Freestyle 4

{{Infobox song

| name = Freestyle 4

| cover =

| alt =

| type =

| artist = Kanye West

| album = The Life of Pablo

| released = February 14, 2016

| format =

| recorded = 2015–16

| studio =

| genre = Experimental hip hop{{cite web |last1=Thorogood |first1=Tom |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/kanyewest |title=The Life of Pablo by Kanye West {{!}} Album Review |website=The Line of Best Fit |access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=February 16, 2016}}

| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=03}}

| label = {{hlist|GOOD|Def Jam}}

| writer = {{hlist|West|Mike Dean|Cyhi the Prynce|Sidney Royel Selby III|Ross Matthew Birchard|Samuel Griesemer|Noah Goldstein|Caroline Shaw|Trevor Gureckis|Alison Goldfrapp|Robert Locke|Timothy Norfolk|William Gregory}}

| producer = {{hlist|West|Hudson Mohawke{{efn|name=a|Credited as co-producer}}|Goldstein{{efn|name=a}}| Dean{{efn|name=a}}|DJDS{{efn|name=b|Credited as additional producer}}|Shaw{{efn|name=b}}|Gureckis{{efn|name=b}}}}

}}

"Freestyle 4" is a song by American hip-hop artist Kanye West that features vocals from rapper Desiigner. The track is from West's seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016).{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/tracks/n3wq6h |title=Freestyle 4 (feat. Desiigner) – Kanye West Song |work=BBC |publisher=BBC Music |access-date=July 4, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2010s-kanyes-wake|title=2010s: In Kanye's Wake|website=Tiny Mix Tapes}} It was remixed by Tyler, the Creator in March 2016.

Composition

The track prominently samples the beginning of 2001 song "Human" by Goldfrapp, resulting in Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp being credited as songwriters.{{cite web |last1=Reiff |first1=Corbin |url=https://www.complex.com/music/2016/02/kanye-west-the-life-of-pablo-sample-breakdown |title=Here's Every Sample on Kanye West's New Album, 'The Life of Pablo' |website=Complex |access-date=July 4, 2018 |date=February 15, 2016}}

By the time that all of the changes had been made to The Life of Pablo in June 2016, a different instrumental popped up at the 45-second mark and more synths were added.{{cite news |last1=Emmanuel |first1=C.M. |url=http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2016/06/kanye-west-the-life-of-pablo-changes/ |title=Every Change Kanye West Made to 'The Life of Pablo' |website=XXL |access-date=July 4, 2018 |date=June 17, 2016}}

Remixes

On March 3, 2016, Odd Future rapper Tyler, the Creator released a remix of "Freestyle 4" titled "What the Fuck Right Now", which featured ASAP Rocky.{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Alex |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/03/tyler-the-creator-remixes-kanye-wests-freestyle-4-with-asap-rocky-watch/ |title=Tyler the Creator remixes Kanye West's "Freestyle 4" with ASAP Rocky — watch |website=Consequence of Sound |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=March 3, 2016}} Shortly before releasing his remix, Tyler had shown that he was a fan of the song.{{cite web |last1=Yoo |first1=Noah |url=https://www.thefader.com/2016/02/21/tyler-the-creator-really-likes-kanye-wests-freestyle-4 |title=Tyler, The Creator Really Likes Kanye West's "Freestyle 4" |website=The FADER |access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=February 12, 2016}} West tweeted out his approval of the remix three days after it was released.{{cite news |last1=Lauletta |first1=Tyler |url=https://www.fuse.tv/2016/03/kanye-west-tyler-the-creator-freestyle-4-bars |title=Kanye West Approves of Tyler, the Creator's 'Freestyle 4' Bars |website=Fuse |access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=March 6, 2016}}

LSDXOXO remixed the original on May 25, 2016, putting a Baltimore club spin on it.{{cite web |last1=Saxelby |first1=Ruth |url=https://www.thefader.com/2016/05/25/lsdxoxo-freestyle-4-remix |title=LSDXOXO Turned Kanye West's "Freestyle 4" Into A Baltimore Club Banger |website=The FADER |access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=May 25, 2016}} A remix of the song by Kanye West featuring ASAP Ferg and Big Sean was subject to an online leak on August 5, 2017.{{cite web |last1=Burgess |first1=Omar |url=https://www.complex.com/music/2017/08/big-sean-asap-ferg-freestyle-4 |title=A Version of Kanye's "Freestyle 4" With ASAP Ferg and Big Sean Leaked Online |website=Complex |access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=August 5, 2017}}

Critical reception

Tom Thorogood of The Line of Best Fit viewed "Freestyle 4" as "[picking] up where Daft Punk left off on Yeezus with Kanye rapping over electro beats and Hitchcock strings". Its "dense claustrophobia" was pointed out in praise by Nosheen Iqbal of The Guardian.{{cite web |last1=Iqbal |first1=Nosheen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/dec/13/the-life-of-pablo-kanye-west-best-albums-of-2016-no-4 |title=Best albums of 2016: No 4 The Life of Pablo by Kanye West {{!}} Music |website=The Guardian| access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=December 13, 2016}}

Commercial performance

Upon the release of The Life of Pablo in February 2016, the track debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/kanye-west/chart-history/hbu/|title=Kanye West Freestyle 4 Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=November 27, 2018}} Within the same week, it reached number 43 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/r-b-hip-hop-songs/2016-04-23|title=Top Hip-Hop Songs / R&B Songs Chart – April 23, 2016|magazine=Billboard|access-date=November 27, 2018}}

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from West's official website.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kanyewest.com/credits/|title=The Life of Pablo|last=davidbaker.tv|first=builtbylane.com ×|website=The Life of Pablo – Kanye West|language=en-US|access-date=February 1, 2019}}

Vocals – Desiigner
Production – Kanye West
Co-production – Hudson Mohawke, Noah Goldstein and Mike Dean
Additional production – DJDS, Caroline Shaw and Trevor Gureckis
Engineering – Goldstein, Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Dean and Tom Kahre
Mix engineer – Manny Marroquin at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, California
Mix assistants – Chris Galland, Ike Schultz and Jeff Jackson

Charts

scope="col"\| Chart (2016) ! scope="col"\| Peak position
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="row" \| UK Singles (Official Charts Company){{cite web\|url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/160409cluk.txt\|title=CHART: CLUK Update 9.04.2016 (wk14)\|work=Zobbel.de\|access-date=September 22, 2018}} \|align="center"\| 132
{{singlechart\|UKrandb\|38\|date=20160414\|rowheader=true\|access-date=July 4, 2018}}
{{singlechart\|Billboardbubbling100\|9\|artist=Kanye West\|rowheader=true\|access-date=July 4, 2018}}
{{singlechart\|Billboardrandbhiphop\|43\|artist=Kanye West\|rowheader=true\|access-date=July 4, 2018}}
scope="row"\| US On-Demand Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/Kanye-west/chart-history/on-demand-songs/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214121118/https://www.billboard.com/music/Kanye-west/chart-history/on-demand-songs\|url-status=dead\|archive-date=February 14, 2019\|title=Kanye West Chart History (On-Demand Songs)\|magazine=Billboard\|access-date=February 13, 2019}} \|align="center"\| 40

Certifications

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Kanye West|title=Freestyle 4|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2016|certyear=2020|access-date=February 27, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

Notes

References

Category:2016 songs

Category:Alternative hip-hop songs

Category:Desiigner songs

Category:Kanye West songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Hudson Mohawke

Category:Song recordings produced by Kanye West

Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Dean (record producer)

Category:Songs written by Alison Goldfrapp

Category:Songs written by Cyhi the Prynce

Category:Songs written by Kanye West

Category:Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer)

Category:Songs written by Will Gregory