Run This Town
| "Run This Town" | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Jay-Z featuring Kanye West and Rihanna | ||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album The Blueprint 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | July 24, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format | Digital download | |||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 2009 Avex Honolulu Studios (Honolulu, Hawaii) Roc The Mic Studios (New York City, New York) Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) |
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| Length | 4:27 (album version) | |||||||||||||||||||
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"Run This Town" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z. The song also features Kanye West and Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was written by the performing trio, with assistance from Ernest Wilson and Jeff Bhasker. Production of the track was made by West and Wilson (also known as "No I.D."). "Run This Town" was released as the second single from Jay-Z's eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3, and is used as the theme song of Battlefield 4.
"Run This Town" received mixed reviews from music critics; some praised what each member of the trio brought to the track, whilst others thought that Kanye West and Rihanna out-performed Jay-Z. The song was a commercial success, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the charts in the United Kingdom. It additionally made top ten chartings in ten other countries including in Australia, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The song's accompanying music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, depicts the trio in a post-apocalyptic environment, featuring scenes involving angry protesters surrounding them. "Run This Town" was performed by Jay-Z, West, and Rihanna on the series premiere of The Jay Leno Show in the United States.
"Run This Town" samples 1970s Greek band The 4 Levels of Existence's song "Someday in Athens", appearing at the 1:02 mark, and lasting thereafter. The second official single from the album, The Blueprint 3 was originally planned to be "Off That" featuring Drake but "Run This Town" was decided upon instead. Jay-Z confirmed the release in an interview with Tim Westwood, saying, "We basically run this town. It's myself, Rihanna and Kanye. It's pretty much it." The song made its radio debut on July 24, 2009 at 9:11am to coincide with the album's release date, September 11, 2009. "Run This Town" was officially released to urban radios in the United States on August 9, 2009 and was released via iTunes worldwide two days later on August 11. The CD single release followed on August 31, 2009 in the UK. Rihanna's contribution was her first musical appearance following her February 8 altercation with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, earlier that year.
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Wikipedia