"Red Nation" is a song by American rapper and

West Coast hip hop West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the ea ...

artist

Game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

featuring vocals from 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), ...

, from his anticipated fourth studio album '' The R.E.D. Album''. Released as the album's lead single on April 12, 2011, the song was written by Game and Lil Wayne, and it was produced by

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

-based production duo

Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

, noted for producing three of Game's singles including the 2005 smash hit single "

Hate It or Love It "Hate It or Love It" is a single by American rapper and West Coast hip hop artist the Game, featuring 50 Cent. It was released as the third official single from the Game's debut studio album ''The Documentary'' (2005). The song features produc ...

" which featured vocals from former fellow

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released t ...

member rapper

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

. The single also marks the second collaboration between Game and Lil Wayne, their first collaboration being on Game's 2008 international hit single "

My Life My Life may refer to: Autobiographies * ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870 * ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004 * ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973 * ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...

" from his third studio album ''

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

'' (2008), which featured vocals from Lil Wayne during the song's chorus. The song features a music

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

of the

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

hit "

Kernkraft 400 "Kernkraft 400" (English: Nuclear Energy 400) is a song performed by German techno artist Zombie Nation and the first single from their album ''Leichenschmaus''. Released in 1999, it peaked at number 22 in Germany in February 2000 while becoming ...

" (2000) (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for "Nuclear Energy 400") performed by

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

and electro band Zombie Nation from their debut album '' Leichenschmaus'' (1999). The song's sample of

by Zombie Nation is considered one of the most famous songs of electronic dance music and a tune often played at

sporting events Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

. The single was also thought to be and mark Game's first song to be released back under the

Aftermath Entertainment Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre himself, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, An ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

labels, the two record labels that released his debut studio album ''

The Documentary ''The Documentary'' is the second studio album by American rapper the Game. It was released on January 18, 2005, by Aftermath Entertainment, G-Unit Records, and Interscope Records. In 2001, while the Game was in a hospital recovering from a shoo ...

'' (2005), after resigning back with Interscope Records back in 2009 later resigning back with Aftermath Entertainment in early 2010, and before a beef with former fellow

labelmate and group member 50 Cent caused him to release his two following albums and singles on

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, but this was proved untrue. On March 10, 2011 Game sent the single to Hip hop DJ

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot 9 ...

whom premiered it on his popular radio show on

WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...

Hot 97 in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The song was well received by listeners unlike his previous four released singles. In the United States, "Red Nation" debuted at the number 62 position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The music video for the song was directed by Parris, and it premiered on Thursday, May 12, 2011. The video had been banned from airing on cable networks

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and

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 ...

due to being deemed inappropriate and being a portrayal of

gang culture A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

, causing a controversy due to Game's alleged affiliation with the notorious

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

gang the

Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includin ...

. However, Game refused to let the snub derail his plans for promotion, so he still vowed to release the video online so fans can form their own opinions about the controversy for themselves. After the music video quickly received over 3 million views on

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 ...

, there were rumors that BET and MTV were reconsidering airing the banned "Red Nation" video.

Background

After having a few false starts with chart failing singles, starting back with 2009's "Krazy" (which featured both

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

) and "Big Money" followed by 2010's "It Must Be Me" (in which it featured

Pharrell 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 ...

) and "Ain't No Doubt About It" (which featured

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

and Pharrell) all failing to chart, Game decided to have them all removed from the album and instead release them on mixtapes, those including on ''The Red Room'' and the ''Brake Lights'' mixtapes. With the album also reportedly suffering numerous delays since 2009, Game also decided to have canceled a series of listening sessions so that he could focus on recording new material for the album. Later in 2011 following the release of his mixtape '' Purp & Patron'', which immediately became widely praised as one of the best hip hop mixtapes of 2011 and after generating buzz from the mixtape, Game regained the center of attention on when he was officially going to release the album's official single. Later on March 2, 2011, it was confirmed by producers

via their

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 the first official single from the album would be titled "Red Nation". In the beginning there was rumors that surfaced around that the single would feature all three rappers

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

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 ...

and

, but on March 7, 2011 it was confirmed by Cool & Dre via their Twitter that the single would not feature Wiz Khalifa nor B.o.B, only leaving Lil Wayne in question if he would then only be the one to be featured on the song. On March 8, 2011, it was officially announced by

Sean "Diddy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

via his Twitter that the single would indeed feature rapper Lil Wayne.

Composition

"Red Nation" features rap verses from Game and vocals from Lil Wayne during the song's chorus, who is credited as a featured artist. It is an anthemic rap hip hop song with influences of

and electro. The track also has pop-rap musical styles. The song contains a music sample of the 2000 single "

" by the band Zombie Nation, the sample being a jolt of electro with synths and piano complementing a sampled techno riff. The song "Kernkraft 400" (

for "Nuclear Energy 400") is considered one of the most famous songs of electronic dance music and a tune often played at

, the song, specifically titled as the "Sport Chant Remix" or the "Sport Chant Stadium Remix", is popular at

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n sporting events for goals, home runs, and other celebrations. This version of the song is known by its signature "Whoa-oh-oh" chanting at the beginning of the song.

Premiere and release

On March 10, 2011, Game sent "Red Nation" to Hip hop DJ

where he officially premiered it on his popular radio show on

Hot 97 in

. The song was well received by listeners unlike his previous four released singles. Anticipated by fans to be officially released, "Red Nation" was officially released to the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on April 12, 2011 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Later on April 15, 2011 the single was officially released in both

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, then later it was officially released worldwide on May 3, 2011.

Critical reception

Amanda Hensel from ''PopCrush'' gave the song a positive review, saying the song "will get you out of your seat cheering for the rapper’s much anticipated return, but we could see the second single coming in strong."

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

Robert J. O'Neill Robert J. O'Neill (born 10 April 1976) is a former United States Navy SEAL (1996–2012), TV news contributor, and author. After participating in May 2011's Operation Neptune Spear with SEAL Team Six, O'Neill was the subject of controversy ...

said he was listening to Red Nation on the helicopter into Pakistan during

Operation Neptune Spear On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot several times and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Spe ...

Chart performance

In the United States, "Red Nation" debuted at the number 62 position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, on the issue dated April 30, 2011. "Red Nation" debuted at number 39 on the

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally starte ...

chart, and debuted at number 17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart. In Germany "Red Nation" debuted at the number eight position on the

Deutsche Black Charts Deutsche Urban Charts (DUC), former also known by various names including Deutsche Black Charts (DBC) and Deutsche Hip Hop/R&B/Dancehall Singles, is a German chart released weekly by Deutsche Trend Charts (owned by Public Music & Media Ltd. and iss ...

and peaked at the number six position.

Music video

Development and release

The video was shot on April 5, 2011, underneath the 4th Street Bridge in downtown

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Game stood surrounded by smoldering dirt and flashing red lights. Smoke billowed in the background and road flares flickered brightly. The video was described to be a "

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

", music video. The video was directed by Parris, whose recent work includes

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

' "

Tonight (I'm Lovin' You) "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)", censored as “Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" or simply "Tonight" in altered versions, is a song by Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. It features American rapper Ludacris and producer DJ Frank E. The song was released to ...

" and Diddy-Dirty Money's "

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

". It also had been confirmed that Lil Wayne filmed his scenes at a later date. On May 9, 2011, Game posted via his Twitter that

banned the Red Nation video because himself and

were "too gang affiliated" in it, also later that same day Game stated that

also had banned the "Red Nation" video due to the same reason, but stated that he would still premier the video himself online and on

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

& WorldStarHipHop on May 12, 2011. After the video quickly received over 2 million views on

, there were rumors that BET and MTV were reconsidering airing the banned "Red Nation" video.

Live performances

On March 15, 2011, Game performed the song for the first time live at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

. On May 23, 2011, Game performed the song live on the ''

Lopez Tonight ''Lopez Tonight'' is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by the comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican-American to host a late-nig ...

'' show with

DJ Skee Scott Keeney (born 15 November 1983), better known by his stage name DJ Skee, is an American artist, television host, radio personality, and entrepreneur. Skee rose to fame as the first DJ to discover and play superstar artists on the radio incl ...

and Skeetox.

Formats and track listings

* Digital download # "Red Nation" featuring

– 3:50

Credits and personnel

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

–

Dwayne Carter 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, joining ...

, Andre Lyon,

Jayceon Taylor Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979), better known by his stage name the Game or simply Game, is an American rapper. Born in Compton, California, he initially released a series of mixtapes under the wing of fellow West Coast rapper ...

, Marcello Valenzano, Florian Senfter, Emanuel Guenther *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

–

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

– Andre Lyon, Marcello Valenzano *

Instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...

– Andre Lyon, Marcello Valenzano Source:

Charts

Radio and release history

Radio release

Purchasable release

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Red Nation 2011 singles The Game (rapper) songs Lil Wayne songs Songs written by Lil Wayne Song recordings produced by Cool & Dre Songs written by Cool (record producer) Gangsta rap songs 2009 songs Songs written by The Game (rapper) DGC Records singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Dre (record producer)