Never Let Me Down (Kanye West song)

Ivy revealed that he initially knew West from Chicago, but was reintroduced to him in New Jersey shortly before they collaborated on the track.{{cite web|last1=Ahmed|first1=Isanuel|url=https://www.complex.com/music/2014/02/kanye-west-college-dropout-making-of/|title=The Making of Kanye West's "The College Dropout"|work=Complex|date=February 10, 2014|access-date=September 23, 2018|archive-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913150518/https://www.complex.com/music/2014/02/kanye-west-college-dropout-making-of/|url-status=dead}} He got a call from Coodie at 11 pm on December 7, 2002, about being part of the song, in which Coodie said to him: "J, you need to get to L.A. Kanye got this song with him and Jay Z and he wants to put a poet on it. I told him he had to put J. Ivy on it." and Ivy was initially like: "Stop bullshitting", before Coodie played it for him over the phone from Record Plant in Hollywood, California.{{cite magazine|last1=Ramirez|first1=Erika|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5893976/kanye-wests-the-college-dropout-an-oral-history|title=Kanye West's 'The College Dropout': An Oral History|magazine=Billboard|date=February 5, 2014|access-date=September 23, 2018}} At the time, Ivy was excited about being on the record, not only because of: 'knowing that [West] was taking off to superstardom at the time', but also because he thought of Jay as: 'one of the greatest of all time'.{{cite web|last1=Lamarre|first1=Eddy|url=https://rollingout.com/2016/09/12/j-ivy-talks-poetry-dealing-emotions/|title=J. Ivy talks poetry and dealing with emotions|work=Rolling Out|date=September 12, 2016|access-date=October 28, 2018}} After penning his verse, Ivy called Coodie and rapped to him over the phone, then he put Ivy on speaker phone to rap his verse again once Coodie went in the other room with people in it and the people in there reacted positively to Ivy's verse - this led to him rapping it over, over, over and over again to them.

On the original track list of The College Dropout, "Never Let Me Down" was number fourteen, instead of number eight as it stands on the official release.{{cite web|last1=Garrison|first1=Lucas|url=https://djbooth.net/features/2016-01-25-kanye-west-college-dropout-early-tracklist|title=Kanye's Early 'College Dropout' Tracklist Will Blow Your Mind|work=DJBooth|date=January 25, 2016|access-date=September 23, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-college-dropout-mw0000326741|title=The College Dropout - Kanye West|work=AllMusic|access-date=November 27, 2018}} When the album was released, West referenced featuring artist Jay-Z in the booklet's list of 'Thanx' by crediting: 'Jay 4 blowin me up'.{{cite AV media notes |others=Kanye West |title=The College Dropout |year=2004 |publisher=Roc-A-Fella Records |id=986 173-9}} Despite a music video never being released, part of the song is played during the ending of the second version of three videos for West's 2004 single "Jesus Walks", which comes one position before it on the album's track list.{{cite web|last1=West|first1=Kanye|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYF7H_fpc-g|title=Kanye West - Jesus Walks (Version 2)|work=YouTube|date=December 24, 2009|access-date=October 28, 2018}} Ivy performed a poetry style rendition of his verse for the Season 5 opener of Russell Simmons presents HBO Def Poetry in 2006, which was only performed live and never part of any release by the rapper.{{cite web|url=http://www.j-ivy.com/blog/xpzdeekrg93czjr9gnxyzhp6f9ngpy|title=The College Dropout Anniversary|work=J. Ivy|date=February 10, 2017|access-date=October 29, 2018}} The verse being performed by Ivy for this opener was appropriate, since he considers it to be a poem.

Within the track, American band Blackjack's 1980 song "Maybe It's the Power of Love" is sampled. In February 2015, band member Michael Bolton recalled clearing the sample at the time, revealing that he required the artists to send him the lyrics first to see if the content was worthy of his approval - in the end, Bolton believed that: 'the song turned out beautifully' and he's 'totally happy with it'.{{cite web|last1=Burgess|first1=Omar|url=https://theurbandaily.cassiuslife.com/2991132/michael-bolton-kanye-sample/|title=Michael Bolton Recalls Clearing A Sample For Kanye West's And Jay Z|work=The Urban Daily|date=February 28, 2015|access-date=September 23, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923235820/https://theurbandaily.cassiuslife.com/2991132/michael-bolton-kanye-sample/|url-status=dead}} Bolton actually took to the online site Genius and annotated the song. However, it was also revealed by Bolton that he didn't know who Kanye and Jay were when he first found out that they were trying to license "Maybe It's the Power of Love", until his daughters told him: "They're like the biggest rappers in the business, dad." - Bolton himself even admitted to being out of touch during this time.{{cite web|author=illersss|url=https://www.whosampled.com/news/2017/01/25/michael-bolton-admits-i-didnt-know-who-jay-z-and-kanye-west-were-when-they-licensed-my-song/|title=Michael Bolton Admits "I Didn't Know Who Jay Z and Kanye West When They Licensed My Song"|work=WhoSampled|date=January 25, 2017|access-date=September 23, 2018}}

File:Jay-Z 7.jpg

The two verses by Jay was originally recorded for his 7th studio album The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse in mid 2002. After deciding to not use the song, West decided to finish it for his album. {{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2014/02/kanye-west-college-dropout-10-year-anniversary/140131-kanye-west-never-let-me-down/|title="Never Let Me Down" - Kanye West - 6|work=SPIN|date=February 2, 2014|access-date=September 23, 2018}} Ivy's verse is a poem that he wrote in a notebook, which Ivy claimed was something that he turned to God and prayed for. The lines rapped in West's verse: "Nothing sad as that day my girl's father passed away/So I promised to Mr. Rainey I'm gonna marry your daughter" mark a promise that he didn't keep, since the rapper went on to marry Kim Kardashian in 2014 rather than Sumeke Rainey.{{cite web|last1=Charity|first1=Justin|url=https://www.complex.com/music/2015/03/10-people-kanye-west-should-apologize-to-in-2015/|title=10 Other People Kanye West Should Apologize to in 2015|work=Complex|date=March 4, 2015|access-date=September 23, 2018}} Within the verse, West raps the line: "Racism's still alive, they just be concealin' it", which went on to be one of his most quoted lyrics.{{cite news|last1=Mojica|first1=Nicholas|url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/7-times-kanye-west-spoke-151348033.html|title=7 Times Kanye West Spoke About Racism|work=IBTimes|publisher=Yahoo News UK|date=November 18, 2016|access-date=October 28, 2018}} The 2002 car accident involving West is referenced by him with the line: "I know I got angels watching me from the other side", which is a subject he mostly touches on in debut single "Through the Wire".{{cite web|last1=Cush|first1=Andy|url=https://www.spin.com/2016/09/kanye-through-the-wire-accident-not-fake/|title=Here's Definitive Proof That Kanye's "Through the Wire" Accident Wasn't Faked|work=SPIN|date=September 15, 2016|access-date=October 31, 2018}}

On February 13, 2014, a video surfaced online from 2003 of West rapping his verse to Pharrell in the studio, as well as singing along with the sample and Pharrell clearly showed excitement after hearing the rap from him.{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Trevor|url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/kanye-west-raps-never-let-me-down-for-pharrell-for-the-first-time-new-video.25837.html|title=Kanye West Raps "Never Let Me Down" For Pharrell For The First Time|work=HotNewHipHop|date=February 13, 2014|access-date=September 23, 2018}} The verse was actually recorded by West on the night of the Madison Square Garden show by Jay that he wasn't invited to.{{cite web|last1=Ahmed|first1=Insanuel|url=https://www.complex.com/music/2014/02/kanye-west-college-dropout-things-you-didnt-know/|title=15 Things You Didn't Know About Kanye West's "The College Dropout"|work=Complex|date=February 11, 2014|access-date=September 23, 2018}} Ivy rapped his verse on speaker phone to West and others on December 7, 2002, then flew over to Hollywood to join them in recording via West's request. It was revealed by Tarry Torae that West set up a little studio section in his living room during the recording of "Never Let Me Down" and Torae ended up recording two or three songs in the night of this session, one of which was "My Way" which ended up on the infamous unofficial Kanye West mixtape Freshmen Adjustment (2004).{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/freshmen-adjustment-mw0001057491|title=Freshmen Adjustment - Kanye West|work=AllMusic|access-date=October 28, 2018}} When it comes to Jay's appearance on the track, John Monopoly revealed that he recorded for it literally two days before mastering of the featuring album - however, Jay had confirmed to give West a feature before it was even known which track he'd be part of.

"Never Let Me Down" received positive reviews from the majority of music critics, though most tended to have praise for West's work and express negativity towards Jay's contributions. Paul Cantor of Billboard had mixed views towards the song, describing Jay's presence as being where he "phones in a verse about making number one albums", but praising the rest of it for being "about overcoming racism and undefeatable odds".{{cite magazine|last1=Cantor|first1=Paul|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/review/5901147/kanye-wests-the-college-dropout-at-10-classic-track-by-track-review|title=Kanye West's 'The College Dropout' at 10: Classic Track-by-Track Review|magazine=Billboard|date=February 10, 2014|access-date=September 23, 2018}} Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork felt negatively about Jay's contributions too, labelling his appearance as him "already sounding groggy from retirement".{{cite web|last1=Mitchum|first1=Rob|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8767-the-college-dropout/|title=Kanye West: The College Dropout Album Review|work=Pitchfork|date=February 20, 2004|access-date=September 23, 2018}} Jay's content was viewed as paling in comparison to that of West by Dave Heaton of PopMatters, since he described the song as "where Jay-Z rhymes about attaining status and power, Kanye one-ups him with a show-stopping attack on racism and meditation on death".{{cite web|last1=Heaton|first1=Dave|url=https://www.popmatters.com/westkanye-college-2496110889.html|title=Kanye West: The College Dropout|work=PopMatters|date=March 4, 2004|access-date=October 28, 2018}} The staff of HipHopDX actually put Jay forward as being better than West on the song but didn't lack praise for either rapper, writing that "Jay-Z drops 2 incredible verses on [Never Let Me Down] with Kanye not far behind delivering the verse of his career."{{cite web|author=J-23|url=https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.377/title.kanye-west-college-dropout|title=Kanye West - College Dropout|work=HipHopDX|date=February 13, 2004|access-date=October 28, 2018}} It was viewed by Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine as being one of the album tracks where West "proves he can flow with the best of them".{{cite web|last1=Clinquemani|first1=Sal|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/kanye-west-the-college-dropout|title=Kanye West The College Dropout|work=Slant Magazine|date=April 30, 2004|access-date=October 28, 2018}}

HotNewHipHop placed it at number 48 on their list of West's 50 best songs.{{cite news|last1=Schwartz|first1=Danny|url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/top-50-best-kanye-west-songs-news.39731.html|title=Top 50 Best Kanye West Songs|work=HotNewHipHop|date=February 15, 2018|access-date=September 23, 2018}} On Complex's list of his 100 best songs, the track was ranked at number 82.{{cite web|last1=Barber|first1=Andrew|last2=Klinkenberg|first2=Brendan|last3=Scarno|first3=Ross|url=https://www.complex.com/music/the-best-kanye-west-songs/|title=The 100 Best Kanye West Songs|work=Complex|date=January 5, 2018|access-date=October 30, 2018}} "Never Let Me Down" was listed by Billboard as being the second greatest Jay and Kanye collaboration in August 2011, post-release of their collaborative album Watch the Throne.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/list/468192/watch-the-throne-jay-z-and-kanye-wests-10-best-collaborations|title='Watch The Throne': Jay-Z and Kanye West's 10 Best Collaborations|magazine=Billboard|date=August 4, 2011|access-date=October 30, 2018}} Time named it the second best song of 2004.{{cite magazine |author1=Josh Tyrangiel |title=Top 10 Songs of 2004 |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1999700_1999125_1999111,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=15 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730102341/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1999700_1999125_1999111,00.html |archive-date=30 July 2018 |url-status=live |date=17 December 2004}}

The video of West rapping "Never Let Me Down" to Pharrell from 2003 actually surfaced online within the same week as the tenth anniversary of The College Dropout and it was regarded as a classic track by this point. Ivy's appearance on it has been regarded as one of the most significant moments of his career.{{cite web|url=http://www.j-ivy.com/about/|title=About|work=J. Ivy|access-date=October 28, 2018}} West's lyrics: "I get down for my grandfather/Who took my mama/Made her sit in that seat where white folks didn't want us to eat/At the tender age of six, she was arrested for the sit-ins/And with that in my blood, I was born to be different" were viewed by Spin in 2014 as showing "heavenly inspiration and scrappy determination", which was claimed for West to still be showing nine years later in his 2013 track "I Am a God". When Ben Westhoff of The Guardian published an article in April 2015 that ranked the album at number one in West's discography, the song was the end of what he called "as powerful a sequence as I've ever heard on record".{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/15/kanye-west-albums-ranked|title=I love every Kanye West album – so I've ranked them, from great to really great|work=The Guardian|date=April 15, 2015|access-date=January 18, 2019}} Ivy blogged in celebration of The College Dropout{{'s}} 13th anniversary on February 10, 2017, and shared the original page with his lyrics scribbled down, alongside various notes.

Information taken from The College Dropout liner notes.

• Songwriters: Kanye West, Shawn Carter, James Richardson, Michael Bolton, Bruce Kulick
• Record producer: Kanye West
• Recorders: Gimel "Guru" Keaton, Anthony Kilhoffer, Brent Kolanto, Jacelyn Parry, Rabeka Tunei
• Mix engineer: Manny Marroquin
• Keyboards: Ervin "EP" Pope
• Guitars: Glen Jefferey

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Never Let Me Down"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Kanye West|title=Never Let Me Down|award=Gold|relyear=2020|certyear=2022|access-date=April 23, 2022}}

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

{{Infobox song|

| name = Never Let Me Down (Cinematic)

| cover =

| alt =

| type =

| artist = Kanye West

| album =

| released = March 22, 2005

| format =

| recorded = 2004

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Hip hop

| length = 5:15

| label = {{hlist|Roc-A-Fella|Def Jam}}

| writer = {{hlist|Kanye West|James Richardson|Michael Bolton|Bruce Kulick}}

| producer = West

}}

On March 22, 2005, The College Dropout Video Anthology was released, which features a bonus audio CD with a cinematic version of "Never Let Me Down" as a track on it.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Kanye-West-College-Dropout-Anthology/dp/B0007LEJKY/|title=Kanye West - College Dropout: Video Anthology|work=Amazon|access-date=November 1, 2018}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090105135351/http://www.mtv.com/lyrics/west_kanye/never_let_me_down/3215431/lyrics.jhtml "Never Let Me Down" lyrics] at MTV

{{Kanye West songs}}

{{Jay-Z songs}}

{{authority control}}

Category:2004 songs

Category:Jay-Z songs

Category:Kanye West songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Kanye West

Category:Songs written by Bruce Kulick

Category:Songs written by Jay-Z

Category:Songs written by Kanye West

Category:Songs written by Michael Bolton