Dirt Off Your Shoulder

"Dirt off Your Shoulder"
Single by Jay-Z
from the album The Black Album
Released	March 2, 2004
Format	12" Single
Recorded	2003
Genre	East Coast hip hop
Length	3:59
Label	Roc-A-Fella Records
Writer(s)	Shawn Carter Timothy Mosley
Producer(s)	Timbaland
Jay-Z singles chronology
"Encore" (2003) "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" (2004) "99 Problems" (2004)

"Dirt off Your Shoulder" is the second single released from Jay-Z's 2003 album The Black Album.

In 2004, the song was combined with the Linkin Park single "Lying from You" and released as a single for the mash-up album Collision Course.

The track references the first bars of Scarlatti's Sonata in F minor, although the time signature is changed.

On April 17, 2008, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama referenced the song in gesture, in response to sharp attacks from his rival Hillary Clinton and a debate which was widely criticized for focusing on campaign gaffes rather than on candidates' policy positions. Referencing his opponents' "textbook Washington" tactics, focusing on personal attacks and trivial issues, Obama used Jay-Z's hand signal to "brush the dirt" off his shoulders. When asked whether Obama was deliberately referencing the song, a campaign spokesman said, "He has some Jay-Z on his iPod."

Clinton later made the same gesture during her appearance before the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

A-Side

B-Side

In the U.S. the song peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it Jay-Z's third highest peak on the chart (tied with "Swagga Like Us")

...
Wikipedia