Heard 'Em Say

developed a friendship sitting together on a flight to Rome. The rapper played an early version of "Heard 'Em Say" for Levine on his iPod. West enlisted pop rock band Maroon 5's frontman Adam Levine to sing the chorus of "Heard 'Em Say". He and Levine had first collaborated when Maroon 5 commissioned West to remix their 2004 single "This Love", spending time recording it in the studio together. As Levine recalled, "He was rhyming over [the track], and I had just written a hook that was so perfect for it. It was one of those natural collaborations where you're so excited because it's all very pure and very easy." West himself initially went back and forth on collaborating with Levine, feeling that the singer may be too popular for him while being appreciative of his vocal talent. He explained that Levine's popularity "takes away from the illness of having him", yet ultimately decided to work with him because his voice sounds "so ill" that it resembles "a fucking instrument". Levine would later appropriate "Heard 'Em Say" for the Maroon 5 song "Nothing Lasts Forever" in 2007. For Late Registration, West collaborated with film score composer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion. West's sonic reference points ranged outside the realm of mainstream hip-hop artists, drawing from British trip hop band Portishead, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Pink Floyd. The tone of "Heard 'Em Say" and other songs from Late Registration would lay out the foundation for West's maximalist approach to music. This style became a trademark of the rapper's subsequent works, most prominently his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and the GOOD Music compilation album Cruel Summer (2012). The song was written by West alongside Levine, with additional songwriting credits for Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin due to them having written the sampled work "Someone That I Used to Love" (1977) by American singer Natalie Cole. West co-produced the track with Brion. The intro is a skit that continues where West's debut studio album The College Dropout finished, spoken by comedian DeRay Davis, who plays a school administrator still unsatisfied with West's classroom performance. The college teacher exclaims, "I knew I was gon' see you again!" in an impersonation of comedian Bernie Mac and questions, "Where your goddamn book bag at?" While some of Late Registration is celebratory, "Heard 'Em Say" stands among the songs that follow a contemplative political path. "Heard 'Em Say" is one of many pop-oriented songs from the album that represent a wide scope of human experience, which contain political dissatisfaction and the personal trauma that caused it. Atop a spare, compulsive backing track, West delivers lyrics which take a dissective view of American life, taking on the perspective of a downtrodden citizen and depicting an anxious youth. ==Recording==

"Heard 'Em Say" was the very first track that West recorded for Late Registration. Its recording sessions took place at Sony Music Studios in New York City (NYC) and Grandmaster Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, and were hosted by Andrew Dawson and Tom Biller, respectively. The track's mixing was then done at the Chalice Recording Studios in Hollywood by Mike Dean, who had assistance from Taylor Dow, Nate Connelly, and Mike Mo. He combines hip-hop beats with a piano melody, alongside restrained electronics. West was exposed to Brion's work while watching the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for which Brion had composed music. He had also been listening to songs Brion produced for When the Pawn... (1999), the second studio album by Fiona Apple, who was another one of the rapper's favorite artists and sources of musical inspiration for Late Registration. West was introduced to Brion via record producer Rick Rubin, a mutual friend of theirs. At the time, Brion had no background in hip-hop music nor any prior experience in creating those records. Nevertheless, he and West soon found that they could productively work together after their first afternoon in the studio, discovering that neither confined his musical knowledge and vision to a specific genre. West commented that he appreciated the broader range of instrumentation that Brion brought to his music. The musical collaboration left a strong impression of West on Levine, who opined that the rapper "is a genius", even if "he causes different reactions in people. But the bottom line is that he's brilliant. Love him or hate him, he's brilliant. He's a really pure, creative person. I really respect that about him. Everything with him is very legitimate and very real. I love that dude." ==Composition and lyrics==

Musically, "Heard 'Em Say" is a mid-tempo hip-hop ballad that has a length of 3 minutes and 23 seconds (3:23). It has a subdued instrumentation, which features piano chords, restrained, experimental electronics reminiscent of late-1990s post-rock, and a coda that includes various bells, whistles, and keyboards. It follows a brooding political path, with the stream-of-consciousness verses being conceptually written from the perspective of an impoverished citizen questioning the ways of the world. the minimum wage, AIDS, The song also highlights the condition of those in poverty watching images of rappers flaunt their material goods on television, deluded into thinking that wealth and fame are closer than they actually are. ==Release and promotion==

On August 30, 2005, "Heard 'Em Say" was included as the first full track on West's second studio album Late Registration, preceded by the intro "Wake Up Mr. West". On November 1, "Heard 'Em Say" was sent to US mainstream radio stations by the aforementioned labels. It was later released for digital download on March 1, 2006. "Heard 'Em Say" was one of the tracks that West played while hosting a listening session for the album at Sony Music Studios on June 15, 2005. The session was held in a small room for a large crowd, which included fellow rappers Common and Lil' Kim, and West played a guessing game in which he asked the attendees who was on the song's hook. One of them guessed it was Smokey Robinson, though West confirmed Levine to be the performer of the hook. He clarified that he chose to work with the singer because it was "ill" and "keeping it real", yet recalled people being surprised by their collaboration. The rapper also revealed that after Levine added his vocals to "Heard 'Em Say" and "girls start liking the record", he selected it as the album's third single. At the time of the listening event, Late Registration had not been finished, nor were all of the completed songs previewed and some were not played in their entirety. Nevertheless, West declared that he wanted to take the opportunity "to play [the album] and show off" his work. ==Critical reception==

"Heard 'Em Say" was met with widespread acclaim from music critics. Billboard writer Marco Cibola saw the song as representative of West's musical growth on the album, opining that its keys "twinkle a bit brighter" than any of the material on The College Dropout. Likewise, Murjani Rawls from Substream Magazine stated that the soulful undertones of "Heard 'Em Say" marked a different type of inspiration for West. The staff of Virgin Media rated the song four stars out of five, observing "an accomplished piece of production". Bansky Gonzalez from Uproxx remarked that the record's sonic versatility provides "an exhilarating ride", distinguishing the song as "somber and painstakingly thoughtful". In the Music Times, Joey DeGroot named "Heard 'Em Say" as being one of a few hip-hop songs that he considers to be "straight up beautiful". Writing for The Fader, Amos Barshad cited the track as being among a "suite of nested aural pleasures" on the album, asserting that the "delicate plinking" and Levine's feature were "undercut with the bitter sting of a politicized shoulder shrug". Time music critic Josh Tyrangiel listed "Heard 'Em Say" as one of the three best tracks on Late Registration. He characterized it as an "atmospheric ballad" that demonstrates "the stealthy power of West's storytelling". Steve Jones from USA Today highlighted how Levine's "smooth tenor" punctuates the introspective song. Jozen Cummings of PopMatters summarized the song by saying the "sweet piano chords and Levine's gentle cooing" make it "probably the best hip-hop lullaby" since Slick Rick's "Children's Story" (1989). Ross Bonaime from Paste asserted that Levine's contribution to "Heard 'Em Say" might be one of the best things the singer has ever done, while calling the song "a soothing lullaby with some bite". Stereogums Michael Nelson was impressed by the "beautiful and understated opener" managing "to wring actual human emotion" out of the "hit-making robot" Levine. Slant Magazine reviewer Vadim Rizov saw "Heard 'Em Say" as a "vulnerable song" that redeemed Maroon 5. Eric Henderson from the same publication likened Levine's delicate delivery of the chorus to a "butterfly singing". Rolling Stone senior writer Brian Hiatt positively compared his performance to the work of Stevie Wonder. Chris Deville of Stereogum described "Heard 'Em Say" as a "gorgeously graceful opening song", in which West's rhetoric comes across as controversial. Alex Heigl, for People, commended West's lyrical skill, noting that he offers a "clear-eyed, sober look at poverty and income inequality". Greg Cochrane from NME declared that "boast[ing] a trilogy of brilliance like 'Heard Em Say,' 'Touch The Sky' and 'Gold Digger'" makes Late Registration "a winner". Accolades Pitchfork named "Heard 'Em Say" the 10th best song of 2005, with Fennessey opining that West pulls off the tough task of making Levine sound like Stevie Wonder, alongside praising the composition and the rapper's lyricism. It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Song Collaboration at the 2006 Groovevolt Music and Fashion Awards. In 2015, a columnist from Paste bestowed "Heard 'Em Say" with much acclaim and ranked it as West's 53rd best album track, declaring: "Late Registration starts with Kanye waking up, but 'Heard 'Em Say' plays like a soothing lullaby with some bite to it." It was pointed to by Capital Xtra as one of the 18 songs "for fans who miss the old Kanye". ==Commercial performance==

In the US, the song entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at the last position for the issue date of October 29, 2005. West's previous single "Gold Digger" was atop the Hot 100 at the time of the entry, giving him the rare coincidental feat of bookending the chart. The rapper stands as the seventh artist to score this achievement as of September 17, 2010; a mere .003% of the 2,721 weekly Hot 100 charts up to this point had been bookened by an artist. The song also marked Levine's first appearance on the chart outside of Maroon 5 material, while becoming a significant crossover success for both West and the singer. The song lasted for 16 weeks on the chart. On August 12, 2022, the song was awarded a silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shelving 200,000 units in the UK. The song experienced lesser success in Australia, reaching number 27 on the ARIA Singles Chart. ==Music videos==

Background As was the case with West's 2004 single "Jesus Walks", more than one music video was produced to accompany the song. Filmed overnight in Macy's flagship department store on 34th Street in NYC, West enlisted Michel Gondry and Joe DeMaio to direct the original music video for "Heard 'Em Say", a live-action visual. Because the single was originally planned to be released for Christmas, Gondry directed the clip inside a Macy's store during the winter season in NYC. Despite shooting the visual being highly expensive, West was unsatisfied with the results and commissioned Bill Plympton to create a new music video in one week. The animated music video expresses the use of raw, hand-drawn animation that West said he used for something new and "refreshing", as well as to express "how natural the song feels, how organic the song is" through a video. In the video, West plays a homeless man watching over three fictional children, who sneak into Macy's and stay overnight. The visual was filmed inside the store while it was closed down for the night, with work being done over this period. Regarding his role, Levine recalled, "This sounds weird, but it's kind of a surrealistic Christmas world that Macy's becomes. I let Kanye and his family in, after hours, to spend the night. And he's got three kids with him and they're running around and I'm chasing them. It's so weird! There's dancing suits in the men's section, all kinds of craziness, but I'm excited about it." West reportedly provided Gondry with $500,000 for the music video's production budget. Utilizing his signature special effects, Gondry created a fantasy world inspired by the 1964 film Mary Poppins, situated inside a department store where inanimate objects and appliances come to life. West personally found the original concept too hardcore, having concerns it may "alienate his audience" during the Christmas season. According to West, the visuals express "how natural the song feels, how organic the song is". The artwork of Plympton's cartoons has often harbored a warped, morbid aspect, which he defended by calling himself a "normal guy" that does "crazy artwork" while asserting those who create "normal artwork are crazy". . During a 2015 interview with The Daily Beast, Plympton spoke for the first time about working with West on the music video. Plympton ultimately agreed to shoot a video, saying: "Yeah, sure." After Plympton discovered that West had been watching his animated comedy film I Married a Strange Person! (1997) in his spare time and expressed fond memories of attending one of his concerts, the two began the shoot. To visually capture the tone of "Heard 'Em Say", Plympton portrayed West as a taxicab driver in a fictitious city, where he picks up troubled passengers, such as a young child and his mother. Plympton explained that the youngster "is meant to represent Kanye as a young boy and the film is about his experiences" and on the other hand, he desired "the mother to be very sexy, so we did that, too". Synopsis The visually elaborate live-action music video for "Heard 'Em Say" harbors a distinct Christmas theme. The child traverses a depressing urban landscape, becoming aware of the harsh realities of the US on his journey. His eyes are drawn with exaggerated largeness as he looks at advertisements of diamonds and jewelry. John Hugar from Uproxx declared that the visual features a juxtaposition he found intriguing, remarking, "It's a fascinating mixture of fantasy and reality that manages to be whimsical and dreary at the same time". On their 2018 list of West's best music videos, Complex placed it at number 13, with the staff writing, "The fantasy world of the department store perfectly embodies the nostalgic yet uplifting sounds of the track." • Michel Gondry director • Peter Sluszka animation director • Partizan Entertainment production company • Julie Fong executive producer • Ivan Abel stop motion DP • Julianna Cox additional animator • Tim MacDonald props & rigging • Blanca Li choreographer • Heidi Bivens wardrobe stylist • Roc-A-Fella record label • Island Def Jam record label Animated video Sources: • Bill Plympton director, animator • Joe DeMaio director • Roc-A-Fella record label ==Live performances==

A remote performance of "Heard 'Em Say" taped in Los Angeles was broadcast on a video screen in Foxborough, Massachusetts for an audience of over 40,000 fans during a pre-game concert held on September 3, 2005, at Gillette Stadium. After Maroon 5 played their 2002 single "Harder to Breathe", West performed on a red-white-and-blue stage, which received a poor audience response. On September 29, 2005, West performed the song at Abbey Road Studios in London for his first live album Late Orchestration (2006), accompanied by singer John Legend. Two days later, West appeared with Levine as a musical guest on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live (SNL), for which they performed the song together backed by a live orchestra. West performed the song at Santa Monica High School on December 5 for a concert promoting higher education, sponsored by his eponymous charity foundation. He included "Heard 'Em Say" on the setlist of his Touch the Sky Tour (2005–06). On December 3, 2005, Levine joined West onstage to sing his portion of the song for the tour's stop at Universal City, California. in NYC. West performed the song for a pre-game concert held during VH1's Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash on February 2, 2006. Wearing a Detroit Pistons jacket and accompanied by a seven-piece string orchestra, two backup singers, and a DJ, he introduced "Heard 'Em Say" by telling the audience it was "my favorite song I ever worked on". West provided a performance of "Heard 'Em Say" at St. James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand on March 17, 2006, which was well received by the audience. He wore a glittery Adidas jacket and large sci-fi shades, before pausing to change into a bolero jacket and switching to a preppy white shirt later on. West presented an embellished live arrangement, utilizing a string section, back-up singers, and a DJ, with accompaniment from Common. West performed the song at the 2006 Coachella Festival, for which he wore a T-shirt in tribute to Miles Davis, jeans, and a red bandana. With backing from a DJ and two additional singers, West performed "Heard 'Em Say" for KIIS-FM's Wango Tango concert on May 8. During his headlining concert on the second day of Lollapalooza 2006 in his hometown of Chicago, West delivered a performance of the song to an audience of 60,000 people, which included scratches by DJ A-Trak. West jumped across the stage at Live Earth 2007 as he performed a medley of eight hits, beginning with "Heard 'Em Say". On October 10, while Maroon 5 was playing "Nothing Lasts Forever" at a sold-out concert inside Madison Square Garden in NYC, Levine announced that he was to introduce "a good friend" to the stage, followed by a surprise guest appearance from West. West included "Heard 'Em Say" as the third number of the set list for his Glow in the Dark Tour, which began on April 16, 2008, at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. For the start of a stop at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on the tour, he was pulled to a standing position as the opening strains of "Wake Up Mr. West" from Late Registration played. This was followed a computer named Jane informing West that the Earth had lost all its creativity and he needed to save the human race from a banal existence. The various compositions performed by West served to form a space opera storyline that details the story of how a stranded space traveler struggles for over a year making attempts to escape from a distant planet while on a creative mission. He performed on a small, elaborate stage that was spread into a desert sand dune shrouded in billowing smoke before an enormous LED screen depicting a skyline where shooting stars reappear as pumping blue cells, the latter of which appeared for the song. Near the end of the Glow in the Dark Tour's North American leg, West performed the song for a crowd of around 100,000 during the final night of Lollapalooza in Chicago that he headlined on August 3, 2008. "Heard 'Em Say" was among the songs performed by West during a 90-minute set when he headlined the 2008 Global Gathering festival, becoming the very first hip-hop artist to do so. After teasing the audience with a snippet of his 2007 track "Stronger", West appeared in a cloud of smoke and delivered the performance. He performed to a crowd of 50,000, wearing a black jacket and a bright T-shirt. A live rendition of "Heard 'Em Say" was performed during West's secret black-tie show at The Box nightclub on Chrystie Street in Manhattan, NYC on August 13, 2010. The rapper held the late-night function that he dubbed "Rosewood", accompanied by Legend and performing to slightly over 200 select attendees for 90 minutes. A simplistic stage set-up was used, which consisted of a baby grand piano that Legend sat at, a Roland TR-808 drum machine, a keyboard, and two microphones that include one utilized solely for Auto-Tune. After they opened with a performance of West's 2008 single "Homecoming", he instructed Legend to take it back to old times, leading into them performing the song. As their duet progressed, the singer started slowly stroking the piano keys and singing Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "If This World Were Mine" (1967). On October 19, 2013, West performed "Heard 'Em Say" as part of an encore for The Yeezus Tour's kickoff show at the KeyArena. During the performance, West wore a black mask and stopped rapping at points. On January 6, 2019, the first Sunday of the year, West and his group Sunday Service Choir performed a gospel rendition of "Heard 'Em Say" to open the first installment of the group's weekly concerts. For the performance, blue and red lighting shined down while the Sunday Service Choir bounced and clapped as they wore Yeezy jumpsuits. ==Cover versions and other usage==

performed a live rendition of "Heard 'Em Say" during BBC Radio 1 Piano Sessions. Jesse Boone released a cover of "Heard 'Em Say" for his 18th birthday in 2013, marking the first number he recorded. This gave birth to his rap stage name of Huey Supreme, a combination of a high school nickname and an Xbox Live username. Rapper G-Eazy performed a cover of "Heard 'Em Say" for BBC Radio 1Xtra's Live Lounge on March 15, 2016. For the chorus, G-Eazy enlisted English singer-songwriter Anne-Marie in place of Levine. Alongside the performance, G-Eazy dubbed West "the greatest". Having sung on the original "Heard 'Em Say", Levine later appropriated the refrain for Maroon 5's "Nothing Lasts Forever", which was released on their second studio album ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'' in 2007. Australian comedian and rapper Matt Okine performed a version of "Heard 'Em Say" with altered verses for the UnderCover event at Giant Dwarf Theatre in Sydney, Australia in February 2016. He began his performance with a comical impression of West and stage banter, before touching on contemporary divisions within Australian society, including prominent Islamophobia and the injustices of Australia Day. On April 12, 2016, London-based rapper Little Simz asked if she could share a track on Twitter and subsequently released a freestyle over the instrumental of "Heard 'Em Say" to SoundCloud. Little Simz raps for around three minutes and starts the freestyle by promising to "speak from the heart", prior to delivering introspective lyricism about subjects including fascist politicians and the importance of speaking the truth. G-Eazy interpolates lines from "Heard 'Em Say" on the interlude of his song "Charles Brown", which reuses the new line from his cover version. West received songwriting credit on the track, which was released on G-Eazy's fourth studio album The Beautiful & Damned in 2017. Fellow rapper Logic included a song named after "Heard 'Em Say" on his sixth studio album No Pressure, released in July 2020. ==Track listings==

US 12" vinyl • "Heard 'Em Say" – Album Version • "Heard 'Em Say" featuring John Legend – (Live from Abbey Road) – 4:13 • "Back to Basics" – International Bonus • "Heard 'Em Say" – CD-Rom Video ==Credits and personnel==

Information taken from Late Registration liner notes. Recording locations • Recorded at Sony Music Studios (NYC) and Grandmaster Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA) • Mixed at Chalice Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA) Personnel • Kanye West songwriter, producer • Adam Levine songwriter • Michael Masser songwriter • Gerry Goffin songwriter • Jon Brion producer • Andrew Dawson recorder • Tom Biller recorder • Mike Dean mix engineer • Taylor Dow assistant engineer • Nate Connelly assistant engineer • Mike Mo assistant engineer • Tony "Penafire" Williams additional vocals ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==

Notes References ==Bibliography==