"Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." is the second single from

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

's tenth

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 ...

, '' American Gangster''. The song is produced by Skyz Muzik, Diddy and two of his producers known as LV and

Sean C Deleno Matthews, known professionally as Sean C (originally Sean Cane), is an American producer, DJ and "artists and repertoire" (A&R) specialist. Sean is a member of production duo Sean C & LV (Grind Music) which is affiliated with Sean Combs' H ...

from his production team,

The Hitmen The Hitmen are an Australian hard rock band formed in November 1977 by long-term members, Johnny Kannis on lead vocals and Chris Masuak on lead guitar as Johnny and the Hitmen. The group went through numerous line up changes in its first run ...

. It features additional vocals by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

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 ...

and Cassie. The song samples " Make the Road by Walking" by The

Menahan Street Band Menahan Street Band is a Brooklyn, New York-based instrumental band formed in 2007, that plays funk and soul music. The band features musicians from Antibalas, El Michels Affair, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and the Budos Band. The group was fo ...

. On December 11, 2007, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' named it the best song of 2007.

Music video

The music video was directed by Chris Robinson and costume designed by June Ambrose. The video was shot in

New York City 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 ...

in Jay-Z's The 40/40 Club.Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Liz Hernandez (November 8, 2007
Jay-Z Parties It Up With Mariah Carey, Nas, Diddy At 'Roc Boys' Video Shoot
''

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 ...

''. Accessed November 25, 2007. The intro of the video contains the chorus from Hello Brooklyn 2.0. The video features cameo appearances by

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

Memphis Bleek Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper who was a protégé of fellow New York rapper Jay-Z. Cox started his own labels: Get Low Records in 1998, and #Warehouse Music Group, Warehouse M ...

, Diddy,

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, Terrence J,

Tru Life Roberto Guzmán Rosado, Jr. (born March 19, 1976), better known by his stage name Tru Life, is an American rapper. He was signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records briefly but was incarcerated soon after. Before signing he had spent time with variou ...

, Young Gunz, Jadakiss,

Yaya DaCosta Camara DaCosta Johnson (born November 15, 1982), better known as Yaya DaCosta, is an American actress and model. She was the runner-up in Cycle 3 of ''America's Next Top Model''. DaCosta eventually went to star in ABC's daytime drama series ''All ...

, Swizz Beatz,

Drew Sidora Drew Sidora Pittman (née Jordan; born May 1, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her recurring role as Chantel in the Disney Channel Original Series ''That's So Raven'', as Lucy Avila in the 2006 film '' Step Up'', as Tion ...

, Kristia Krueger, Chain 4, Chantel,

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut ...

, Cassie,

DJ Clue Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive. Early life DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Panamanian and Jamaican immigran ...

, Larry Johnson,

Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama seri ...

, Just Blaze, Zab Judah, The-Dream,

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (born June 26, 1970), professionally known as Irv Gotti, is an American DJ, music producer, record executive, and the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records. He is best known for producing multiple number-one rec ...

and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

. Kanye West is not featured in the video because of a scheduling conflict, at the time he was on tour in Dubai, as posted in his blog. The young Jay-Z was portrayed by actor Samgoma Edwards. Director Chris Robinson personally sought out Edwards for the role after Edwards and his older brother Samtubia Edwards and friend Chris Alvarez shot their own video project titled "The Young Hov Project", TeamGuerrillaFilms

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 ...

. Accessed November 25, 2007. based on tracks from Jay-Z's '' The Black Album''.Shaheem Reid and Jayson Rodriguez, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes and Liz Hernandez
Mixtape Monday: Jay-Z Borrows The-Dream's 'Hook'; Young Buck Says His Album 'Is Better Than Kanye's And 50's'
''

''. Accessed November 25, 2007.

Remixes and sampling

has also announced that he and Jadakiss have finished the official remix of the track, which features the both of them on vocals.Def Sounds Reporting on Roc Boys Remix
Roc Boys Remix To Feature Beanie Sigel & Jadakiss
. Accessed December 14, 2007. However, there is an alternate remix featuring Young Chris from the Young Gunz and

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

. Rapper Asher Roth samples Roc Boys extensively in his own version of the song called Roth Boys which was released on his debut mixtape The Greenhouse Effect Numerous freestyles were conducted by several artists such as

Wale Wale or WALE may refer to: Places *Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England *Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland People *Wale (surname) *Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Radio and television ...

(present in '' The Mixtape About Nothing''), Asher Roth (present in "The Greenhouse Effect"), and

. This song was also sampled by The Game and

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), ...

in the song "Red Magic" with the chorus by Lil Wayne, singing excerpts of "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)" chorus. The song is referenced (if only in title) by fellow rapper and Jay-Z collaborator Saigon (rapper) on his debut album The Greatest Story Never Told. The song is sampled heavily in Girl Talk's song "Set It Off". The song was also sampled heavily in a remix produced by Norwegian DJ

Matoma Tom Stræte Lagergren (born 29 May 1991), professionally known as Matoma, is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. Early life Lagergren was born in Åsnes, Norway. He started playing the piano as a child. During that period, he won a contest t ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

The instrumental version of “Roc Boys” is played at

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

home games at

Oracle Park Oracle Park is a Major League Baseball stadium in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants. Previously named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park, the stadium's curre ...

as starting lineups are introduced.

References

External links

*
Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control 2007 singles 2008 singles Jay-Z songs Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director) Songs written by Jay-Z Roc-A-Fella Records singles 2007 songs Jazz rap songs