"Let It Rock" is the debut single by American musician

Kevin Rudolf Kevin Winston Rudolf (born February 17, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, and multi-instrumentalist from New York City, New York. He is best known for his 2008 single " Let It Rock". Early life Kevin Winston Rud ...

. It was produced by Rudolf for his debut album, '' In the City'', and features a verse from American rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

. In the U.S. and Canada, the song reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number No. 6 on the

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

and No. 2 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. The first week, the song debuted at No. 45 on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and eventually reached No. 3. In the United Kingdom, the song climbed to No. 40 on physical release but due to an increase in airplay, due to

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

adding it to their A-list, the song climbed thirty places to No. 10 in the song's second week on the chart; then it rose to No. 5 the following week. "Let It Rock" was number 28 on ''

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 ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. The single was also the official theme song for WWE's 2009

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...

. It is also featured in the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s ''

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'' and ''

Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xb ...

''. According to in-game files, the song was also originally meant to appear on ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'' radio station, but it was not included in the final release of the game for unknown reasons. "Let It Rock" was featured in tourism ads for

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

in 2013. "Let It Rock" was certified triple platinum by the

RIAA 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 ...

on May 5, 2009. As of July 2011, the song has sold 4,000,000 digital downloads, making it Lil Wayne's third 4-million-seller.

Meaning

Rudolf explained what "Let It Rock" is about, saying: "'Let It Rock' was written from a place of anger and dissatisfaction with the world. It's a song about hypocrisy. It contains biblical references - and yet people still think it's a party song. Whatever works." Rudolf said about "Let It Rock": "It's a song about the hypocrisy in the world, and I'm saying that when I come through, I'm bringing the truth," Rudolf explained. Rudolf then said: "I use the

Parable of the Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. Jesus shares the parable with ...

, because I want to expose all the fakes out there — in the music industry, in the world, anywhere. A lot of people think it's a party record, but it's not."

Track listing

;Digital download # "Let It Rock" (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:56 ;U.S. digital CD single # "Let It Rock" (clean) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:56 # "Let It Rock" (explicit) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:56 # "Let It Rock" (instrumental) - 3:50 # "Let It Rock" (explicit a cappella) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:50 ;UK digital CD single # "Let It Rock" (album version) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:56 # "Let It Rock" (Filthy Dukes remix) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 6:35 # "Let It Rock" (Cahill remix) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 6:11 # "Let It Rock" (radio edit) (featuring Lil Wayne) - 3:54 # "Let It Rock" (solo version) - 2:48

Music video

The music video for "Let It Rock" features Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne performing in front of both a crowd and a dark background, sometimes lit with various effects such as strobe and laser lights.

Samples

The song's chorus is also featured in the

Iyaz Keidran Jones (born 15 April 1987), better known by his stage name Iyaz, is a British Virgin Islands singer and songwriter, formerly signed with the record label Beluga Heights Records. He is known for his singles " Replay", "Solo" and " Pretty ...

song "Damn They Hot", which features Rudolf himself. The song is also sampled and incorporated into Natasha Bedingfield's song "All I Need" from her album '' Strip Me'', which also features Rudolf.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Let It Rock (Kevin Rudolf Song) 2008 debut singles 2008 songs Kevin Rudolf songs Lil Wayne songs Cash Money Records singles Songs written by Lil Wayne Songs written by Kevin Rudolf