"D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" is a song written by American rapper

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 ...

. It was produced by No I.D. The song was released as a digital download on June 23, 2009, and as the first single from Jay-Z's 11th studio album, '' The Blueprint 3''. The song made its world premiere on the New York radio station Hot 97 on June 5. Its lyrics address the overusage of Auto-Tune in the music industry. The song samples "In the Space" by French composer Janko Nilović. The bridge is inspired by

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's "

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a 1969 song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band they named "Steam". It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a ...

" and interpolates lyrics from Kanye West's "

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", and " You're Nobody (Till Somebody Kills You)" by

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

The song won Jay-Z his eighth Grammy Award, and his second for Best Rap Solo Performance. It peaked at No. 24 on Billboard Hot 100.

Writing and inspiration

Before making "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", Kanye West and Jay-Z had recorded an Auto-Tune song. However, Kanye heard the instrumental by No I.D. and thought about making an anti-Auto-Tune song. They then removed all the songs that contained Auto-Tune from ''The Blueprint 3'' to further their point. Jay-Z himself stated that the point of the song was to "draw a line in the sand", saying that while he appreciated the use of the Auto-Tune by artists with an ear for

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

like T-Pain and Kanye West, far too many people had jumped onto the technology and were using it as a crutch. One of the partial inspirations for Jay-Z to write the song was hearing Auto-Tune being used in an advertisement for Wendy's fast-food chain. It made him feel that what was once a trend had become a gimmick. The title is also a reference to the medical term "D.O.A." or " Dead on Arrival". The song makes a reference to

song " You're Nobody ('Till Somebody Kills You)". Jay-Z sampled a portion of The Notorious B.I.G.'s freestyle "Wake Up Show Freestyle".

Music video

On June 27, 2009, a trailer for the video was released. The music video (directed by

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on s ...

) was shot and aired immediately after the 2009 BET Awards on June 28.The video shows Jay in scenes such as a deserted factory building, a bar with a band, and playing card games in a kitchen. Actor Harvey Keitel cameos in the video as a card player in the kitchen of New York's exclusive restaurant,

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. Basketball player LeBron James also makes a cameo appearance. The video was nominated for Best Male Video and

Best Hip-Hop Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip Hop Video was first given out at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The award, according to MTV, was originally intended for hip hop-''inspired'' songs, not necessarily actual hip hop music videos (which were ...

at the

2009 MTV Video Music Awards The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was ho ...

. It did not win either of the categories, losing to T.I.'s " Live Your Life" and

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

's " We Made You" respectively. The video ranked at #17 on BET's ''Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009'' countdown.

Responses

On June 9, R&B artist Trey Songz released an unofficial remix of the song on his blog. Renamed "Death of Autotune Kellz", it was directed at artist

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

for using the effect on a previous mixtape. Rappers AZ and Jay Rock have also both recorded remixes.

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...

has released two remixes of it, one by himself and one with fellow

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members Joe Budden,

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, and

Joell Ortiz Joell Christopher Ortiz (born July 6, 1980) is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Afte ...

. Singer

Avery Storm Ralph Di Stasio (born December 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Avery Storm, is an American singer. Di Stasio grew up in a working-class Italian-American family in New Jersey. After high school, he moved to New York City and signed to Ti ...

has also made a remix using the songs instrumental supporting the death of auto-tune. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have also made a remix to the song featuring all five members. Rapper

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released a diss track in response to the song entitled "I'm So Wavy (Death of Hov)", going at Jay-Z for what Game perceives as him being behind the times in the hip-hop industry, and his stance that Jay-Z being 39 years old means he's too old to stay in the music scene, evidenced with lyrics such as "D.O.A.? No. T-Pain stays, old nigga goes." DJ Webstar was also critical of Jay-Z for the track in an interview with RealTalkNY, saying: In an October interview with Tim Westwood, Lil Wayne also criticized the track, throwing support toward T-Pain as a known user of it: On August 31, 2009, the music group, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony recorded a remix of the song. It was released officially on their MySpace page. The song includes the 5 united members singing separate verses along with Jay-Z singing the original chorus. The song has also been remixed by rappers such as Lil Wayne and Asher Roth. The song was ranked best song of the year 2009 by MTV. '' Time'' magazine ranked it number 8 on their list of the best songs of 2009.

Live performances

Two days after the song premiered on Hot 97, Jay-Z made an appearance at the annual Summer Jam concert at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...

and performed the song live for the first time. Towards the end of his set, he was surprised by the appearance of T-Pain who joined him onstage. He later performed "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" during the 2009 BET Awards.

Charts

The song made a "''Hot Shot Debut''" at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 based on downloads. It has also reached the top 50 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at #43. - * No official release; charted due to downloads only

References

External links

*
Jay-Z interview by Pete Lewis,'Blues & Soul' December 1998
* {{DEFAULTSORT:D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune) 2009 singles Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance Jay-Z songs Music videos directed by Anthony Mandler Song recordings produced by No I.D. Songs written by Jay-Z Roc Nation singles 2009 songs