"Where U Been?" is a song by American rapper 2 Chainz from his second studio album '' B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time''. (2013) The song was released as the album's first promotional single on August 1, 2013. It was produced by frequent collaborator Mike Will Made It, and featured a

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by Cap.1. The song peaked on the US ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles at number one. It samples from "The Dance of the Witches", part of the score of

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, written by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Background

On August 1, 2013, 2 Chainz premiered the Mike Will Made It-produced "Where U Been?" featuring Cap.1, from his second studio album '' B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time''. On the same day, it was serviced to DJs as the album's first promotional single. In September 2013, 2 Chainz performed "Where U Been?" on DJ Skee's SKEE Live along with "

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Music video

The Sharod Marcus Simpson-directed music video for "Where U Been?" was released on September 11, 2013, the day after the album's US release. The video features a compilation of tour footage from the America's Most Wanted

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

, which also featured T.I. and Lil Wayne. The black and white video also shows 2 Chainz "performing to packed crowds and celebrating his lavish lifestyle."

Critical reception

"Where U Been?" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, with most of the praise going towards the production. Jordan Sargent of '' Spin'' praised Mike Will Made It's production saying, it "weds pinging bells and the hint of a guitar riff to the producer's typically intricate hi-hat programming." Kyle Krammer of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

credited the song for its "Massive, booming beat and brillent non sequitur punchlines." David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

called the song a "heartbreak 2 Chainz and Mike Will Made-It style with betrayal lyrics going ghetto over hypnotic, pounding production." Julian Benbow of ''

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'' also praised the production, calling it warped and taunting. Jay Soul of RapReviews called the song pleasant to the ear.

Chart performance

References

{{2 Chainz songs 2013 songs 2 Chainz songs Song recordings produced by Mike Will Made It Def Jam Recordings singles Songs written by Marquel Middlebrooks Songs written by Mike Will Made It Songs written by 2 Chainz