"Gotta Have It" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hip hop artists

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

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 ...

from their collaborative album ''

Watch the Throne ''Watch the Throne'' is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, collectively known as The Throne. It was released on August 8, 2011, through Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings. Prior to the re ...

'' (2011). The song was produced by West and

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

, and

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

s three original compositions by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

: "Don't Tell a Lie About Me and I Won't Tell the Truth About You", "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" and "

My Thang "My Thang" is a funk song written and recorded by James Brown. Unlike most of his songs, this song was released not as a two-part single, but instead issued with three different B-sides. It spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart - B ...

". The song explores themes of wealth, decadence and the economic stature in the US. The song received positive reviews from critics who complimented the production and the clever wordplay of the two rappers. The song was released as the sixth single from ''Watch the Throne'' on December 6, 2011. The song peaked at number 69 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entered the top 15 both the US ''Billboard''

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 stat ...

and

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 ...

charts. The song has since been certified Platinum in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Jay-Z and West performed the song as part of the set list of their

Watch the Throne Tour The Watch the Throne Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West that began on October 28, 2011 in Atlanta and continued until June 22, 2012 with its final show scheduled in Birmingham. Originally scheduled for ...

and at the 2012

Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

musical festival.

Background

Jay-Z and Kanye West are both American rappers who have collaborated on several tracks together, such as singles like "

Swagga Like Us "Swagga Like Us" is a song by American hip hop recording artists Jay-Z and T.I. The song features guest verses from fellow American rappers Lil Wayne and Kanye West, the latter of whom also produced the song, constructing primarily around a ...

", "

Run This Town "Run This Town" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z. The song also features Rihanna and Kanye West. It was released on July 24, 2009. It was written by the performing trio, with assistance from Ernest Wilson and Jeff Bhasker. Production of the ...

", and "

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

". In 2010, they began production and recording together for a collaborative record titled ''Watch the Throne.'' "Gotta Have It" was co-produced by West and the lead producers were the production duo

, and it incorporates chopped-up

vocal samples and

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

flute melodies. The song samples three different songs; "Don't Tell a Lie About Me and I Won't Tell the Truth About You", "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" and "My Thang", and was reportedly very expensive to produce. The track was released as the album's sixth single in the US, and it impacted Urban radio on December 6, 2011, and Rhythmic radio on January 31, 2012. The track was performed by West and Jay on their Watch the Throne tour. During Jay-Z's setlist at the 2012

festival, West joined Jay-Z to perform "Gotta Have It" and other ''Watch the Throne'' hits, including the singles "

Niggas in Paris "Niggas in Paris" ( edited for radio as "In Paris" or simply "Paris"; censored on the album as "Ni**as in Paris") is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album ''Watch the Throne'' (2011). The song is built ar ...

" and "

No Church in the Wild "No Church in the Wild" is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring American singers Frank Ocean and The-Dream, from the former two's first collaborative album ''Watch the Throne'' (2011). Opening the album, the song explores th ...

Composition

"Gotta Have It" unites "Kanye and the Neptunes to crazily chop up James Brown vocal samples and Eastern flute melodies." The song contains "haunting backing vocals and an accompanying tambourine" with the two rappers trading verses with the vocal riff playing over them. The song features "diced-up vocal snippets and gut-punching bass back aggressive rhymes" and includes a reference to the YC song "

Racks Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin ...

" which is a "nod to the contemporary rap trends the track both embraces and outpaces." While some tracks on Watch the Throne give the "star rappers turns at the mic," "Gotta Have It" is "pure tag-team hip-hop, with the two trading off verses and finishing each other's lines." The song contains moments of the two rappers "finishing each others'

Ferris Bueller ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer Gre ...

and

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

jokes over a chopped-up James Brown yelps" provided by The Neptunes.

Reception

"Gotta Have It" received mostly positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

's Tyler Fisher stated that "The Neptunes turn in their best beat in years on "Gotta Have It", sampling James Brown in a realm completely removed from funk and soul."

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

's Matthew Cole stated that "the duo volleys ball lines at each other on "

Otis Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (The Walking Dead), Otis (''The Walking Dead' ...

" and do call-and-response riffing on "Gotta Have It," sounding like a pair of hustlers who can't believe how much they've gotten away with. The chemistry between the two friends and self-described sibling rivals is conveyed perfectly on those two tracks." David Amidon of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

commented that several songs on the album are a "whirlwind of excitement, particularly "Gotta Have It", which finds Kanye and Jay spitting such decadent, pro-Black-laden material as "Maybachs on bachs on bachs on bachs on bachs / Who in that? / Oh, shit, it's just blacks on blacks on blacks". Popdust's Emily Exton reported that "he two trade lines instead of verses in what results in a surefire example of what can happen when two pros team up." The song peaked at number 69 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and at numbers 14, 13 and 17 on the ''

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 advertise ...

and

Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...

charts respectively.

Credits and personnel

*Produced by

*Co-produced by

*Mixed and recorded by Mike Dean and Noah Goldstein *Recorded at Tribeca Grand Hotel,

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 ...

*Mixed at (The Mercer) Hotel *Additional vocals:

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Watch the Throne
' at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

{{authority control 2011 singles Kanye West songs Jay-Z songs Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Pharrell Williams Song recordings produced by the Neptunes Song recordings produced by Kanye West Roc Nation singles Roc-A-Fella Records singles Def Jam Recordings singles Songs written by Fred Wesley Songs written by James Brown 2011 songs