Niggas In Paris

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Lore & Background

The song was inspired by the range of experiences Kanye West witnessed when traveling to Paris, where he had an office and a small courtyard near the retailer Colette. 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. 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 him viewing singer Lenny Kravitz as "the first nigga in Paris" with his rock star persona from being with models and wearing clothes from designer Rick Owens. The beat was made by record producer Hit-Boy, who had met West in 2007 and Jay-Z through him, and had previously crafted several rejected beats for the project. Hit-Boy had planned on giving the beat to his associate Chilly Chill before receiving a call from Don C asking for it. West offered the beat to fellow rapper and GOOD Music signee Pusha T, who rejected it as he felt it too playful for his disposition. 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 over three weeks in 2011.

In Their Own Story

The song begins with an excerpt of Will Ferrell's declaration from the 2007 sports comedy film *Blades of Glory*: "We're gonna skate to one song and one song only." It later samples Ferrell talking about how art does not need any meaning when "it's provocative ... it gets the people going", which appears in the middle of West's verse. The song also features samples of Reverend W. A. Donaldson's "Baptizing Scene" (1960). It has a slow, cheerful minimalist beat, which incorporates bounciness. The beat is driven by a riff of stabs of looped icy synthesizers, combined with kick drums. In the middle of the song, it transitions from continuous snare shots and orchestration of staccato electronics to an 808 breakdown. The breakdown contains industrial sounds, distorted thumping sub-bass, and operatic backing vocals. For the last 30 seconds, the song is dominated by a dubstep drop. The ending features studio buzz, synthesized monk voices, and static bursts. 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.

Reader's Guide

The song was awarded Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, alongside winning Track of the Year and Best Club Banger at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. It was ranked as the 81st best song of all time by *NME* in 2014. The song also reached the top-10 in Canada, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. It was certified diamond in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America, standing as Jay-Z's first single to achieve this certification and West's second. The song further received triple platinum certifications in Denmark and the UK by IFPI Danmark and the British Phonographic Industry, respectively. An accompanying music video was premiered at the entrance to Shoreditch High Street railway station in February 2012, using split screen kaleidoscopic effects to go between Jay-Z and West performing the song at the Staples Center and footage of their crowd. The music video received a nomination for Video of the Year at the 2012 BET Awards, while it was nominated for Best Editing and Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z and West performed the song repeatedly at concerts on the Watch the Throne Tour (2011–12), providing their largest number of consecutive performances at a concert in Paris. The rappers performed the song three times for Jay-Z's set at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend in 2012, three years before West delivered a performance of it at the Glastonbury Festival. In October 2011, the remix of "Niggas in Paris" was released, featuring a verse from T.I.

Did You Know?

• The song samples two excerpts from the 2007 sports comedy film *Blades of Glory*, including Will Ferrell's line 'We're gonna skate to one song and one song only.'
• Pusha T was originally offered the beat but rejected it because he felt it was too playful for his disposition.
• Jay-Z and West performed the song three times for Jay-Z's set at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend in 2012.
• The music video was premiered via projection at the entrance to Shoreditch High Street railway station in East London in February 2012.
• Katy Perry performed an acoustic version of the song for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in March 2012, replacing the explicit language with alternate phrases.