Lift Yourself

"Lift Yourself" is a song by American rapper Kanye West. It was shared on West's website on April 27, 2018, and released as a single two days later.[2][3] The first piece of new music by West since The Life of Pablo in 2016,[4] "Lift Yourself" primarily consists of a sped-up sample of the song "Liberty" by the group AMNESTY along with West rapping nonsensical words, including "whoop", "scoop", and "poop" towards the end. Due to the track's sample and use of nonsensical lyrics, many critics and fans believed West was trolling them upon its surprise release.

"Lift Yourself"
Single by Kanye West
ReleasedApril 29, 2018
Genre
Length2:27
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kanye West singles chronology
"Glow"
(2017)		 "Lift Yourself"
(2018)		 "Ye vs. the People"
(2018)

Background

Very shortly before the track was released, West had taken to Twitter to announce it.[5] West's use of "poop", "scoop", and "whoop" as ad-libs was possibly a tongue-in-cheek statement directed at Ebro Darden, a radio disc jockey for WQHT Hot 97, who had recently criticized West for his vocal support of President Donald Trump. West had called him out on Twitter, promising a song that would "bring Ebro the closure he's been seeking".[6] Pusha T revealed on May 25 that a version of the song with "real other lyrics" exists and is pending release.[7][8]

In September 2018, while issuing an apology to Canadian rapper Drake for a feud earlier in the summer, West stated that Drake originally wanted to use the "Lift Yourself" beat for his own song but that West did not give him enough time before releasing his own nonsensical version.[9]

Composition

"Lift Yourself" is built around a beat sampled and sped up 120%[10] from the 1973 soul song "Liberty" by the group Amnesty (from the album Free Your Mind), the vocals of which dominate the first half of the song. West appears in the second half, rapping idiosyncratic, nonsensical phrases based around the words "poop", "scoop", and "whoop", after which the song abruptly ends. This second half is built around a sample of house track "Boom Boom" by Dancer, released in 1987 on Trax Records.[11] The editors' notes on iTunes questioned whether the song is meant as inspiration or an inside joke by West.[12]

Release and reception

"Lift Yourself" was the first piece of new music West released since The Life of Pablo (2016).[4] Because of this, the track ignited excitement after West announced its release on Twitter.[13][14] However, after listening, the track sparked fans and multiple publications, including Pitchfork, Uproxx, Complex, and XXL, to believe that West was trolling them.[15][16][17][18] Other critics felt the same way, with Chris DeVille of Stereogum feeling "punk'd".[13]

The track has since received mixed comments from critics. Alex Young of Consequence of Sound called the song a "musical poop joke".[19] Tom Breihan of Stereogum called the song "clearly a goof" and, with "Ye vs. the People" and West's political nature being expressed in 2018, concluded his review by believing West "[no longer] cares about rap music."[14] Pitchfork described it as a "strange, gibberish track".[20]

Commercial performance

The track charted in the United States, Sweden, New Zealand and Ireland in 2018. It entered the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at number five, with 4,000 copies sold and 7.2 million streams in its first week.[21] The following week, the single rose to number two on the same chart.[22] It performed best in Sweden, reaching number 91 on the Singles Top 100.[23]

Track listing
  • Digital download[12]
  1. "Lift Yourself" – 2:27

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[24]

  • Kanye West – lead artist, production
  • Mike Dean – additional production, mastering
  • Benji B – programming
  • Noah Goldstein – programming, recording, mixing
  • Andrés Osorio – recording assistance
  • Sean Solymar – recording assistance

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[25] 94
New Zealand Heatseekers (RMNZ)[26] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 91
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[27] 2

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various April 29, 2018 Digital download
[12][28]

References
  1. Graham, Chris (April 28, 2018). "Kanye West drops new song Lift Yourself – and its lyrics are unexpected". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  2. "Kanye West Drops New Song 'Lift Yourself' with Some Unexpected Lyrics". Billboard. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  3. "Kanye Trolls Everyone with New Song "Lift Yourself": Listen". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  4. Kreps, Daniel (April 28, 2018). "Kanye West Previews New Song 'Lift Yourself'". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  5. Sawyer, Jonathan (April 28, 2018). "Kanye West Announces New Song "Lift Yourself"". Highsnobiety. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  6. Devin Ch (April 27, 2018). "Kanye West Dedicates Upcoming "Lift Yourself" Track To Ebro". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  7. William Cowen, Trace (May 25, 2018). "Pusha-T Says a Version of Kanye's "Lift Yourself" With 'Real Other Lyrics' Exists". Complex. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  8. Britton, Luke Morgan (May 28, 2018). "Kanye West might release a version of 'Lift Yourself' with actual lyrics". NME. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  9. Daniel Krepes (September 5, 2018). "Kanye West Apologizes to Drake Over 'Lift Yourself' Beat, Pusha-T Diss Tracks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  10. Cakeboy29 (May 17, 2018), Amnesty – Liberty but sped up to Lift Yourself's speed [120%], retrieved February 17, 2019
  11. "Kanye West: Uncleared Samples and Trolling Drake". Tracklib.
  12. "Lift Yourself – Single by Kanye West". iTunes Store.
  13. DeVille, Chris (April 27, 2018). "Kanye West – "Lift Yourself"". Stereogum. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  14. Breihan, Tom (May 2, 2018). "Kanye West Doesn't Care About Rap Music". Stereogum. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  15. Strauss, Matthew (April 28, 2018). "Kanye Trolls Everyone With New Song "Lift Yourself": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  16. Reiff, Corbin (April 30, 2018). "In 'Ye Vs The People,' The Biggest Loser Is Kanye West". Uproxx. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  17. Espinoza, Joshua (April 27, 2018). "Kanye West Shared "Lift Yourself" But It Was Just a Troll". Complex. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  18. Berry, Peter A. (April 28, 2018). "Kanye West Drops New Song "Lift Yourself"". XXX. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  19. Young, Alex (April 27, 2018). "Kanye West drops new song "Lift Yourself", and it's poop". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  20. Wicks, Amanda; Blais-Billie, Braudie (April 28, 2018). "Kanye West Drops New Song "Ye vs. the People" With T.I.: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  21. Zellner, Xandler (May 8, 2018). "Hot 100 Chart Moves: Kanye West's 'Ye vs. The People' Debuts". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  22. "Kanye West Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  23. "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  24. "Lift Yourself / Kanye West". Tidal. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  25. "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  26. "NZ Heatseeker Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  27. "Kanye West Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  28. "Lift Yourself – Single by Kanye West". iTunes Store.
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