"We Fly High" is a song by American hip hop

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide ...

, released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from his third studio album, '' Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment)'' (2006). The song is Jim Jones' highest-charting single to date, charting at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was written by Stack Bundles and produced by Zukhan-Bey who produced his previous single, " Baby Girl". The intro of the song uses a sample of "Mr. Cool" by Rasputin Stash.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

was directed by Dale Resteghini (a.k.a. RAGE) and Jim Jones (a.k.a. CAPO). Several of Jones' cohorts, namely

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 si ...

Max B Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo ''Public Domain'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' series of mixtapes, and introduc ...

and Stack Bundles, all make

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s. Jones' girlfriend at the time,

Chrissy Lampkin '' Love & Hip Hop: New York'' (originally titled ''Love & Hip Hop'') is the original installment of the ''Love & Hip Hop'' reality television franchise on VH1. The series premiered on March 6, 2011, and chronicles the lives of people involved wi ...

, and his manager, Yandy Smith, of VH1's

Love & Hip Hop ''Love & Hip Hop'' is a media franchise that consists of several reality television series broadcast on VH1. The shows document the personal and professional lives of several hip hop and R&B musicians, performers, managers, and record producer ...

fame also make appearances in the music video. Parts of the music video were filmed in front of a green screen.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Remix

The official remix of the song features fellow American rappers T.I., Diddy,

, Birdman and

Young Dro D'Juan Montrel Hart (born January 15, 1979), better known by his stage name Young Dro, is an American rapper. After gaining recognition with his regional hit song "Yes Sir", from his 2002 independent album ''I Got That Dro'', Young Dro aligned ...

. It is featured on Jim Jones' compilation album ''

A Dipset X-Mas ''A The Diplomats, Dipset X-Mas'' is an album by Jim Jones (rapper), Jim Jones and his ByrdGang music group, released on December 5, 2006. This album features the remix of Jim Jones' "We Fly High." Track listing Charts References

J ...

'' and released as its lead single. The album and digital download versions of the remix features an additional verse by

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

after Diddy's verse. *Other Versions **"We Fly High" (NY Giants Remix) **"Brooklyn High" (Jim Jones Diss) (

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 o ...

) **"We Fly High" (Beef Mix) (featuring Juelz Santana & Jim Jones) **"We Fly High" (Reggaeton Remix) (featuring

Tego Calderón Tegui Calderón Rosario (born February 1, 1972) is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and actor. He began his musical career in 1996 (as Tego Tec) and was supported by the famous Puerto Rican rapper Eddie Dee, who invited him on his second studio albu ...

Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1978), better known by his stage name Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. On September 1, 2017, he announced that he would retire after a ...

) **"We Fly High" (New Orleans) (Lil Wayne Remix) (

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

Mack Maine Jermaine Anthony Preyan (born July 28, 1982), better known by his stage name Mack Maine, is an American record executive, songwriter, and rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Mack Maine has been the president of Young Money Entertainment since 2 ...

) **"We Fly High" (Cassidy Remix) Cassidy

Remix music video

The remix video was directed by Dale Restighini (a.k.a. RAGE) and Jim Jones (a.k.a. CAPO), who directed the original. It premiered on December 1 on

Access Granted ''Access Granted'' is an American television series that features an in depth look at the planning, filming and production of R&B and hip hop music videos. Each week a different artist and their new music video are featured, with the video pre ...

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

. The video contains an extra verse from

that was recorded for the Beef Mix. The music video has cameos from

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), professionally known as DJ Drama, is an American DJ, record executive and music promoter. He is the co-founder (with Don Cannon) of Generation Now, an Atlantic Records imprint with artists including ...

, J.R. Writer, & Trae. In the video, at the end while Jones is talking, he waves his hand in front of his face, in the style of

Tony Yayo Marvin Bernard (born March 31, 1978), better known by his stage name Tony Yayo, is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of G-Unit, a hip hop group he formed with his childhood friends 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks. Yayo released his debu ...

. Also, in some parts of the video, Jones, Birdman, Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana appear with a red bandanna hanging from their right pocket, probably referencing to 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 ...

gang.

Confrontation with Jay-Z

Soon after "We Fly High" was released,

recorded a diss aimed at Jim Jones, entitled "Brooklyn High", over the same beat. The chorus contains the vocals of Jones and others, but the phrase "BALLIN'!" was replaced by Jay-Z yelling "Brooklyn!". The song is thought to be disrespectful of both Jones and

, another

Dipset The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) is an American hip hop collective formed in 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones in Harlem, New York. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew ...

hip hop artist. Jim Jones has released a rebuttal to Jay-Z's song "Brooklyn High" also on the "We Fly High" beat. Less than a day after Jay-Z's retaliative record came out, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana released a remix called "We Fly High (Beef Mix)" in response to Jay-Z.

Popularity

The song's popularity began throughout the US in October 2006 when the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

Michael Strahan Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Nation ...

and teammates began taking "jump shots" to celebrate sacks against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

. Because of this incident, the NFL issued a "clarification" two weeks after the Giants/Redskins game to remind the Giants that if their

celebrations Celebration or Celebrations may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969 * ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000 * ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...

included two or more players, that they would be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. The song is also popular across North America; when played in the clubs, it is typical for everyone to take "jump shots" when Jim Jones says "ballin'". The dance in the video along with the jump shot has been named the " Fadeaway" by Jones. WWE's

Montel Vontavious Porter Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) a ...

, is known to do the "Fadeaway" jump shot before dropping an elbow on his opponent. The crowd often cheers "ballin'" before the elbow drop.

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

celebrated with this song after defeating

Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he worked fro ...

for the

ROH World Championship The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Claudio Castagnoli, who is in his second ...

in his hometown of

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 ...

at the

Manhattan Center The Manhattan Center is a building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street, it houses Manhattan Center Studios, the location of two recording studios; its Grand Ballroom; and the Hammerstein Ballroo ...

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling ...

group BLKOUT has also used the song as their entrance theme. The song has become Jim Jones' most successful single to date, peaking at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming his first top ten single. The single also remains his most successful single on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 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 p ...

and

Hot Rap Tracks 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 ...

, peaking at number 4 and number 1, respectively, and also ranked at number 1 on the Hot RingMasters chart. It has been certified Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

, as a digital single and as a "Master Tone" (a.k.a. Ringtone). Jones has also made a "We Fly High" remix for the

and a "We Fly High"

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

version remixed by the famous reggaeton producer; Nely 'El Arma Secreta', or 'The Secret Weapon', which features Jones,

and

. On the

show '' Rap City'', The Game used the second verse from his new album ''

Doctor's Advocate ''Doctor's Advocate'' is the third studio album by American hip hop recording artist the Game, released on November 14, 2006, through Geffen Records. The album is his second major-label release, following 2005's ''The Documentary'', which was r ...

'' from the song "Too Much" while rapping on the "We Fly High" beat. It was also featured in the

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

game ''

Def Jam Icon ''Def Jam: Icon'' is a fighting video game, the third in Electronic Arts's '' Def Jam''-licensed hip-hop video game series. The game was developed by EA Chicago, the first ''Def Jam'' game not to be developed by AKI Corporation. Unlike the p ...

''.

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single " Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peak ...

's song "Report Card" samples the ''Ballin'' ad-lib.

References

{{New York Giants 2006 singles Jim Jones (rapper) songs 2006 songs Songs written by Jim Jones (rapper) MNRK Music Group singles Music videos directed by Dale Resteghini