"Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" ( edited for radio as "Trick, Don't Kill My Vibe" or simply "Don't Kill My Vibe"), is a song by American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

, from his major-label debut studio album ''

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (stylized as ''good kid, m.A.A.d city'') is the second studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on October 22, 2012, through Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Record ...

'' (2012). The song, produced by frequent collaborator

Sounwave Mark Anthony Spears, known professionally as Sounwave, is an American hip-hop producer and songwriter from Compton, California, and an original member of the Californian hip-hop label Top Dawg Entertainment. Sounwave has worked on every Kendric ...

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label founded in 2004, by CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Terrence "Punch" Henderson is president of the label. There are currently eleven artists signed to the label: the label's f ...

in-house

production team A production team is the group of technical staff who produce a play, television show, recording, or film. Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating of a particular product, regardless of where ...

Digi+Phonics Digi may refer to: * Short for "digital" as in digicam, digiscale, digiscrap, digibee * Digi Communications, a Romanian telecommunications company in Romania, Hungary, Spain and Italy *Digi International, an American electronics manufacturer *Digi- ...

, heavily samples "Tiden Flyver", by Danish

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

group Boom Clap Bachelors. It was originally intended to be a collaboration with American singer

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, but her contributions were ultimately excluded from the final recording due to timing issues. A remix of "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" featuring American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

was sent to radio as the album's fifth single on March 21, 2013, with the original version and another remix featuring British singer

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

later being released. The song's music video, directed by The Lil Homie and OG Mike Mihail, notably ends with an abrupt cut to a black title screen reading "Death to Molly", intended to be a criticism by Lamar of glorification of the drug

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in Tablet (pharmacy), tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for Recreational dru ...

in contemporary hip hop music. "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" peaked at number 32 on the United States ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, also reaching the top ten on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

charts.

Background

Recorded for Lamar's second studio album ''

'' (2012), "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" originally featured

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

s from American pop musician

. On August 15, 2012, Gaga announced that she had collaborated with Lamar on another song recorded for ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' entitled "Partynauseous", and that it would be released on September 6. Eight days later, she announced that the song would no longer be released on the announced date and apologized to fans for the delay. None of Gaga's contributions were ultimately featured on the album due to timing issues and creative differences, with Lamar stating: On November 8, 2012, Lady Gaga released the original version of the song featuring her vocals, in which she performs the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

and a verse. Lamar expressed his surprise and approval of her releasing the song, as he felt it showed confidence in their work together. Further, a Lady Gaga solo version of their song "Partynauseous" was part of Gaga's ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour, but the audio was never officially released.

Live performances

Lamar has performed "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" at every show on the ''Damn'' tour.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", directed by The Lil Homie and OG Mike Mihail, was released on May 13, 2013. The same day, the

director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

of the video was released, featuring

cameo appearances A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

from

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established i ...

and

Jay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1983), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. He signed to indie label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), in 2005. Under TDE, Rock secured a rec ...

and a bonus clip of a song by

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

, titled " Man of the Year". American comedian

Mike Epps Michael Elliot Epps (born November 18, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Day-Day Jones in ''Next Friday'' and its sequel, ''Friday After Next'', and also appeared in ''The Hangover'' and ''The Hangover Part III'' as "Bla ...

makes appearances throughout the video. The video ends with a hard cutoff of the string ensemble to a black screen with white text reading "Death to Molly". In an

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

interview, Lamar explained that the text was meant as a criticism of lyrical promotion of the drug

—popularly known as "Molly"—in hip hop music, saying: "When everybody consciously now uses this term or this phrase and putting it in lyrics, it waters the

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

down... So it's really just time to move on."

Remixes

On March 13, 2013, a snippet of the official

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

for "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" featuring a

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

from American rapper

was premiered by Jay-Z's engineer

Young Guru Gimel Androus Keaton (born February 27, 1974), better known by his stage name Young Guru, is an American audio engineer, record producer, disc jockey, and record executive from Wilmington, Delaware. In 2019, Young Guru won a Grammy Award for Bes ...

. When Lamar touched on the record, he called it an accomplishment to have a song featuring Jay-Z and revealed that he wrote his verse for the remix in one day. The full version of the remix was premiered by

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot 9 ...

on March 17, 2013. The remix was added to the track listing of the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

version of the album and subsequently released to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

radio on April 9, 2013. Its single cover is a photograph of basketball players Kobe Bryant and

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

, who serve as representations of, respectively, Lamar and Jay-Z. A remix of "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" featuring British singer-songwriter

, billed as the "International Remix", was released on May 27, 2013. The two had previously debuted the song live at the Footaction event in New York City earlier in the month. The remix was released as a digital single on June 25, 2013. On the remix, Sandé performs a new intro section and duets with Lamar on the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

Release and reception

Speaking to '' Rap-Up'' on March 9, 2013, Lamar stated that "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" would probably be released as a single from ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City''. Shortly after the premiere of the song's official remix, Lamar confirmed that "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" would be the fourth official single. It was supposed to be a collab with Lady Gaga but it didn't happen because artists both wanted in their album, so Kendrick Lamar release as a solo song. Following the release of ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'', "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" debuted at number 100 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week ending January 13, 2013. It re-entered the Hot 100 at number 84 for the week ending March 24, later peaking at number 32 and becoming his third top 40 hit as a solo artist on the chart. "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" has been widely regarded as one of Lamar's best songs. In 2018, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' ranked the song number nine on their list of the 20 greatest Kendrick Lamar songs, and in 2021, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked the song number five on their list of the 50 greatest Kendrick Lamar songs.

Awards and nominations

Formats and track listings

* Digital download # "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" (edited version) – 5:11 # "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" (explicit version) – 5:11 # "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" (remix / explicit version) – 4:39 # "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" (International remix / explicit version) – 5:06 * Digital download (remix) # "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" (remix) – 5:06

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Radio and release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2012 songs 2013 singles Kendrick Lamar songs Songs written by Kendrick Lamar Interscope Records singles Aftermath Entertainment singles Top Dawg Entertainment singles Songs written by Sounwave