"Right Above It" is a hip hop song by American 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), ...

, released as the first single off his eighth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' I Am Not a Human Being'' (2010). The song features vocals from Canadian and

Young Money Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Young Money's president is Lil Wayne's lifelong friend and fellow rapper Mack Maine. The label was an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Republ ...

rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, and is produced by American hip-hop producer

Kane Beatz Daniel Andrew Johnson (born December 20, 1986), professionally known as Kane Beatz, is an American record producer and songwriter from Orlando, Florida. Life and career Johnson first found monetary success from producing while still in high sc ...

. The song is also written by rapper and producer Andrew Canton. The song achieved reasonable chart success, particularly in the United States where it peaked at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, and also charted modestly internationally. Upon its release, the song received generally positive reviews from critics, who complimented its confident, upbeat tone and the performances of both rappers, with many praising it as a highlight off the album. The song was later certified 4× platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of 4 million equivalent units. The song serves as the opening theme for the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series '' Ballers,'' starring

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

Background

Along with all of the other songs on '' I Am Not a Human Being'', the song was recorded in 2010 prior to Wayne's nine-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. The song contains a vocal sample from the

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

song "Hail Mary": more specifically, it samples the line "I ain't a killer but don't push me". The song premiered on August 3, 2010, on the New York

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

radio station Hot 97. On the same evening, the show's host Funkmaster Flex conducted an interview with

from

Rikers Island Rikers Island is a island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under in size, but has ...

prison. While discussing ''I Am Not a Human Being'', Lil Wayne announced that the song would be released as a single, although he did not announce a release date at the time. The single was officially digitally released in the United States on August 17, 2010.

Live performances

On December 31, 2010, Lil Wayne performed the song on NBC's

New Year's Eve with Carson Daly New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...

. As

was not available to sing his verse, it was not featured in the performance. Lil Wayne and Drake performed the song on ''

106 and 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- rate ...

'' on December 31, 2010.

Reception

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writer David Jefferies called the song "grand" stating that it "swaggers and struts like a free man cruising through the club". Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the song as "bombastic" and praised Lil Wayne's musical diversity, comparing the song to more recent hits ("

I'm Single "I'm Single" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne, released as a single from his ninth solo mixtape, ''No Ceilings'', and is also included on his eighth studio album ''I Am Not a Human Being''. The song is produced by Noah "40" Shebib, with co-p ...

" and " No Love") and their different musical styles, stating " issuccesses in the last few months have been in different, and divergent, modes... diversity is Lil Wayne’s strength". Despite describing the song as "generic", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' writer Jeff Weiss wrote positively of the song, stating that " tachieves a kind of bizarre solipsism". However, he also felt that "Wayne’s done this shtick better before".

Chart performance

After experiencing strong digital sales on release, the song debuted at number 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated September 4, 2010, making it the highest debuting song on the chart for that week, and at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Digital Songs chart, becoming the first Lil Wayne song to top this chart. With 225,000 copies downloaded during the first week, it was Wayne's best sales week as a lead artist and as of December 27 the single has sold over a million copies. The song also peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rap Songs chart, and also at number four on the ''Billboard''

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 ...

chart. "Right Above It" also achieved modest international charting. The song debuted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 37 on 5 September 2010 following strong digital downloading from the album. This marks Lil Wayne's second Top 40 hit in the UK after " Lollipop" peaked at number 26 during 2008. The single also peaked at number 11 on the UK R&B Chart. The song also peaked at number 34 in Canada, and number 27 in Belgium.

Appearances

, the song is featured in the opening of the

television series '' Ballers''. It was also used as the walkout song for former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier.

Credits and personnel

* Songwriting –

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 ...

Aubrey Graham Aubrey Drake Graham ( ; born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper and singer. An influential figure in contemporary popular music, Drake has been credited for popularizing singing and R&B sensibilities in hip hop. He gained recognition by ...

, Daniel Johnson, Andrew Canton *

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 ...

–

Source:Credits adapted from liner notes for ''I Am Not a Human Being'' (2010).

Young Money Entertainment Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Young Money's president is Lil Wayne's lifelong friend and fellow rapper Mack Maine. The label was an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Republi ...

, Cash Money Records,

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the "urban" half of UMG, although there were some ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Right Above It 2010 singles 2010 songs Lil Wayne songs Drake (musician) songs Songs written by Lil Wayne Songs written by Drake (musician) Cash Money Records singles Song recordings produced by Kane Beatz Songs written by Kane Beatz