"Miss America" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hip hop

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his d ...

, released November 13, 2012 as the first promotional single from his second studio album '' Born Sinner'' (2013). The song, which was

produced 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 ...

by Cole himself, samples Rue Royale's "Flightline". The song debuted at #34 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 ...

. The song was used in Ubisoft's ''Launch'' trailer for the 2013 video game '' Splinter Cell: Blacklist''.

Background

On November 5, 2012, J. Cole announced that his second studio album would be titled ''Born Sinner'' and would release on January 28, 2013, along with a teaser video for it. Prior to the November 13, 2012 release of "Miss America" Cole also released a teaser video for the single. The single cover was released on November 12, 2012. Cole said he pushed away pop-accessibility in order to put out a single that provides social commentary. The song has been described by multiple outlets and Cole himself as not an ordinary first single and in no way directed towards radio. Later Cole leaked another version of the song called "Miss America Reprise" which features the same lyrics but different production compared to the single version.

Themes

The song ''Miss America'' discusses the corruption of an artist when he has the chance for commercial appeal and corruption of government when capitalism is involved. When speaking about the single with

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Cole said,

"I’m gonna try to use it to shift culture just a little bit. To me, 'Miss America' shifts things a little bit, it changes the conversation it takes it in a more aggressive direction, more raw, more social commentary... Any type of commentary is good compared to what a normal single is these days. That’s my aim, is to shift culture slightly, change the conversation. Nobody expects that for your first single."

Chart performance

The song first charted on the week of December 1, 2012, on the

chart at No. 34.

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control J. Cole songs 2012 songs 2012 singles Roc Nation singles Songs written by J. Cole Song recordings produced by J. Cole