"The Illest" is a song by American hip hop group

Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 2003 and as of August 2018 consists of Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), DJ Virman (Virman Coquia), ...

. The song was co-written and produced by Norwegian music producer and songwriter

Axident Andreas Schuller (known by his producer name Axident) is a Norwegians, Norwegian songwriter and music producer based in Los Angeles. He has worked with artists Justin Bieber, Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull, Inna, Jason Derulo, Snoop Dogg, Jessie J, Ada ...

and

Wallpaper. Wallpaper (stylized as Wallpaper.) is an American hip hop and pop music project, fronted by producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Eric Frederic (better known as Ricky Reed) based in Oakland, California. Wallpaper is signed to Boardwa ...

aka

Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born July 23, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American artist, music producer, singer, songwriter, and founder of Nice Life Recording Company. From 2005 to 2014, Reed was also known as Wallpaper. Early w ...

, and features a

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

from American rapper Riff Raff. It was released digitally as a single on July 2, 2013 and has since peaked at number 18 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

. "The Illest" was featured as a bonus track and a single from the 2013 Special Edition release of their fourth studio album '' Dirty Bass'' (becoming the album's fifth single overall).

Background

"The Illest" was originally featured on

released a mixtape titled ''GRZZLY'' that was released on May 29, 2013. Then a few days later the group released a new version of the song, now featuring rapper Riff Raff. On July 2, 2013, the new version was released for digital download as a single by

Cherrytree Records Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, Fe ...

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 ...

. Far East Movement then created a

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

titled FuckYeahIllest to help promote the song. The song was then featured on their EP ''Murder Was the Bass'', which was released on December 9, 2013. They also have said the song would be featured on their upcoming fifth studio album.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Mike Clattenburg Mike Clattenburg is a Canadian television and film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known as creator, executive producer, writer and director of the TV comedy series ''Trailer Park Boys'' (2001–2008), for his work with ''This H ...

and filmed at

Los Angeles Center Studios Los Angeles Center Studios, located in the Westlake District of Los Angeles, California, is a multipurpose facility in the former Unocal Center building (opened as Union Oil Center in April 1958) next to the 110 Freeway. Architect William Perei ...

. It was released on July 23, 2013, with an cameo appearance by

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

. It features a blindingly dull office getting raided and destroyed by Far East Movement and Riff Raff, in a manner that nods to

Office Space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the worklife of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron Livingston, Jennifer ...

and

Workaholics ''Workaholics'' is an American sitcom created and predominantly written by Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm, and Kyle Newacheck, all of whom star in the series. ''Workaholics'' originally ran on Comedy Central from April 6, 2011, to Marc ...

. Additionally the music video features cameo appearances from

Lil Debbie Jordan Mary Capozzi (born February 2, 1990), better known by her stage name Lil Debbie, is an American rapper, model and fashion designer. Debbie started her career in 2011 as part of the now-defunct group The White Girl Mob, with rappers Kreaysh ...

Dumbfoundead Jonathan Edgar Park (born February 18, 1986), known by his stage name Dumbfoundead (), is an Argentinian-born American rapper and actor. He began his career in the 2000s as a battle rapper in Los Angeles and has since become one of the most pro ...

Jeffree Star Jeffree Star (born Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr., November 15, 1985) is an American YouTuber, makeup artist, and former singer-songwriter. He is the founder and owner of Jeffree Star Cosmetics. In 2009, Star released a studio album, ''Beauty Kill ...

Nice Peter Peter Alexis Shukoff (born August 15, 1979), best known as his stage name Nice Peter or Bluesocks, is an American musician and Internet personality. A self-described "Comic/Guitar Hero", he is best known for the comedy on his YouTube channel, Ni ...

Watsky George Virden Watsky (born September 15, 1986), better known mononymously as Watsky, is an American rapper, singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, poet, author, and illustrator. Watsky broke out as a rapper with his viral video "Pale ...

among other popular YouTube personalities. A second music video was released on April 15, 2014 in support of their ''Ktown Riot'' EP. The video was inspired by the

Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...

riots of 1992.

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

makes a cameo appearance, as well as Los Angeles / Koreatown residents

Tokimonsta Jennifer Lee, known professionally as Tokimonsta (stylized as TOKiMONSTA), is an American record producer and DJ based in Los Angeles. She has collaborated with artists such as Anderson .Paak, Earthgang, Isaiah Rashad, Selah Sue, and ZHU. Additio ...

. Riff Raff is also seen performing his verse. A video was also made using a mash-up of the Deorro and Victor Niglio remixes. It was published to YouTube through the group's Vevo channel on December 10, 2013, and features scenes from The Illest Tour.

Remix

On March 4, 2014, the official

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

, mixed by DJ Eman, was released. The remix features guest appearances by

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

and

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 ...

, as well as Riff Raff's verse from the original. On April 16, 2014, an alternate version of the song, featuring a slightly altered arrangement and vocals from Schoolboy Q, was released as a digital download. This version was included as the lead track on their late-2014 EP ''Ktown Riot''.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

*Lead

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– Far East Movement * Producers – Axident, Wallpaper. *

Writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

s – A. Schuller, R. Reed, K. Nishimura, J. Roh, J. Choung, V. Coquia, J. Christian *

Label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

: Cherrytree Records / Interscope Records

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illest 2013 singles 2014 singles 2013 songs Far East Movement songs Cherrytree Records singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Axident Songs written by Ricky Reed Songs written for films Songs written by Schoolboy Q Songs written by B.o.B