"I" (stylized in

lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

) is a song by American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

featuring Ronald Isley of

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

. It was released on September 23, 2014 as the lead single from Lamar's third studio album ''

To Pimp a Butterfly ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout the U ...

''. The song uses music from " That Lady", written by and originally performed by R&B group

, elements from which were re-recorded rather than being directly

sampled 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 so ...

from the original record. "i" won two awards at the

2015 Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. ...

: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

Background

"i" was produced by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

producer Rahki, who also produced the song "Institutionalized". Although the version of "i" that appears on the album is drastically different from the single release, both versions contain a sample of the song " That Lady" by

. Lamar personally visited Isley Brothers' lead vocalist Ronald Isley to ask his permission to sample the song: "I actually had to go to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and get the blessings from Ronald Isley," he said. "That was a trip. We got in the studio and just vibed and talked about how things were back then and how they are now, and you can actually hear him on the record with a few ad-libs that he actually did. We got it on camera and things like that, it’s a beautiful thing." Isley also performs on the song "How Much a Dollar Cost?" with singer-songwriter

James Fauntleroy James Edward Fauntleroy II (born May 16, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Inglewood, California. He is best known for writing credits on tracks by high-profile artists such as Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Kendrick ...

. The single cover for "i" features members of gangs the

Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includ ...

and the

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

forming a heart, on the subject of the cover art Lamar said in an interview with AMP Radio: "Where I'm from, there's a lot of gang culture and things like that, so instead of throwing on up gang signs, which we used to, I put a Blood and I put a Crip together and we’re throwing up hearts...sparking the idea of some type of change through music or through me because I go back to the city now and people give me the honor and respect that, you know, this kid can change a little bit something different that’s been going on in the community." The song's title has a significant connotation. In ''Hip Hop America'', journalist

Nelson George Nelson George (born September 1, 1957) is an American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Biography George attended St. John's Univers ...

writes, "'i' is a powerful word in the vocabulary of the African American male," as it can be related to

pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

. While pride is one of the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

, George's study explains how "this has been an invigorating source of self-empowerment," similar to the self-love Lamar preaches in his song.

Music video

The video for the song premiered on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

on November 4, 2014. It features cameos from singer Ron Isley and George Clinton. References are made to

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

and

The Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

in the video. A short instrumental was played in the intro of the clip. The video is directed by Alexandre Moors.

Critical reception and awards

"i" received critical acclaim from music critics. The track was placed at number ten on ''

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

''s 50 Best Songs of 2014 list. ''

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 ...

'' listed "i" as the second best song of 2014. "i" also was placed at number 14 on ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

s list of "The 101 Best Songs of 2014". In January 2015, "i" was ranked at number five on ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

''s annual year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll. "i" was nominated for Outstanding Music Video and Outstanding Song at the 46th

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

. The song received two nominations at the

57th Annual Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time ...

and won both Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

Chart performance

The song debuted and peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it his fourth top 40 hit in the US.

Usage in popular culture

The song has been used in film trailers for '' Top Five'', '' Dope'', ''

How to Be Single ''How to Be Single'' is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by Christian Ditter and written by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein and Dana Fox, based on the novel of the same name by Liz Tuccillo. It stars Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Damon ...

'', '' The Intern'', and '' Roman J. Israel, Esq.'' In 2014, it was the official song for the NBA. It is featured in soundtrack for the 2018 video game

Forza Horizon 4 ''Forza Horizon 4'' is a 2018 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on 2 October 2018 for Windows and Xbox One after being announced at Xbox's E3 2018 conference. An enhanced version ...

as well.

Track listing

* Digital download # "i" – 3:51

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , title = Awards for "I" , titlestyle = background: lightblue , list1 = {{Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance {{Grammy Award for Best Rap Song 2014 singles Kendrick Lamar songs Songs written by Kendrick Lamar Interscope Records singles Aftermath Entertainment singles Top Dawg Entertainment singles Songs written by Ronald Isley Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance