"Enemy" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...

and American rapper

JID Destin Choice Route (born October 31, 1990), better known by his stage name JID (also stylized J.I.D), is an American rapper. He is a part of the musical collective Spillage Village, founded by EarthGang in 2010, with Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant ...

. It was released through

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

and

Kidinakorner Kidinakorner (stylized as KIDinaKORNER) is an American record company founded in 2011 by British music producer and songwriter Alexander "Alex da Kid" Grant. The company houses a record label, music publishing, commercial production and a market ...

on October 28, 2021, from the soundtrack of the

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series ''

Arcane Arcane may refer to: Books and comics * Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character * Arcane Jill Watson, a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' * Arcane literature, such as in Cthulhu Mythos Gaming * Arcane magic (''Dungeons & Drago ...

''. The song was written by the artists alongside

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Selena ...

and the producers

Mattman & Robin Mattman & Robin is a Swedish songwriting and production duo composed of Mattias Per Larsson and Robin Lennart Fredriksson. They are published by Wolf Cousins, a publishing company administered by Warner Chappell Music. In 2016, they won a Grammy A ...

. The song was also included on the band's fifth studio album ''

Mercury – Act 1 ''Mercury – Act 1'' is the fifth studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, released on September 3, 2021, by Kidinakorner and Interscope Records in the United States. Imagine Dragons recorded the album in 2018 after the previous alb ...

''. The song became JID's first song to reach the top 5 in the US, and became the band's first song to reach the top 5 since the 2017 song "

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

Background

"Enemy" was recorded for the animated

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''Arcane'', which premiered on November 6, 2021. The inspiration behind the song was the video game ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...

'', with the band having previously recorded the song "

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

" for the 2014 ''League of Legends'' World Championship. On

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, JID said "I wrote this verse a couple years ago but initially the opening lines were from a song I started with Mac

iller The Iller (; ancient name Ilargus) is a river of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, long. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Breitach, Stillach and Trettach near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu ...

he told me it would fit better on this song and I’m glad he did."

Content

In a press release, the band's vocalist Dan Reynolds explained: "'Enemy' is about reconciling internal conflict in a world where it feels impossible to trust even yourself. In ''Arcane'', two sisters' lives take them on different paths and leads to a division that threatens to tear an entire city apart. Like the series, the song is meant to be both personal and a critique of a society that seems intent on creating division."

Music video

An accompanying animated video was released on October 28, 2021, and produced by

Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...

and

Fortiche Production Fortiche Production Société par actions simplifiée, SAS is a French animation studio headquartered in Paris. Its biggest project to date is the television series ''Arcane (TV series), Arcane''. Development Fortiche was founded in 2009 and ...

. It features the ''League of Legends'' character

Jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeent ...

in a story about "the parts of her childhood that led her to a life of crime" and several scenes of "the falling out between Jinx and her sister Vi".

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. * Mattman & Robin –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, composer, lyricist, associated performer, background vocalist, bass, brass band, drums, guitar, programming, synthesizer * Justin Tranter – composer, lyricist, associated performer, background vocalist * Imagine Dragons – composer, lyricist, engineer, studio personnel * John Hanes – additional engineer,

mix engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

, studio personnel * JID – associated performer, vocals * Dan Reynolds – associated performer, background vocals * Ben Sedano – engineer, studio personnel * Serban Ghenea – engineer, mixer, studio personnel * Randy Merrill –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

, studio personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Arcane 2021 singles 2021 songs Animated series theme songs Imagine Dragons songs JID songs League of Legends Number-one singles in Poland Song recordings produced by Mattman & Robin Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Ben McKee Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Wayne Sermon Interscope Records singles Kidinakorner singles Rap rock songs American pop rock songs