"Out of My Mind" is a song by American rapper

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

from his second studio album '' Strange Clouds'' (2012). The song features

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

and was produced by

Dr. Luke Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...

and Billboard. "Out of My Mind" was the fourth single released from the album. The song was primarily written by B.o.B, Nicki Minaj,

DJ Frank E Justin Franks, known professionally as DJ Frank E, is an American DJ and record producer from Denver, Colorado. Frank E started working closely with Adelio Lombardi, founder of Side 3 Entertainment and owner of Side 3 Studios in Denver, while ...

, and

Alex da Kid Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British musician, record producer, songwriter, record executive and fashion designer from Wood Green, London. He has gained recognition for p ...

Reception

"Out of My Mind" was met with generally positive reviews upon release, particularly due to Minaj's verse in the song. Some compared it to her verse on

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's "

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

" where critics say Minaj "stole the show". Kyle Anderson of

EW.com ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

stated, "Out of My Mind is an impressive testament to .o.B'sinfectious, unflappable cool. The guy knows how to hang in nearly every sonic situation, and master it — just like a real rock star." Anderson named "Out of My Mind" as one of the best tracks on the album, along with "So Hard to Breathe". According to the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, the song was written in 2009. Andrew Unterberger gave the song a "3 star" rating, criticizing B.o.B, by saying, "Really, it was never a fair fight. B.o.B. seems like a very nice young man, but intimidatingly deranged he is not, and his verses (featuring couplets like 'I was doing fine / Until my brain left and it didn't say bye' and 'I am a rebel but yes I'm so militant / Still I'm eligible for disabilities') are as convincing of his insanity as a 12-year-old telling an obviously fraudulent story of the action he got last summer at overnight camp." Unterberger also complimented Nicki Minaj's verse.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was directed by

Benny Boom Benny Douglas (born July 22, 1971), professionally known as Benny Boom, is an American director who has worked in music, television, and film. His most commercially successful film was the 2017 Tupac Shakur biopic ''All Eyez on Me''. Career Do ...

and was filmed in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

the week of July 16, 2012. A behind-the-scenes video was released on August 13. On August 10,

himself confirmed via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he would release the music video on August 15, but it failed to meet its premiere date. It is set in a

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...

. In one scene, B.o.B is handcuffed to a wheelchair. In another, he is struggling in a strait jacket and a

Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a Character (arts), fictional character created by the novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who Human cannibalism, eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected Forensic psychiatry, forensic psychi ...

-type mask. Minaj is also seen rapping alongside B.o.B. Minaj is referenced as "Dr. Minaj" for a brief moment in the video, just as her verse begins. The video made its full premiere on August 23, 2012 on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' and shortly after, uploaded to B.o.B's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account. Fans have noted that the song's lyrics and Minaj's role in the video are reminiscent of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

supervillain

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker (character), Joker in ''Batman: The An ...

's origin story.

Live performances

Minaj performed her verse in a medley on her Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour.

Chart performance

References

{{Nicki Minaj singles 2012 singles B.o.B songs Grand Hustle Records singles Song recordings produced by Billboard (record producer) Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Songs written by B.o.B Songs written by Dr. Luke Songs written by Nicki Minaj Nicki Minaj songs Music videos directed by Benny Boom Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Kinetics (rapper) Songs written by One Love (record producer) Songs written by Billboard (record producer) 2012 songs