Drunk and Hot Girls

Last updated
"Drunk and Hot Girls"
Song by Kanye West featuring Mos Def
from the album Graduation
ReleasedSeptember 11, 2007
Recorded2007
Studio Sony Music Studios
(New York, New York)
Legacy Studios
(New York, New York)
Ocean Way Recording
(Hollywood, CA)
Genre Hip hop
Length5:13
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

"Drunk and Hot Girls" is a song by American rapper and producer Kanye West featuring Mos Def, from West's third studio album Graduation (2007). Fans of West have cited it as one of his worst songs to date.

Contents

Background

Around two months after Graduation had been released, it was revealed by Josh Deutsch that West would produce for Mos' next album, which was untitled at the time. [1] However, when the album was released in 2009 under the title The Ecstatic , West's name was actually nowhere to be seen in the production credits. [2] "Drunk and Hot Girls" may feature Mos, but he didn't contribute to the writing of the track at all and it didn't mark the first time that he'd worked with Kanye, since Mos has a feature on "Two Words" from West's debut album The College Dropout (2004), alongside Freeway and The Boys Choir of Harlem. [3]

Composition and lyrics

The vocals in the song that run alongside those of West and Mos throughout are sampled from Can's 1972 single "Sing Swan Song" and they are credited as the only writers besides West himself on "Drunk and Hot Girls" due to this. [3] This sample makes the track one of a total of five famous hip hop songs that sample Can. [4]

It is appropriately titled, since the lyrical content is circulated around messing with 'drunk and hot girls'. [5] Within the fourth verse, West raps: "You only live once do whatever you like" which is a reference dropped by him to the famous acronym YOLO from before it became part of popular culture. [6]

Critical reception

BBC wrote of "Drunk and Hot Girls" that it is: 'tempered with just enough irony and self-knowledge to make you grin' in connection to Graduation showing that West: 'knows he's bragging, he knows that lyrically he's still mirroring the dream life of young America'. [7] The track was described by The Guardian as being: 'a bold, albeit ugly, experiment'. [8]

Complex placed the song on a list of the worst songs of 15 amazing artists. [9]

Live performances

West performed the song live for The Yeezus Tour's opening show in Seattle on October 19, 2013. [10]

Legacy

In the eyes of many of West's fans, "Drunk and Hot Girls" has gone down as being one of the worst songs in his career. [11] DJBooth writer Lucas Garrison, whose favourite album is actually West's very own effort The College Dropout (2004), joined in with this viewpoint, branding the track as: 'far and away the worst song of his career', ten years after the album's release. [12] [13] This legacy was also portrayed by Complex, since years after the release of Graduation, the site placed the track on both a list of the worst songs of 15 amazing artists and one of 15 horrible songs on classic albums. [9] [14] According to them, it was ruined by having a bad chorus. [15]

Personnel

Information taken from Graduation liner notes. [3]

References

  1. ↑ Harding, Cortney (November 15, 2007). "Mos Def Working With Kanye On Downtown Debut". Billboard . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Mos Def - The Ecstatic". Downtown Music . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Graduation (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2007.
  4. ↑ Allen, Jim (June 20, 2012). "Five Hip-Hop Songs That Sample Can". MTV . MTV Networks. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Interview: Kanye West". The Guardian . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Kanye West's "Graduation" Lyrics". Complex . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  7. ↑ "BBC - Music - Review of Kanye West - Graduation". BBC . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  8. ↑ "CD: Kanye West, Graduation". The Guardian . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  9. 1 2 "The Worst Songs Of 15 Amazing Artists". Complex . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  10. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (October 20, 2013). "Kanye West's Masked 'Yeezus' Tour Opener in Seattle Brushes Off Idea of 'A Fun Night Out'". SPIN . Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ ""FACTS" and a History of Bad Kanye West Songs". Inverse . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Articles by Lucas Garrison". DJBooth. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Is Kanye West's 'Graduation' Album a Masterpiece? We Debate". DJBooth. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  14. ↑ "15 Horrible Songs on Classic Rap Albums". Complex . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ "20 Good Rap Songs Ruined By Horrible Hooks". Complex . Retrieved September 26, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.