RoboCop (song)

"RoboCop" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, from his fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak. It was produced solely by West and contains background vocals from Tony Williams and Jeff Bhasker. "Kissing in the Rain" by Patrick Doyle is sampled in the song, which references the film RoboCop and West's ex Alexis Phifer.

"RoboCop"
Song by Kanye West
from the album 808s & Heartbreak
Recorded2008
Genre
Length4:34
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Kanye West

A-Trak reported that West had confidence in his vision during the recording, but still asked everyone. According to Manny Marroquin, West and his collaborators found "RoboCop" a challenge to make; multiple versions of the song exist. The song was met with positive critical reviews. It was subject to a leak in October 2008, to the displeasure of West. Over time, the song has been looked at as having a Disney sound. A music video was recorded, but never officially released in full.

Composition and recording

Portions of 1998 recording "Kissing in the Rain", performed and written by Scottish film composer Patrick Doyle, are embodied within the track.[1] Robotic vocals and mechanical sound effects are present, alongside backing strings and mallet percussion.[2] The song is appropriately titled, referencing the lead character of 1987 film RoboCop, and West presses the allegation against his ex Alexis Phifer as having lacked his trust.[2]

A-Trak revealed from working with West on the song that he has an approach to recording where he asks everyone, but is super confident with his vision and West would come up to anyone in the studio with him and be like: "What do you think of this? Okay, cool. How would you do those drums?".[3] The information was revealed by engineer Anthony Kilhoffer that there were never ending decisions when it came to the production of the track, which was reminiscent of West mixing "Stronger" a large number of times.[4]

According to West collaborator Manny Marroquin, "RoboCop" was the one song on 808s and Heartbreak that the majority of West's collaborators agree was the most difficult to make.[5] In the end, Marroquin believed West was not a hundred percent happy with the final track, saying "I think it was challenging, just because he heard it in his head and couldn't get it."[5] Marroquin also stated that due to this, there are three or four different versions of "RoboCop".[5]

Critical reception

"RoboCop" received widespread critical acclaim. The Observer had praise for the way West "chides over [the] terrific jackhammer rhythm [of the song]".[6] When Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork listed the album's sonic highlights, he pointed to the strings on the song.[7] The line: "I could never be your robot" was pointed out by Chris DeVille of Stereogum as where West "clearly saw vast potential in the effect beyond T-Pain's sex-robot routine" which was "a notion no one ever doubted" and the song was viewed as being a highlight of 808s & Heartbreak.[8] Michael Saponara of Billboard viewed its position on the album as what "keeps the theme of the controlling significant other rolling".[9] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club believed that the "strings lend a symphonic grandeur" to the song and overall, it is "infectiously goofy".[10]

Live performances

West performed the track for his 2010 live album VH1 Storytellers in February 2009 and transitioned into the performance of it from one of fellow 808s & Heartbreak track "See You in My Nightmares", then spoke about various thoughts in his head live over the instrumentation that followed "RoboCop" - he revealed American comedy rock duo Tenacious D to be a musical influence for it.[11][12] As part of West's setlist for his live performance at the 2009 Wireless Festival, the track was performed by him.[13] The song was performed by him at the 2015 Hollywood Bowl and West got the crowd to sing along appropriately to the line: "You spoiled little LA girl", since he was performing live in Los Angeles.[14] This marked the first time that it had been performed live since July 9, 2009.[15]

Leak

An unfinished version of "RoboCop" leaked in October 2008, around a month before the featuring album was released and West took to his blog following on from this to insist that he wasn't responsible for it happening, as well as revealing that he's upset about the track leaking.[16] Earlier in the month that this happened, it had been revealed by Mike Dean that the song was expected to receive a 'magic touch' from Herbie Hancock prior to the release of 808s & Heartbreak and the leaked version obviously hadn't received this, since West showed displeasure towards it.[17]

Music video
Amber Rose worked with West on the video.

On August 8, 2014, a stop-motion clip of the music video was shared to Instagram, which West chose to never officially release and it was directed by Hype Williams.[18][19] The video was recorded in Los Angeles after West had to persuade Amber Rose to fly there for the recording of it.[20] The clip includes Rose dressed as a robot and doing robotic movements at the same time that West is rapping, with a jerky stop-motion visual style to it.[18][21] West revealed in an on-set interview that his love for video games was the inspiration for the visuals.[19]

Legacy

West released the Kendrick Lamar featuring promotional single "No More Parties in LA" on January 18, 2016, which sees West rapping the lyrics: "We need the turbo thots, high speed, turbo thots/Drop-drop-drop-drop it like Robocop" in reference to his very own creation around eight years after its release.[22] Kim Kardashian West listed "RoboCop" among her top 28 favourite songs by her husband in August of the same year.[23] On Ebro in the Morning, Lil Uzi Vert listed the song as his favorite on 808s and Heartbreak.[24] The strings of "RoboCop" have led to the song being viewed as having a Disney sound in the years after its release by D-Brad Music and Uproxx.[25][26]

Personnel

Information taken from 808s & Heartbreak liner notes.[1]

  • Songwriters: Kanye West, Jenny-Bea Englishman, Malik Jones, Dexter Mills, Scott Mescudi, Antony Williams, Jeff Bhasker, Faheem Najm, Jay Jenkins, Patrick Doyle
  • Producers: Kanye West
  • Recorders: Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer
  • Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker
  • Background vocals: Jeff Bhasker, Tony Williams
  • Strings arrangements: Larry Gold.
  • Orchestra in chorus: Ken Lewis
  • String arrangements: Larry Gold
  • Violins: Emma Kummrow, Igor Szwec, Luigi Mazzochi, Gregory Teperman, Olga Konopelsky, Charles Parker
  • Viola: Davis Barnett, Alexandra Leem.
  • Cello: James J. Cooper, III, Jennie Lorenzo.
  • Bass: Miles Davis
  • Engineer: Jeff Chestek
  • Assistant engineers: Montez Roberts, Rick Friedrich, John Stahl

References
  1. 808s & Heartbreak. Roc-A-Fella Records (Media notes). Kanye West. 2008. 0-06025-1791919-8.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. Sheely, Ryan (April 14, 2009). "Kanye West has never seen RoboCop". Overthinking It. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  3. Rettig, James (March 10, 2015). "A-Trak Shares Stories Behind Kanye West's "Gold Digger," "Stronger," & "RoboCop"". Stereogum. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  4. Saponara, Michael (November 25, 2018). "Kanye West's '808s & Heartbreak' Turns 10: Engineer Anthony Kilhoffer Revisits the Influential Album". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  5. Holmes, Charles (November 24, 2018). "The Raw, Rushed Making of '808s & Heartbreak,' Kanye West's Most Influential Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  6. "CD: Urban review: Kanye West, 808s and Heartbreak | Music". The Observer. The Guardian. November 9, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  7. Plagenhoef, Scott (December 2, 2008). "Kanye West: 808s and Heartbreak Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  8. DeVille, Chris (November 23, 2018). "Kanye West's '808s & Heartbreak' Turns 10: A Transformative Moment". Stereogum. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  9. Saponara, Michael (November 24, 2017). "Kanye West's '808s & Heartbreak' Turns 9: Ranking the Album's Tracks". Billboard. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  10. Rabin, Nathan (November 25, 2008). "Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak". The A.V. Club. A.V. Club Music. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  11. Young, Alex (January 20, 2010). "Kanye West VH1 Storytellers | Album Reviews". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  12. Kreps, Daniel (March 2, 2009). "Kanye West performs for "VH1 Storytellers"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  13. "Kanye West Concert Setlist at Wireless Festival 2009 on July 5, 2009". setlist.fm. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  14. Trammell, Matthew (September 26, 2015). "Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak Live Show Is Proof Fam' Can't Kill Him". The FADER. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  15. Hendicott, James (September 26, 2015). "Kanye West performs 808s & Heartbreak in full for the first time - watch". NME. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  16. Kaufman, Gil (October 27, 2008). "Kanye West Swears He Didn't Leak 'Robocop'". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  17. Reid, Shaheem (October 15, 2008). "Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak Album Preview: More Drums, More Singing, 'No Typical Hip-Hop Beats'". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  18. Lilah, Rose (August 8, 2014). "Watch A Clip From Kanye West's Unreleased "Robocop" Music Video". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  19. "Kanye West 'RoboCop' Video Snippet Leaks Starring Amber Rose". Rap-Up. August 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  20. Khal (July 25, 2017). "A History of Kanye West and Amber Rose's Relationship". Complex. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  21. Reed, Ryan (August 8, 2014). "Watch Leaked Clip From Kanye West's Weird, Unreleased 'Robocop' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  22. Rhiannon, Alexis (January 18, 2016). "24 "No More Parties In LA" References Explained, So You Can Look Smart In Front Of Your Friends". Bustle. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  23. Britton, Luke Morgan (August 30, 2016). "Stream Kim Kardashian's playlist of her favourite Kanye West tracks". NME. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  24. "Lil Uzi Vert Talks Hating Interviews, Starting To Rap For Attention + Drops Bars!".
  25. "Just Throw This at the End: Kanye West's Gift for Outros". D-Brad Music. May 25, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  26. Fitzmaurice, Larry (November 20, 2018). "Kanye West's '808s & Heartbreak' 10th Anniversary Retrospective". Uproxx. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
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