Donald Trump (song)
| "Donald Trump" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Mac Miller | ||||
| from the album Best Day Ever | ||||
| Released | February 8, 2011 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Recorded | 2010 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 2:45 | |||
| Label | Rostrum | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | SAP | |||
| Mac Miller singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Donald Trump" on YouTube | ||||
"Donald Trump" is a song by American rapper Mac Miller, and the only song released as an official single from his mixtape Best Day Ever. The melody, which is played throughout the song, is taken from "Vesuvius" by Sufjan Stevens. The music video to the song was uploaded to YouTube on March 3, 2011, while the single was released digitally on May 17, 2011. The song was incorrectly listed as a bonus track on the tracklist of some versions of Mac Miller's debut album Blue Slide Park.[1] Miller himself confirmed that the song does not feature on the album.
The song was dedicated to real estate personality Donald Trump, who, five years after the song's release, was elected as the 45th President of the United States. During Trump's 2016 campaign, the song regained popularity, hitting #28 on the iTunes Charts on November 9, 2016, the day after Donald Trump was elected president. Miller stated in an interview that he did not support him; contrary to popular belief.
Background
The money-inspired song refers to business magnate and politician Donald Trump, particularly Mac Miller's ambitions to become wealthy and successful like him ("Take over the world when I'm on my Donald Trump shit/Look at all this money, ain't that some shit?").
The many references to Trump in lyrics did not gone unnoticed by Trump himself. When the song became a Billboard hit, Trump released a YouTube video congratulating the rapper:
- A lot of people are calling me about the Mac Miller rap song. Now, it's named "Donald Trump." Maybe you should pay me a lot of money, but it just did over 20 million people, tuning into Mac Miller. So in one way, I'm proud of him. I haven't actually seen the language... Probably, it's not the cleanest language you've ever heard... But the "Donald Trump" song just hit over 20 million, that's not so bad. I'm very proud of him.[2]
In August 2011, shortly after the music video to the song reached 20,000,000 views on YouTube, Donald Trump himself praised the song and branded the young Pittsburgh rapper as "the next Eminem".[3] Mac Miller responded appreciatively, but played down any comparisons between himself and Eminem.[4][5]
As the song garnered more plays, Trump took a more aggressive tone and demanded royalties for using his name, thereby igniting a feud with Miller.[6] In early 2013, Trump threatened the rapper with a lawsuit via a series of exchanges on Twitter.[7]
In 2015, Trump changed his attitude toward Miller again when he ended an interview with The Hill by praising Miller's song as it approached 100,000,000 hits.[8]
During Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, Mac Miller said on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore that Trump was "such an egomaniacal, attention-thirsty, psychopathic, power-hungry, delusional waste of skin and bones".[9]
Critical reception
Rolling Stone called the track an "irresistible bro-down".[10]
Chart performance
"Donald Trump" was the first song by Mac Miller to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, managing to reach #75 on January 7, 2012. It also entered the US Digital chart at #58 on the same date.[11] On March 19, 2013, "Donald Trump" was certified Platinum by the RIAA.[12][13]
The song has also charted in SNEP, the official French Singles Chart, peaking at #110 in July 2012.[14]
Track listing
| Digital download[15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Donald Trump" (Explicit) | 2:45 |
| 2. | "Donald Trump" (Clean) | 2:45 |
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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See also
References
- ↑ "Mac Miller : Blue Slide Park". newburycomics.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
- ↑ Zaru, Deena (September 2, 2015). "What hip-hop lyrics tell us about Donald Trump". CNN. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
- ↑ Horowitz, Steven J. (August 18, 2011). "Donald Trump Brands Mac Miller "The Next Eminem" | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
- ↑ Horowitz, Steven J. (August 22, 2011). "Mac Miller Speaks On Donald Trump Calling Him "The New Eminem" | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
- ↑ "Mac Miller Responds To Donald Trump's Eminem Comparison". Rapfix.mtv.com. August 24, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
- ↑ Makarechi, Kia (January 25, 2016). "Mac Miller, Donald Trump's Least Favorite Rapper, Revisits Feud". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
- ↑ "Donald Trump Threatens Mac Miller With Lawsuit, Calls Him an "Ungrateful Dog"".
- ↑ Cirilli, Kevin (July 23, 2015). "Trump praises rapper's 'great' song about him". The Hill. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
- ↑ Zaru, Deena (March 11, 2016). "Mac Miller: Donald Trump wants to 'make America white again'". CNN. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ↑ Nick Catucci (June 18, 2013). "Mac Miller, 'Watching Movies With the Sound Off | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
- ↑ ""Donald Trump" Debuts At #80 On Billboard Hot 100 | Mac Miller Fan Site". Macmiller.org. June 3, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
- ↑ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – September 02, 2013". RIAA. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ↑ Paine, Jake (April 18, 2013). "Mac Miller's "Donald Trump" Certified Platinum | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ↑ LesCharts.com SNEP charts – Mac Miller – "Donald Trump" song page
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - Donald Trump - Single by Mac Miller". Itunes.apple.com. May 17, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Mac Miller – Donald Trump" (in French). Les classement single.
- ↑ "Mac Miller Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ↑ "American single certifications – Mac Mille – Donald Trump". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 19, 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH.