"Speechless" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, featuring additional vocals from American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

. It was written by Keys, Eve and

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

, and produced by the latter. It samples

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 2010 song “ Devil in a New Dress”. A dedication to her son Egypt, whom she gave birth to in October 2010, the freestyle collaboration was released as a holiday gift for Keys's fans on Beatz's ''Monster Mondays'' program on December 27, 2010. Swizz Beatz later included the song on his mixtape '' Monster Mondays Vol. 1'' (2011). The song charted on number 71 the US

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 in early 2011.

Background

On October 14, 2010, Keys gave birth to her first son Egypt Daoud Dean, in New York City. That month, the singer revealed on her official

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

that motherhood and her son had inspired her to create a song in a post titled "I feel a song coming on." On December 27, 2010, Beatz debuted "Speechless" on his website as part of his ''Monster Mondays'' program. In a behind-the-scenes video which documented the recording process and was also posted on the site, Beatz said that the song would not be included on her upcoming album and it was just a fun little gift to Keys' fans. "This should be a treat for the fans ..almost like a day in the life", he said. Keys noted on

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 "Speechless" was just "a little freestyle treat" for the holidays, writing "It’s not a new album, not a single, it's something special for you!”

Composition and lyrics

"Speechless" samples elements from

’s “ Devil in a New Dress” featuring Rick Ross. The song appears on his 2010 album ''

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010, following a period of public controversy for West. Re ...

''. Lyrically, "Speechless" finds Keys singing about her newborn son. "I'm at a brand-new time in my life and a brand new feeling, and it's like this little guy, man, he takes my breath away," she says on the track before starting the first verse. Midway through the track, the rapper

makes an appearance. According to Jocelyn Vena of '' MTV News'', "the piano-heavy tune gets funky once the chorus kicks in", on which Keys expresses her joy over the new love of her life, singing, "Makes you speechless, baby/ Don't know what to say/ I'm just speechless, baby/ The poet in me has gone away." Vena found that Eve "shows her soft side, spitting rhymes like, "In the morning when I rise up/ Go to the window and I smile, put my eyes up/ Stare in the clouds, like, 'Wow, look at my luck.'" "Speechless" marked the pairs' first collaboration in over eight years, having previously appeared together on Eve's 2002 single "

Gangsta Lovin' "Gangsta Lovin is the lead single from Eve's third studio album, '' Eve-Olution'' (2002). The song features R&B-soul singer Alicia Keys. Released in July 2002, "Gangsta Lovin became Eve's second consecutive number-two hit on the ''Billboard'' ...

" from her album ''

Eve-Olution ''Eve-Olution'' is the third studio album by American rapper Eve. It was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment on August 27, 2002, distributed through Interscope Records. Production was handled by frequent collaborators Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz an ...

''.

Reception

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' found that Keys "may have rushed it out — ”Speechless” comes off as a little generic, despite surely heartfelt lyrics and the rock-guitar fuzz under Alicia’s piano. And the verse from the typically tough-talking Eve doesn’t add much." Jocelyn Vena of '' MTV News'' said, "the piano-heavy tune gets funky once the chorus kicks in", on which Keys expresses her joy over the new love of her son, and in her verse Eve "shows her soft side".

Charts

References

{{Eve 2010 songs Alicia Keys songs Song recordings produced by Swizz Beatz Songs written by Alicia Keys Songs written by Swizz Beatz Eve (rapper) songs Songs written by Eve (rapper)