"Paris, Tokyo" is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated third single from

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

's second studio album '' Lupe Fiasco's The Cool''. It was first presented at the 2007

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

in Chicago. The single was officially serviced to radio stations as of April 3, 2008 according to Lupe Fiasco's MySpace blog. The official digital release of the song was on April 12, 2008. It contains a sample of Eumir Deodato's "San Juan Sunset". The video made its TV premiere when

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made it the Jam of the Week on June 23, 2008. It also debuted on

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on July 8, 2008 as the new joint of the day. The official remix features

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

, Q-Tip and fellow record label artist Sarah Green, the song was released September 22, 2008.

Background

Speaking in March 2008 to noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of the award-winning Blues & Soul - Fiasco explained the inspiration behind the song: "I love Paris, I love Tokyo... And what inspired me to write the song was that between 'Food And Liquor' and this album we travelled EVERYWHERE - multiple countries, multiple towns, multiple tours. So I just developed a knack and a love for touring, even if I didn't want to do it! You know, despite the lyrical wear and tear it has on your body - particularly with the different climates - just by force I had to fall in love with it! And of course another side to it all is, when you travel, you leave people behind. So I actually wrote the song for my girl. Because I'd be gone so much we'd go for two months at a time without seeing each other. So it's basically her song. Just to let her know that, wherever I go, she comes with me - even if it is just mentally or in spirit."

Music video

The video (directed by

Erik White Erik White is an American music video director. In 2010, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy film ''Lottery Ticket'', starring rappers Bow Wow and Ice Cube. He appeared on the reality show competition ''The Glee Project' ...

) was released onto Lupe Fiasco's official

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channel at midnight on April 13, 2008.

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{Lupe Fiasco singles 2008 singles Lupe Fiasco songs Songs written by Lupe Fiasco Music videos directed by Erik White 2008 songs Atlantic Records singles