"Nobody Speak" is a song by American
hip hop producer
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996.
Biography Early years (1989–1995)
DJ Sha ...
, featuring rap verses from American rap duo
Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop super-duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album ...
. The song was first a part of Run the Jewels'
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
release, which was a
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
cardboard viewer that included a digital download code for the song. It also acted as the lead single from Shadow's fifth studio album, ''
The Mountain Will Fall
''The Mountain Will Fall'' is the fifth studio album by American music producer DJ Shadow. It was released on June 24, 2016 by Mass Appeal Records.
Critical reception
''The Mountain Will Fall'' received generally positive reviews from critics. ...
'' (2016). A music video for the song was released on August 24, 2016.
Composition
"Nobody Speak" features rap verses from
El-P
Jaime Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has been a ...
and
Killer Mike
Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP ''Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single " ...
of rap duo
Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop super-duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album ...
, who were credited as the song's writers alongside DJ Shadow. It contains a musical sample of "
Ol' Man River
"Ol' Man River" is a show tune from the 1927 musical ''Show Boat'' with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississipp ...
" by
Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931) is a French multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer of Italian ethnicity. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best known as a performer in Europe, Valente ...
, and a lyrical sample from "Top Billin'" (from
Audio Two
Audio Two was the Brooklyn, New York hip hop duo of emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, most famous for its first hit "Top Billin'".
History
The duo's debut single, "Make it Funky", was released in 1987, but it was ...
's 1987 album ''
What More Can I Say?
''What More Can I Say?'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Audio Two. It was released in 1988 through First Priority Records with distribution by Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place at I.N.S. Studios, Such-A-Sound Studi ...
'').
The instrumental features a
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
-like bass and drum groove,
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
horns, as well as guitar loops. Shadow chose El-P and Killer Mike as collaborators due to their vocal style fitting the song's instrumental the most.
Release
"Nobody Speak" was first made available through the Run the Jewels
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
release. It consisted of a special
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
cardboard viewer, which held a code that granted the purchaser to a free
digital download of the song.
The song was eventually made available for a paid download through
Mass Appeal Records
Mass Appeal Records is an American independent record label founded in 2014. The label is the music division of the Mass Appeal Media Group. In May 2014, it was announced that American rapper Nas was launching an indie label with Mass Appeal wi ...
.
The song was later released as a limited edition
12" vinyl single on August 24, 2016 through Mass Appeal and Liquid Amber.
Music video
A music video for "Nobody Speak" was released on August 24, 2016. The video, which has been described as "brutal
ndpolitically charged",
features political representatives in a meeting. The leaders of the groups begin a rap battle against each other, which after around 90 seconds turns into an all-out brawl involving virtually everyone in the meeting room. The video finishes with one leader preparing to impale his counterpart with an American flag.
The leaders of the groups are played by
Igor Tsyshkevych and Ian Bailey.
Shadow commented on the video, saying that they wanted to make a "positive, life-affirming video that captures politicians at their
election-year best. We got this instead."
Killer Mike also commented on the video, saying that "It's such a dope video ... it's what I really wish
Trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
and
Hillary would just do and get it over with."
The video was directed by Sam Pilling and features cameo appearances of Shadow, El-P, and Killer Mike.
It was filmed at the "Ukrainian Dim" (
Ukrainian House
The International Convention Center "Ukrainian House" ( uk, Український дім. Міжнародний конгрес-центр) is the largest international exhibition and convention center in Kyiv, Ukraine. Popularly referred to a ...
) exhibition center in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine.
Use in media
The song has appeared in trailers for films including
Suburbicon
''Suburbicon'' is a 2017 American black comedy crime film directed by George Clooney and co-written by the Coen brothers, Clooney, and Grant Heslov. It stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe, and Oscar Isaac, and follows a mild-mannered fat ...
,
Booksmart
''Booksmart'' is a 2019 American comedy film directed by Olivia Wilde (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. It stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as two gradua ...
, and
Good Boys Good Boys may refer to:
* " Good Boys (song)", a 2003 song by Blondie
* ''Good Boys'' (film), a 2019 American film
* ''The Good Boys'', a 1997 Indian Malayalam film
* Goodboys
Goodboys are an English house music group consisting of Joshua Gr ...
.
A television ad campaign in 2021 for the electric
Cadillac Lyriq
The Cadillac Lyriq is a battery electric crossover manufactured and marketed by the Cadillac subdivision of General Motors. As Cadillac's first fully electric vehicle, and the first GM production vehicle using the BEV3 platform, the Lyriq intr ...
automobile featured the instrumental portion of the song.
Track listing
*
Mass Appeal — MSAP0034 — Promotional CD-R
and digital download single
*Mass Appeal / Liquid Amber — MSAP0036LP — 12" vinyl single
Personnel
Personnel adapted from ''The Mountain Will Fall'' liner notes.
*Tim Burns – trombone
*DJ Shadow – arrangement, composing, mixing, production, programming
*
El-P
Jaime Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has been a ...
– composing, vocals
*Mikael Eldridge – mixing
*
Killer Mike
Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP ''Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single " ...
– composing, vocals
*Graham Pike – trumpet
*Jake Telford – baritone and tenor saxophone
Charts
Certifications
References
{{authority control
2016 singles
2016 songs
DJ Shadow songs
Songs written by El-P
Songs written by Killer Mike
Songs written by DJ Shadow