24 (Kanye West song)

wearing his trademark 24 basketball uniform|"24" is named after the jersey number of Kobe Bryant, to whom the song was recorded in tribute. After postponing the release date of his scrapped album Yandhi twice, West started hosting choir sessions in early 2019, enlisting Jason White with arranging a choir and Nikki Grier to help with re-writing lyrics to create gospel renditions of songs in his discography. American singer-songwriter Ant Clemons recalled that the sessions eventually "morphed" into West's group the Sunday Service Choir, who toured around the world with West. West recorded with the Sunday Service Choir for their debut studio album Jesus Is Born (2019), which is credited solely to the group. Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started, West's musical input mostly involved him assembling and directing live performances of the Sunday Service Choir. West contributing vocals to the performances became a rarity, as did him releasing his own music. On January 26, 2020, Kobe and his daughter Gianna Bryant were among the passengers that died due to a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. West simultaneously tweeted out a tribute to him, posting: "Kobe, We love you brother. We're praying for your family and appreciate the life you've lived and all the inspiration you gave." Kenyan-American singer song-writer KayCyy Pluto, who has additional vocals on the track, stated that "24" is dedicated to Bryant and that West cried during the creation of the song. KayCyy Pluto called the song "crazy", while summarizing his performance as "super lit". "24" was written by West, Brian Miller, KayCyy Pluto, the duo Ojivolta that consists of Mark Williams and Raul Cubina, and Warryn Campbell. He recalled spending four days in the studio with West recording for at least eight tracks. Ultimately, only his work on "24" made the final cut, with him also serving as a co-producer on it. Recalling the recording sessions with West, Henry stated in an interview with BET: ==Composition and lyrics==

Musically, "24" is a gospel song. The song includes titular phrases, such as "24 hours" and "24 candles". West loudly affirms "we gon' be okay" at one point, with the accompaniment of the Sunday Service Choir. West spreads a message of hope in relation to God, offering a reminder to "just know you're alive". This is followed by him singing "God's not finished" repeatedly towards the end of the song, a line that is also performed by the group. West explained that the line is in reference to how "we all here for a reason, God got a reason; God sees everything". ==Release and reception==

On August 29, 2021, "24" was included as the 11th track on West's 10th studio album Donda. At PopMatters, Tony DeGenaro named West singing "we gon' be okay" with the Sunday Service Choir "over a discordant organ playing for an imagined too-hot summertime congregation" as "a rare moment of humility" on the album. He also called the line the closest to "sublime as the messy, deeply flawed Donda gets", noting that West has seemingly "broken through" for a second, before it comes to mind how "West's greatest gift is still his consistency". Chris Willman of Variety wrote that due to West being "made in God's image", he strongly relates to the song's repetition of "God's not finished". Vultures Craig Jenkins viewed the song as calming and one of the best tracks of West's Christian era, further writing that it is "a muted worship-band vamp" with the Sunday Service Choir. Charlie Brock from Gigwise labeled the song "a fun interlude" that would belong truly on West's ninth studio album Jesus Is King (2019), while admitting "the gospel choir is great to listen to", despite being somewhat unusual for a rap album. Aaron Loose of Christianity Today firmly believed that it is a "cathartic gospel song", alongside highlighting the "jubilant chorus". The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica noted how "24" does "sound like kin" to West's music made when he embraced gospel. A few reviews contained less enthusiastic assessments. In a mixed review at HipHopDX, David Aaron Brake said that the "gorgeous" song demonstrates "excellent improvements" in West's singing abilities, though wrote off his "unfinished and haphazard" verses. He explained, observing the presence of "some of the weakest bars" of West's career and noting the consistent "lazy pop culture references and corny quips". Nina Hernandez was highly critical in The A.V. Club, placing the song among the album's "complete filler" that nobody will miss. ==Music video and promotion==

On September 16, 2021, a music video for "24" was premiered. The video was directed by British fashion photographer Nick Knight, who had previously worked with West on his film Jesus Is King (2019). It followed on from the music video for "Come to Life" as the second visual to be released for a Donda track, both of which include footage from listening events for the album. The visual originally featured a clip of Kobe Bryant and Gianna, which was scrapped due to clearance issues. West then floats into computer-generated clouds, with him hovering around the atmosphere. The rapper is accompanied by a backdrop of footage and images of his mother Donda West from the one minute mark onwards, including her laughing and smiling. He appears to be ascending to heaven to meet Donda at one point and towards the music video's end, the clouds vanish into a digital void. During West and Canadian musician Drake's benefit concert for Larry Hoover's jail funds in Los Angeles on December 10, 2021, the musician opened his set with a cover of the song. ==Commercial performance==

Following the release of Donda, "24" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 43. Simultaneously, the track peaked at number 14 on both the US Christian Songs and Gospel Songs charts. On the Billboard year-end charts for 2021, the track ranked at numbers 52 and 17 on Christian Songs and Gospel Songs, respectively. The song performed best in Australia, peaking at number 29 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Similarly, it debuted at number 36 on the Icelandic Singles Chart. ==Credits and personnel==

Credits adapted from Tidal. • Kanye West producer, songwriter • AllDay producer, songwriter • Ojivolta producer, songwriter • Warryn Campbell co-producer, songwriter • Cory Henry co-producer • Jason White vocal producer • Nikki Grier vocal producer • KayCyy Pluto songwriter, additional vocals • Raul Cubina songwriter • Sunday Service Choir additional vocals • Irko mastering engineer, mix engineer • Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawsøn recording engineer • Josh Berg recording engineer • Mikalai Skrobat recording engineer • Louis Bell vocal editing • Patrick Hundley vocal editing ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Notes and references==