Two Words
"Two Words" | |
---|---|
Song by Kanye West featuring Mos Def, Freeway and The Boys Choir of Harlem | |
from the album The College Dropout | |
Released | November 10, 2003 |
Recorded | 2002 |
Studio | Edie Road Recording Studio (Argyle, New York) Quad Recordings (New York, New York) |
Genre | Hip hop |
Length | 4:26 |
Label |
|
Songwriter(s) |
|
Producer(s) | West |
Music video | |
"Two Words" on YouTube | |
"Two Words" is a song by American hip-hop artist Kanye West, that features Mos Def, Freeway and The Boys Choir of Harlem, from West's debut studio album The College Dropout (2004). A cinematic version of the song was released as part of The College Dropout Video Anthology. It has been performed by Freeway regularly at his live shows over the years. An orchestral sound is used in the song. The music video was released in March 2005.
Background
The original version of the track list for The College Dropout showed that the song was initially scheduled to be titled "2 Words" and have the position of number 5, rather than number 18 as it stands on the official release.[1][2] Featured artist Freeway stated that Kanye wasn't initially respected as a rapper, but, after seeing West's talent, when asked to feature on the album, Freeway's response was: "Hell yeah. Let’s do it."[3]
Composition and lyrics
Within "Two Words", there is an orchestral sound that includes classical strings. Miri Ben-Ari revealed that she was the one who introduced West to this sound, which led to him falling in love with it.[4] The track contains a sample of 1970 recording "Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) Movement III (Time)", written by Lou Wilson, Ric Wilson and Carlos Wilson, and performed by Mandrill.[5] On top of this, it samples drums from The 5th Dimension's 1971 track "The Rainmaker".[4]
West references a group he was once in known as the Go Getters with the line: "Go Getters rhyme like, should've been signed twice" and over the years, West has actually recycled multiple rhymes that he first spit when part of the group.[6]
Recording
Miri Ben-Ari revealed that "Two Words" was the first recording she ever did with West.[4] It was revealed by West that he drove to the Harlem Boys Choir's summer camp to record them in a barn for the track.[7] West actually had to pay them $10,000 to record a feature for him.[8] Freeway liked the beat when he heard it, which made him: "want to go ham on it" and the rapper laid his verse down for the song before West and Mos recorded their parts.[3]
In popular culture
An alternative version titled "Two Words (Frisky Remix)" was shared to BBC Music, which is a mashup of the original and Tinie Tempah's Labrinth-featuring single "Frisky", but only Kanye West, Labrinth and Mos Def are included as artists in the remix.[9] On February 27, 2014, Ace Hood released a freestyle titled "Lyrical Exercise" over the instrumental of "Two Words".[10]
Critical reception
Eric Tullis of SPIN described the track as being "the perfect playground for [the three rappers] to break character and address the American reality".[11] It was pointed out by Paul Cantor of Billboard as what is "perhaps the symphonic high point of the record".[12] It received a nomination for Best Hip-Hop Deep Cut at the 2005 Groovevolt Music and Fashion Awards.[13]
Live performances
West and Mos performed "Two Words" live with The Roots as a backing band on September 18, 2004 as part of Dave Chappelle's Block Party concert.[14] Freeway has performed the song at his live shows for years and said himself that: "Everyone loves it."[3] On one occasion, Freeway joined West for a performance of it at a Super Bowl party with Pepsi, which was at the time of Super Bowl XL in February 2006.[3]
Music video
Despite the song not being one of the album's singles, a music video was officially released for it as part of West's The College Dropout Video Anthology on March 22, 2005.[15] He released an edited version of the video independently on November 4.[16]
All of the people who starred in the music video shot their parts in different places.[3] This didn't mark the only time a video was released for a non-single from West's debut album, since he also shot one for "Spaceship", which was posted online by featured artist GLC on June 1, 2009 - however, it was originally scheduled to be released as a single, unlike "Two Words".[17][18]
Personnel
Information taken from The College Dropout liner notes.[5]
- Songwriters: Kanye West, Dante Smith, Leslie Pridgen, Lou Wilson, Ric Wilson, Carlos Wilson
- Record producer: Kanye West
- Recorders: Marc Fuller, Keith Slattery, Carlisle Young
- Mix engineer: Mike Dean
- Additional vocals: The Boys Choir of Harlem
- Keyboards: Keith Slattery
- Violin: Miri Ben-Ari
Cinematic version
"Two Words (Cinematic)" | |
---|---|
Song by Kanye West featuring The Boys Choir of Harlem | |
Released | March 22, 2005 |
Recorded | 2004 |
Genre | Hip hop |
Length | 4:04 |
Label | |
Songwriter(s) |
|
Producer(s) | West |
On March 22, 2005, The College Dropout Video Anthology was released, which features a bonus audio CD with a cinematic version of "Two Words" as a track on it.[15]
References
- ^ Garrison, Lucas (January 25, 2016). "Kanye's Early 'College Dropout' Tracklist Will Blow Your Mind". DJBooth. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ "The College Dropout - Kanye West". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Ahmed, Insanul (February 10, 2012). "Interview: Freeway Talks About The Making of Kanye West's "Two Words"". Complex. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ a b c Ahmed, Insanul (February 10, 2014). "The Making of Kanye West's "The College Dropout"". Complex. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
- ^ a b The College Dropout (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2004. 986 173-9.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Bassil, Ryan (August 13, 2013). "Kanye West Recycles Lyrics From Old Material". Noisey. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ Carroll, Jim (June 19, 2013). "Y-Day: Kanye West's trip from "College Dropout" to "Yeezus"". On The Record. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ "50 Things You Didn't Know About Kanye West". Complex. February 26, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ West, Kanye; Labrinth. "Two Words (Frisky Remix) (feat. Mos Def) - Kanye West & Labrinth Song". BBC. BBC Music. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ Lilah, Rose (February 27, 2014). "Ace Hood - Lyrical Exercise (Freestyle)". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ Tullis, Eric (February 2, 2014). "Two Words - Kanye West - 12". SPIN. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ Cantor, Paul (February 10, 2014). "Kanye West's 'The College Dropout' at 10: Classic Track-by-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ "05 GV Music & Fashion Awards Winners: Hip Hop". Groovevolt. 1 March 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Watson, Elijah C. (10 October 2017). "Thirteen Years Ago Dave Chappelle Put On The Greatest Concert Of The Year". Okayplayer. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "Kanye West - College Dropout: Video Anthology". Amazon. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ "Two Words (Edited Version) by Kanye West, Mos Def, Freeway & The Boys Choir of Harlem on Apple Music". iTunes. November 4, 2005. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ "Video: Kanye West f. GLC & Consequence, "Spaceship"". The Fader. June 1, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ Schiff, Mark (January 29, 2016). "Five rare Kanye West music videos you may not have seen". AXS. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
External links
- "Two Words" lyrics at MTV
- v
- t
- e
- "All Falls Down"
- "Spaceship"
- "Jesus Walks"
- "Never Let Me Down"
- "The New Workout Plan"
- "Slow Jamz"
- "Two Words"
- "Through the Wire"
- "Heard 'Em Say"
- "Touch the Sky"
- "Gold Digger"
- "Drive Slow"
- "Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)"
- "Hey Mama"
- "Gone"
- "Diamonds from Sierra Leone"
- "Good Morning"
- "Stronger"
- "I Wonder"
- "Good Life"
- "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
- "Flashing Lights"
- "Homecoming"
- "Big Brother"
- "Say You Will"
- "Welcome to Heartbreak"
- "Heartless"
- "Amazing"
- "Love Lockdown"
- "Paranoid"
- "RoboCop"
- "Street Lights"
- "See You in My Nightmares"
- "Coldest Winter"
Twisted Fantasy
- "Dark Fantasy"
- "Gorgeous"
- "Power"
- "All of the Lights"
- "Monster"
- "So Appalled"
- "Devil in a New Dress"
- "Runaway"
- "Hell of a Life"
- "Blame Game"
- "Lost in the World"
- "See Me Now"
- "No Church in the Wild"
- "Lift Off"
- "Niggas in Paris"
- "Otis"
- "Gotta Have It"
- "Welcome to the Jungle"
- "Who Gon Stop Me"
- "Murder to Excellence"
- "Made in America"
- "Why I Love You"
Deluxe |
---|
- "Clique"
- "Mercy"
- "New God Flow"
- "Cold"
- "Don't Like.1"
- "On Sight"
- "Black Skinhead"
- "I Am a God"
- "New Slaves"
- "Hold My Liquor"
- "I'm in It"
- "Blood on the Leaves"
- "Guilt Trip"
- "Send It Up"
- "Bound 2"
- "Ultralight Beam"
- "Father Stretch My Hands"
- "Famous"
- "Feedback"
- "Low Lights"
- "Highlights"
- "Freestyle 4"
- "I Love Kanye"
- "Waves"
- "FML"
- "Real Friends"
- "Wolves"
- "Frank's Track"
- "30 Hours"
- "No More Parties in LA"
- "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)"
- "Fade"
- "Saint Pablo"
- "I Thought About Killing You"
- "Yikes"
- "All Mine"
- "Wouldn't Leave"
- "No Mistakes"
- "Ghost Town"
- "Violent Crimes"
- "Feel the Love"
- "Fire"
- "4th Dimension"
- "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)"
- "Reborn"
- "Kids See Ghosts"
- "Cudi Montage"
- "Selah"
- "Follow God"
- "Closed on Sunday"
- "On God"
- "Everything We Need"
- "Water"
- "Hands On"
- "Use This Gospel"
- "Jesus Is Lord"
- "Donda Chant"
- "Jail"
- "God Breathed"
- "Off the Grid"
- "Hurricane"
- "Praise God"
- "Jonah"
- "Believe What I Say"
- "24"
- "Remote Control"
- "Moon"
- "Keep My Spirit Alive"
- "New Again"
- "Tell the Vision"
- "Pure Souls
- "Come to Life"
- "No Child Left Behind"
- "Jail pt 2"
Deluxe |
|
---|
- "City of Gods"
- "Eazy"
- "True Love"
- "Talking / Once Again"
- "Back to Me"
- "Burn"
- "Fuk Sumn"
- "Vultures"
- "Carnival"
- "Impossible"
- "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)"
- "Forever"
- "We Are the World 25 for Haiti"
- "Christmas in Harlem"
- "Only One"
- "FourFiveSeconds"
- "All Day"
- "Champions"
- "Lift Yourself"
- "Ye vs. the People"
- "XTCY"
- "I Love It"
- "Wash Us in the Blood"
- "Nah Nah Nah"
- "This Way"
- "Talk About Our Love"
- "The Food"
- "I Changed My Mind"
- "Down and Out"
- "The Corner"
- "Go!"
- "Number One"
- "Extravaganza"
- "Brand New"
- "Grammy Family"
- "Number One"
- "Wouldn't Get Far"
- "I Still Love H.E.R."
- "Pro Nails"
- "Finer Things"
- "American Boy"
- "Put On"
- "Stay Up! (Viagra)"
- "Swagga Like Us"
- "Go Hard"
- "Knock You Down"
- "Kinda Like a Big Deal"
- "Walkin' on the Moon"
- "Supernova"
- "Maybach Music 2"
- "Make Her Say"
- "Run This Town"
- "Whatever U Want"
- "Live Fast, Die Young"
- "Erase Me"
- "Deuces" (Remix)
- "Start It Up"
- "Hurricane 2.0"
- "E.T."
- "Marvin & Chardonnay"
- "Pride N Joy"
- "I Wish You Would"
- "Birthday Song"
- "Thank You"
- "I Won"
- "Nobody"
- "Blessings"
- "U Mad"
- "One Man Can Change the World"
- "Pop Style"
- "Figure It Out"
- "That Part"
- "Friends"
- "Ballin"
- "Castro"
- "Feel Me"
- "Love Yourself"
- "Glow"
- "Watch"
- "Take Me to the Light"
- "Ego Death"
- "Keep It Burnin"
- "Hot Shit"
- "Facts"
- "Champions"
- "The Bounce"
- "Us Placers"
- "Beat Goes On"
- "Billie Jean 2008"
- "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)" (Remix)
- "Therapy"
- "Ego" (Remix)
- "Blazin'"
- "Welcome to the World"
- "Sanctified"
- "Drunk in Love" (Remix)
- "All Your Fault"
- "Smuckers"
- "Jukebox Joints"
- "All We Got"
- "Pussy Print"
- "Cops Shot the Kid"
- "Kanga"
- "Mama"
- "One Minute"
- "Mixed Personalities"
- "Go2DaMoon"
- "Brothers"
- "LA Monster"
- "New Body"
- Category