Paranoid (Kanye West song)

performing at the Lovebox Weekender festival in Victoria Park, London in 2009|The song includes a feature from Mr Hudson, pictured in 2009. West produced "Paranoid", while the song was co-produced by American record producers Jeff Bhasker and Plain Pat. The musician received a phone call from West while on vacation in Paris; West was drawn in by his charm and subsequently recruited him for "Paranoid". The musician subsequently released his debut studio album Straight No Chaser under GOOD Music in October 2009, with West contributing vocals on the single "Supernova". After Plain Pat sent West Kid Cudi's debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi (2008), West arrived at the mixtape's listening party and took Cudi under his wing. Kid Cudi has been believed to have directly influenced the album's creation, which West himself confirmed as being true. They went on to form a duo under the name of Kids See Ghosts, releasing their eponymous debut studio album on June 8, 2018. The song was recorded during the period of three weeks that West worked on 808s & Heartbreak in 2008. Seeking out a minimalist direction sonically, West directed his team to bring unique drum machines to Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii. Note this has to be an error as the Roland TR-808 does not sample and the engineer is probably referring to West's Ensoniq ASR-10 Sampler. West had been looking for an electronic sound with the album, which the song includes. ==Composition and lyrics==

Musically, "Paranoid" is an upbeat new wave song that runs for a duration of four minutes and thirty-seven seconds, and includes an electronic sound throughout. Its instrumentation has synth-pop elements, nodding towards influences such as English musician Phil Collins and pop rock band Tears for Fears. The song utilizes the Roland TR-808, which creates a sparse sound. Throughout the song, West sings through Auto-Tune. Throughout the song, West sings about being in a serious relationship with a lady that pushes him away with her mistrustful thinking, whom he believes "worries about the wrong things". West begins the song by excitedly saying, "Why are you so paranoid?" The lyrics are used in the first verse by him to show that even though the song may seem positive, its background circulates around conflict and death. West recites lines that depict a negative image and reveal feelings of opposition towards the lady he is referencing. ==Release==

"Paranoid" was released as the sixth track on West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak on November 24, 2008. It was sent to radio stations in the United States five months later on March 23, 2009 as the album's fourth single, shortly after the release of the third single, "Amazing". While "Amazing" was serviced to rhythmic/urban radio stations, "Paranoid" was only sent to US top 40 radio. A digital EP was released in the US on June 16, which included a new mix of "Paranoid" and the song's accompanying music video. Another remix featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna had been recorded in the fall of 2008 and was supposed to be released to US mainstream radio stations on January 27, 2009, as the third single from 808s & Heartbreak. ==Critical reception==

Paranoid was met with universal acclaim from music critics, with most praise going towards the production. Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club looked at "Paranoid" as veering "into the Neptunes' twitchy, glitchy space-disco". The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica described it as a slick and breezy track and drew comparisons to the music of the Kelis and Omarion, saying "this music is redolent of the chilly, slightly irregular R&B the producers the Neptunes were making four or five years ago". The song was cited by Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork as being one of the best tracks on 808s & Heartbreak; he viewed it and his other best track selections as among the album's "most dismal, with cavernous production giving the Auto-Tune vocals more of an echoing desolation than a pop sheen". Simon Price of The Independent picked the song as the best track from the record and labelled it "anomalously upbeat". Isaac Shur, writing for WRBB 104.9 FM, commented that there is "remnants of [West's 2007 album] Graduation's more upbeat, dancey vibe on 'Paranoid,' demonstrating that 808s isn't a one trick pony of emotional ballads". Alex Macpherson from The Guardian saw the song's "disco bounce" as one of "the isolated moments of levity" on the album that "are a relief". For Slant Magazine, Wilson McBee chronicled that the song is "a disco-tinged track brighter than anything else on the album" and thought it "begs for a pulsating bassline", while pinpointing Mr Hudson's chorus as the main reason behind the success. Ally Brown of The Skinny described the song as what "has an irresistible playful synth-line and reassuring chorus hook courtesy of Mr Hudson". In 2023, Billboard named it the 23rd best pop song to never hit the US Billboard Hot 100, with the magazine's writers highlighting the "neon shimmer" of Graduations singles that results in a pop sound. A few reviewers viewed "Paranoid" in a more negative light. At NME, Jaimie Hodgson assumed that the song fails to distract from its "flaky" hook and "backpack-rap-style" beat via "Frenchie-coffee-table-lektro blips". Charles Aaron from Spin described it as where "you're left anxiously conflicted, with the weird sensation that you've somehow stumbled onto a boys-only Kanye karaoke party, where he's trashed on Baileys and inexplicably crooning the Ne-Yo songbook". Andy Kellman of AllMusic complained that the song's "relative pep" offers "no respite", noting the "bitter lyrics" undermine "a boisterous beat". ==Music video==

Background at the 2009 American Music Award Red Carpet|The accompanying music video stars Rihanna, following a fantasy based on her paranoid state of mind. The music video for "Paranoid" was directed by Nabil Elderkin and along with the one for "Amazing", filmed in Hawaii. The state was one of the places that West recorded the song itself in. Prior to being cast, Rihanna had taken a break from making her own music videos. Island Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid presented a version of the video during an Island Def Jam Event in New York City on May 20, 2009. The music video leaked online on May 27. In an interview that took place the following day, Elderkin stated that the leak was merely an early rough cut. In terms of visuals, Elderkin had originally wanted to design the video in an artistic style reminiscent to that of A Clockwork Orange, but West subsequently opted for an abstracted noir concept instead. It was revealed by West that the video was supposed to have been released on June 4, though he explained the early release with: "I'd rather you guys have a clear version...." After West released the music video for fellow 808s & Heartbreak track "Coldest Winter" in February 2010, Elderkin revealed that West originally had more screen time in the video for "Paranoid" than he had in the final version. Shamz of Okayplayer felt that "the visuals only enhance the track further". Kathleen Newman-Bremang of MTV described the video as what "finds Kanye in his true form, delivering a high-concept music video that feels more like a piece of art than anything else". At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, it was nominated for Best Special Effects in a Video, but lost to "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga. ==Commercial performance==

On April 25, 2009, the song made its debut at number 37 on the US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. It fell down to number 38 the following week, though ultimately peaked at number 34 on May 9. The same week as the peak, "Paranoid" entered the US Rhythmic chart at number 40. The song reached its peak of number 37 on the chart for the issue dated May 16, 2009. The following week, it exited the chart. The song performed best on the Belgium Ultratip Wallonia chart, on which it peaked at number 14 for the issue dated September 12, 2009. Similarly, the song reached number 15 on the Belgium Ultratip Flanders chart issue dated August 29, 2009. ==Live performances==

West performed the song as part of his February 2009 VH1 show. However, the performance was not originally broadcast on the network. While showcasing artists signed onto his GOOD Music imprint for South by Southwest (SXSW) at the Levi's/Fader Fort on March 21, 2009, West performed the song with Kid Cudi and Mr Hudson. During the showcase, West predicted that Mr Hudson will be playing 50,000-seat stadiums. At the 2009 iTunes Festival, Mr Hudson encouraged West to perform more music with him after their performance of "Heartless". on September 25, 2015.|West, Mr Hudson, and Kid Cudi performing the song on a staircase at the 2015 Hollywood Bowl. For West's two night concert of 808s & Heartbreak in full at the 2015 Hollywood Bowl in September, he performed the track with Mr Hudson and Kid Cudi as the set's sixth number. This marked West's first performance of the track since November 23, 2010, with him wearing loose garments in white and off-white shades as he performed. The performers were supported by a small band and a medium-sized orchestra, while the overhead lights turned from white to red. West, Mr Hudson, and Kid Cudi climbed a staircase on the stage together, before West asked if the crowd were enjoying themselves and happily stated, "It's my first time getting to play here!" The former of the three encouraged the crowd to appreciate the other two; he gave them a shout out towards the end of the performance. While it stood as the ninth track of their set, the song was the first track the duo performed that was not released as Kids See Ghosts. The transparent box that they performed the song from featured flashing LEDs inside, and the crowd gave a strong reception to their performance. ==Cover versions and usage in media==

In the lead up to the release of their 2010 studio album Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat, Japanese pop rock band the Suzan shared a cover version of "Paranoid" on October 19, 2010. The cover is a ballad that has a stripped-down musical style with a minimal bassline. The lack of Auto-Tune on the ballad differs from the original, and it contains choral vocals. Prior to the performance, Uchis opened up about how she loves the song and West's older work in general, especially 808s & Heartbreak due to the heavy inspiration taken from it making her think covering "Paranoid" was sensical. Bryson Tiller sampled "Paranoid" on his track of the same title, which credits West for production. ==Track listings==

Digital download • "Paranoid" (NEW Mix) [feat. Mr Hudson] – 4:45 Digital EP • "Paranoid" (NEW Mix) [feat. Mr Hudson] – 4:45 • "Paranoid" (Music Video) [feat. Mr Hudson] – 3:24 ==Credits and personnel==

Information taken from 808s & Heartbreak liner notes. Recording • Recorded at Glenwood Studios (Burbank, California) and Avex Recording Studio (Honolulu, Hawaii) Personnel • Kanye West songwriter, production • Plain Pat songwriter, co-production • Jeff Bhasker songwriter, co-production, keyboards • Kid Cudi songwriter, background vocals • Dexter Mills songwriter • Andrew Dawson recorder • Anthony Kilhoffer recorder • Chad Carlisle assistant recorder • Isha Erskine assistant recorder • Gaylord Holomalia assistant recorder • Christian Mochizuki assistant recorder • Manny Marroquin mix engineer • Christian Plata assistant engineer • Erik Madrid assistant engineer ==Charts==