin' right, babe
You should go and get your own
Gettin' mine, baby
Gotta let these n****s know, yeah
Gettin' right, babe
You should go and get your own
[Verse 3: Fergie, Rihanna & Drake]
Unemployment line, credit card declined
Did I not mention I was about to lose my mind? (My mind, my mind, my mind)
And also was about to do that line (The line, the line)
Okay, okay, you know we going all the way this time
We going all the way this time
We going all the way this time
We going all the way this time
We going all the way this time
[Chorus: Elton John, Choir]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights
[Outro: Elton John, (Alicia Keys)]
(Woah-ooh-woah, woah-ooh-woah-oh)
I try to tell you but all I could say was oh
(Woah-ooh-woah, woah-ooh-woah-oh)
I try to tell you but all I could say was oh
(Woah-ooh-woah, woah-ooh-woah-oh)
I try to tell you but all I could say was oh
(Woah-ooh-woah, woah-ooh-woah-oh)
I try to tell you but all I could say
(Oh-oh)
(Oh-oh)References[]
- ↑ https://upcominghiphop.net/2017/04/06/sxsw-interview-malik-yusef-favorite-artists-favorite-artist/
- ↑ https://upcominghiphop.net/2017/04/06/sxsw-interview-malik-yusef-favorite-artists-favorite-artist/
- ↑ https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/20060-kanye-west-on-bound-2-video-i-wanted-it-to-look-as-phony-as-possible-news