Run This Town

On a hot July night in 2009, Jay-Z dropped a single that would define the end of the decade. Run This Town arrived as the second taste of his eleventh album The Blueprint 3, and it was a statement. The track brought together three titans: Jay-Z's streetwise swagger, Rihanna's fierce vocal hook, and Kanye West's melodic, auto-tuned bridge. Produced by No I.D. and West, the beat was built around a sample of The Delfonics' Someday in My Life, then layered with heavy drums and orchestral strings. The result was a dark, cinematic anthem that felt more like a rallying cry than a pop song.

The numbers backed up the hype. It hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, held off the top spot only by Jay-Z's own Empire State of Mind. In the UK, it went straight to No. 1. Across ten countries, it cracked the top ten. The 52nd Grammy Awards gave it two trophies: Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, showed the trio leading a torch-wielding mob through a post-apocalyptic city. It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Beyond the charts, the song seeped into culture. Sports arenas blasted it. Political rallies used it. The hook, We run this town tonight, became a shorthand for collective power. Covers came from the Glee cast, Fall Out Boy, even a jazz-swing version from Postmodern Jukebox. The track also showed up in films like The Town and Step Up 3D. For a few minutes, three of music's biggest stars made the whole world feel like they were running it together.[edit]