Niggas in Paris

Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Niggas in Paris" came together through a chain of lucky breaks. Producer Hit-Boy originally offered the beat to Pusha T, who turned it down. Don C, a close associate of West, heard the track and connected Hit-Boy with the duo. The song samples Reverend W.A. Donaldson's gospel recording "Baptizing Scene" and lifts dialogue from the 2007 comedy Blades of Glory. Released as the fourth single from their joint album Watch the Throne on September 13, 2011, the track blends hip-hop with electronic dance music, built around a minimalist synth line and an uptempo beat.

Lyrically, the song explores black empowerment and the rappers' rise from difficult beginnings to extreme wealth. Jay-Z raps about imagining an alternate life in jail, while West claims his realness was diagnosed as an illness. The chorus repeats the title phrase, which references the Paris hotel where the duo recorded part of the album. Critics praised both the verses and the production. Rolling Stone ranked it the second-best song of 2011, Pitchfork placed it at number one on its year-end list, and Complex and The Guardian also named it the best song of the year.

The song became a live staple. During the Watch the Throne tour, West performed it over twelve times in a single show at the Staples Center. The music video, directed by Hype Williams and released on February 9, 2012, uses kaleidoscopic split-screen footage from that same Staples Center performance. It has accumulated over 210 million views on YouTube. "Niggas in Paris" won two Grammy Awards in 2012: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, spent 34 weeks on the chart, and reached number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rap Songs charts. In March 2023, the RIAA certified it diamond for 10 million units, making it Jay-Z's first diamond single and West's second.[edit]