"Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" is a song by American musician

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

from her fourth studio album, '' The Element of Freedom'' (2009). It is an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...

to the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one single " Empire State of Mind" performed by

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 o ...

featuring Keys. Produced by Al Shux and Keys, the song gained international airplay and download sales although it was only officially released in the United Kingdom as the second single from ''The Element of Freedom''. Before its official release, "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" had reached number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on downloads alone. The success of the song from a high volume of album downloads, led to it being announced as the second single from ''The Element of Freedom'' in the UK. The single was released on February 22, 2010. Keys and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" are featured on a 2011 HP Beats Commercial. The song also featured on the soundtrack of the film ''

Sex and the City 2 ''Sex and the City 2'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film ''Sex and the City'', based on the 1998–2004 television series. Sarah Jessica Parker, ...

'' (2010).

Background

Following the release of "Empire State of Mind" in October 2009, Keys stated that she was planning to release a second version of the song featuring only her vocals, as a single the following month. The original takes of Keys' version, entitled "Empire State of Mind Part 2", included both Keys' vocals and a new rap verse from Jay-Z, but the final product did not include Jay-Z. Discussing the record, Keys claimed that it acts as a dichotomy of strength and vulnerability, commenting that "The music is really strong, and the drums are really aggressive, but my voice is vulnerable and delicate".

Critical reception

"Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" was generally well received by contemporary music critics in their reviews for ''The Element of Freedom''. Allison Stewart of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' noted that the track, which is a pop ballad, had replaced "Empire State of Mind" sports team references and ruminations with "even milder and less controversial string of generalities", highlighting Keys' version's lyrics "If I could make it here/I could make it anywhere".

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the '' Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busine ...

of ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'' wrote that Keys' version "retains the soaring vocal hook" but the track "loses its swagger" without Jay-Z.

Chart performance

On December 20, 2009, due to high downloads of "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", the song entered the

at number fifty-two. As of February 14, 2010 it has reached a new peak of number four on downloads alone (her highest-charting solo single since "Fallin" reached number three in 2001). It became Keys' eighth top ten hit in the UK and second from ''The Element of Freedom''. It ended up spending eight straight weeks within the top 10 in the country, the longest stay for any of her songs including the original version,

's, " Empire State of Mind" in which she is featured. So far, it has spent 26 consecutive weeks within the top 40 as well as 52 weeks within the top 100, becoming Keys' most successful single ever. In December 2010 the song was announced as the thirteenth biggest selling single of the year in the UK, surpassing a number of chart-toppers and shaping as the biggest selling non-top-two single with 575,500 copies sold. In May 2011, the song would re-enter the top 100 by jumping from No. 189 to No. 93 in its 76th charting week. On January 21, 2010, the single entered the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

at forty-six and reached eight. It also debuted on the ''Billboard'' R&B charts at number seventy-seven and peaked at number fifty-five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 without an official release. In May 2012, "Empire State of Mind (Part II)" ranked as the 79th biggest-selling single of the 21st century in the United Kingdom, as published by the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

Live performances

On November 29, Keys performed the song's chorus in a medley alongside " Doesn't Mean Anything" and " No One", on the sixth season of the United Kingdom television show, ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. Keys performed the full version of the song on ''

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. I ...

Favourites''. Keys also performed the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' along with "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart".

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...

and Keys also performed the song together on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

'' with Colbert adding his own verses on December 15, 2009. For the 2010

Radio 1 Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

, the track's chorus was changed from "New York..." to "North Wales..." and the new version waxes lyrical about all that the

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

coast has to offer. Lyrics include; "Yes, today I travelled north from Harlech to the Menai Bridge. What a pretty drive, with so much to see it’s such a privilege." On June 28, 2011, Keys performed the song on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

''. Keys also performed the song as the final number at the six-hour '' 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief'' on December 12, 2012. There was no official music video shot for "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down". However, due to the success of the song, leading to it being released as a UK single, the ''4Music Favourites'' performance was shown on music channels as the music video.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire State Of Mind (Part Ii) Broken Down 2010 singles 2009 songs Alicia Keys songs J Records singles RCA Records singles Sequel songs Song recordings produced by Al Shux Songs about New York City Songs written by Al Shux Songs written by Alicia Keys Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Sylvia Robinson Songs written by Angela Hunte Song recordings produced by Alicia Keys