"Cold" (originally "Theraflu" and then "Way Too Cold") is a song by American rapper
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, released as the second single from the album ''
Cruel Summer'' (2012). The song, which features
DJ Khaled
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper.
Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...
, was made available for purchase on 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 ...
on April 17, 2012. Songwriting is credited to West, Chauncey Hollis,
James Todd Smith and
Marlon Williams, while production was handled by
Hit-Boy
Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...
. Lyrically, the song features West boasting about his personal issues and touching on subjects such as his relationship with
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the sex ...
, his breakup with
Amber Rose
Amber Rose Levonchuck (born October 21, 1983) is an American model and television personality. She first gained attention after she appeared in the music video for Young Jeezy and Kanye West's single "Put On". In 2008, Rose began a high-profile ...
, and his feelings on
Wiz Khalifa
Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...
and
Kris Humphries
Kristopher Nathan Humphries (born February 6, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA for the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, New Je ...
. Additional vocals are included from DJ Pharris. The song received positive reviews from music critics, who praised West's lyrical performance and the boldness of his subject matter. The song contains an
interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points.
In engineering and science, one often has a n ...
of "
Lookin' at Me
"Lookin' at Me" was the third and final single released from Mase's debut album, ''Harlem World''. The song was produced by The Neptunes and featured Puff Daddy. The single was yet another success for Mase, becoming his third consecutive top 10 hi ...
" (1997) as performed by
Mase
Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...
and
Puff Daddy
Puff may refer to:
Science and technology
* Puff, a small quantity of gas or smoke in the air
** Puff, a light gust of wind
** Exhalation
** Inhalation
* Puff model, volcanic ash tracking model developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
* PUF ...
, and a sample of "
Illegal Search" (1990) also performed by
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...
.
The song peaked at number 86 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, while it reached number 68 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 ...
chart. "Cold" received single artwork designed by frequent West collaborator
George Condo
George Condo (born 1957) is an American visual artist who works in painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. He lives and works in New York City.
Early life
Condo was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He studied art history and musi ...
, designer of the cover of West's 2010 album ''
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010, following a period of public controversy for West. Re ...
''. West performed the song at the 2012
Watch the Throne Tour
The Watch the Throne Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West that began on October 28, 2011 in Atlanta and continued until June 22, 2012 with its final show scheduled in Birmingham. Originally scheduled for ...
, and at the 2012
BET Awards
The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...
, along with singles "
Mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
" and "
New God Flow
"New God Flow" is a song by American rappers Kanye West and Pusha T. It was released as the third single from the compilation album '' Cruel Summer'' (2012), a collaboration between members of their record label GOOD Music. Produced by West, Anth ...
". A version with an alternative intro was performed live by him during
The Yeezus Tour
The Yeezus Tour was a concert tour by American rapper Kanye West in support of West's sixth solo studio album, '' Yeezus'' (2013). The venture served as West's first solo concert tour in five years. Kendrick Lamar, A Tribe Called Quest, Travis S ...
. The song drew controversy from Humphries, the brand
Theraflu
Cold medicines are a group of medications taken individually or in combination as a treatment for the symptoms of the common cold and similar conditions of the upper respiratory tract. The term encompasses a broad array of drugs, including a ...
, and
PETA
Peta or PETA may refer to:
Acronym
* Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization
* People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...
who criticized the content of West's lyrics, claiming the track glorified
fur clothing
Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...
.
Production and release
"Way Too Cold" was produced by Hit-Boy, a producer signed to West's label
GOOD Music
GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...
, known for his production on "
Niggas in Paris
"Niggas in Paris" ( edited for radio as "In Paris" or simply "Paris"; censored on the album as "Ni**as in Paris") is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album ''Watch the Throne'' (2011). The song is built ar ...
".
According to Hit-Boy, he had "made the beat a couple months ago, just in a session messing around" and that West "just did the record maybe a week and a half ago. We actually don’t know if it's going to be on Khaled's album or ‘Ye's album. We just put it out because we felt like it was so urgent, people just needed to hear it."
In an interview Khaled explained: "I was in the studio with 'Ye
anyeand I was like, 'Let's do something for your album, and let's do something for my album,' and you can just release it for fun."
The song was first released on the New York City radio station
Hot 97
WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...
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 ...
on April 4, 2012. The cover artwork was designed by
George Condo
George Condo (born 1957) is an American visual artist who works in painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. He lives and works in New York City.
Early life
Condo was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He studied art history and musi ...
, who designed the artwork for West's album ''
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010, following a period of public controversy for West. Re ...
'' and singles like "
Power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
" and "
Runaway". The first cover originally featured a bottle of Theraflu atop the woman's neck, was edited to remove the bottle before being released for digital download.
On April 15, West announced on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that the name of the song had been changed to "Way Too Cold", and then finally "Cold". The track was then released as a single onto iTunes on April 17, 2012.
Following its digital release, the song impacted
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
radio on May 8, 2012.
Music video
The music video was released on August 13, 2012 at the end of
DJ Khaled
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper.
Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...
's "
I Wish You Would" video. The video features an appearance by
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the sex ...
and was directed by
Hype Williams
Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adel ...
.
Composition
"Cold" is a bass-heavy, bouncy track with West rapping prominently over a "furious beat".
It includes West's "blunt thoughts on his romance with model Amber Rose", who was engaged to rapper Wiz Khalifa at the time, with lines like, "only nigga I got respect for is Wiz / And I admit I fell in love with Kim around the same time she fell in love with him". The second part of the quote alludes to his relationship with Kim Kardashian and her estranged husband, Kris Humphries.
West boasts that Kris is "lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team", a line referencing his frequent collaborator
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 ...
, who was part-owner of the
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
, the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
team that basketball star Kris Humphries played for at the time.
The song "is stuffed with boasts about the rapper's fashion cred, from boasting that he's had dinner with ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' editor
Anna Wintour
Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...
to showing off a $6000 pair of shoes.
The track features vocal assists from DJ Khaled and DJ Pharris, who close out the outro of the song with their boasting.
Reception
![Kim Kardashian 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Kim_Kardashian_4.JPG)
The song was met with positive reviews from music critics, who mostly had praise for West's lyrical performance and the boldness of his subject matter. Tom Breihan of
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
described the song as "a seriously strong performance, all hard snarls over a bleepy late-'90s-style beat" and that it "finds Kanye getting surprisingly personal, at least for a couple of lines, about his long-rumored relationship with Kim Kardashian." Rob Markman of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
stated that "lyrically, Kanye delivers a fiery performance" on the track, and that "it's all pretty intriguing, considering Kanye has shied away from the media for almost two years now."
Alex Gale of
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
mused that the song features a "brash Kanye West going in furiously over a schizophrenic soundscape from Hit-Boy, the production maestro behind The Throne's 'Niggas in Paris.' Yeezy's bars are buzzworthy to say the least".
DJBooth mused "arrogance is busting through the seams on the record, yet it is balanced enough to sound charismatic in a form that Mr. West has perfected."
''
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 ...
'' wrote that the song was "surprisingly magnanimous" and that it features West in his "full-on braggart mode".
In ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
s list of the best 25 lines of the first half of 2012, West's line "And I'll admit, I had fell in love with Kim/Around the same time she had fell in love with him/Well that's cool, baby girl, do ya thang/Lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team" was listed as the second best.
"Cold" debuted at number 92 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, ultimately achieving a peak position of number 86 on the chart.
The song further reached number 68 on the US
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 ...
chart.
On September 23, 2020, the song was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for sales of 500,000 certified units in the United States.
Controversy
When "Cold" premiered, it was titled "Theraflu". A representative of
Theraflu
Cold medicines are a group of medications taken individually or in combination as a treatment for the symptoms of the common cold and similar conditions of the upper respiratory tract. The term encompasses a broad array of drugs, including a ...
released a statement to
TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
which read "We in no way endorse or approve of the references or use of the image and likeness of Theraflu in this manner."
Theraflu noted that this was not done at their request. In response to the line "Tell PETA my mink is draggin' on the floor",
PETA
Peta or PETA may refer to:
Acronym
* Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization
* People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...
stated:
"What's draggin’ on the floor is Kanye's reputation as a man with no empathy for animals or human beings. He's a great musician but doesn’t seem to have the fashion sense to design anything more than caveman costumes. We keep hoping that one day he’ll find his heart and join evolved style icons-- including Russell Simmons
Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...
, Pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
, and Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
-- who have dropped animal skins."
Live performances
The song was first performed by West at the London stop of his 2012 Watch the Throne Tour, with West performing the song
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
. At the 2012 BET Awards, the song was performed with rappers
Big Sean
Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...
,
Pusha T
Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 20 ...
,
2 Chainz
Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, al ...
, as filed out one by one to deliver their verses from the song "Mercy", with West emerging to perform his verses from "Cold" and "New God Flow" afterwards.
Though ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
s Randall Roberts noted that it wasn't "until West moved into his hit "Cold" that things got great".
The track was performed with snow machines shooting out ice over the audience when West played a gig in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
...
on February 24, 2013.
On November 20, 2013, when performing live on
The Yeezus Tour
The Yeezus Tour was a concert tour by American rapper Kanye West in support of West's sixth solo studio album, '' Yeezus'' (2013). The venture served as West's first solo concert tour in five years. Kendrick Lamar, A Tribe Called Quest, Travis S ...
at the
Barclay's Center, West used a vocal track of "
Cold as Ice" by
Foreigner for an intro to his performance of "Cold". The same version was performed live again by West when he took the tour to
Perth Arena
Perth Arena (known commercially as ) is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city centre of Perth, Western Australia, used mostly for basketball matches. It is located on Wellington Street near the site of the former Perth Entertainmen ...
on September 6, 2014 and as part of his headline set for
Glastonbury Festival 2015
The 2015 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24 to 28 June 2015.
On 17 June 2015, it was announced that the Foo Fighters had cancelled a number of appearances, including the Friday night headline slot at Glastonb ...
.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes for ''
Cruel Summer'' (2012).
*Produced by Hit-Boy
*Recorded by Noah Goldstein at
Jungle City,
NYC
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
*Mixed by
Mike Dean at Jungle City, NYC
*Mix assisted by Keith Parry
*Additional vocals by DJ Pharris
Chart performance
Certifications
References
External links
"Cold"at Kanye West's Official Website
{{authority control
2012 singles
GOOD Music singles
Kanye West songs
DJ Khaled songs
Music videos directed by Hype Williams
Song recordings produced by Hit-Boy
Def Jam Recordings singles
Songs written by Hit-Boy
Songs written by Kanye West
Songs written by LL Cool J
2012 songs