"Kings Never Die" is a song by American rapper Eminem, from the soundtrack album '' Southpaw (Music from and Inspired By the Motion Picture)'', released on July 10, 2015. It features American singer Gwen Stefani, marking there first collaboration together. The song is the second single released from the soundtrack, after Eminem's "

Phenomenal A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

" which was released a month earlier. "Kings Never Die" also marks Stefani's first featured single since 2005's "

Can I Have It Like That "Can I Have It Like That" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Pharrell Williams featuring vocals from fellow American musician Gwen Stefani from the former's 2006 debut album '' In My Mind'' and it’s the opening ...

" with Pharrell Williams. The song was co-written and produced by

the New Royales The New Royales are a four-person music group consisting of members DJ Khalil, Chin Injeti, Liz Rodrigues, and Erik Alcock. Since forming in 2007, they have worked together as producers and songwriters for artists such as Eminem, Pitbull, Pink ...

Background and release

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999). Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful ...

and Eminem were approached by

Kurt Sutter Kurt Leon Sutter (born May 5, 1960) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He worked as a producer, writer, and director on ''The Shield,'' and appeared on the show as hitman Margos Dezerian. Sutter is also the creator of ...

and asked to executively produce a soundtrack for the 2015 film, '' Southpaw''. Eminem has four songs on the soundtrack, including two from his collaborative effort –

Bad Meets Evil Bad Meets Evil is an American hip hop duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5'9" (Bad) and Eminem (Evil). Bad Meets Evil was formed in 1998, thanks to the duo's mutual friend, Proof. The group's name comes from the song "Bad Meets Evi ...

. The other single from the soundtrack, "

", is also from Eminem. The song was officially released on July 10, when the audio track was uploaded to YouTube. On July 29, the lyric video was uploaded to YouTube. This song talks about him ( Eminem) being a king of

rap 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 ...

and many people urging him to retire. Eminem says that he won't retire and will stay a king.

Critical reception

On July 3, 2015, the full song leaked onto the internet, followed by a positive response from critics. Lars Brandle from ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'' stated that the song "is a muscular effort with a classic angry vibe, utit's hardly a knockout ndabsolutely worth a spin." ''Rap-Up Magazine'' thought that the song was a "triumphant rap-rock hybrid with rapid-fire rhymes.

Commercial performance

"Kings Never Die" was the highest-ranking debut for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated August 1, 2015, entering the chart at number 80. Its chart debut was supported by first-week digital download sales of 35,000 copies, along with 1.2 million domestic streams.

Track listing

;Digital download ;Notes * signifies an additional producer.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2015 singles 2015 songs Eminem songs Gwen Stefani songs Rap rock songs Songs written by Eminem Songs written by DJ Khalil Songs written by Luis Resto (musician) Songs written by Erik Alcock Songs written for films Song recordings produced by DJ Khalil Aftermath Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Shady Records singles