

About it, she further commented, "So when he asked me to come up to the studio at 2 o'clock in the morning, I had to, because I loved it, I knew it was that song." In the interview she explained that, West already played his album to her three months ago and that "All of the Lights" was one of her favorite songs. ĭuring the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards, on November 10, 2010, Rihanna was interviewed by MTV News' staff. "'All The Lights' is a futurist song that started out as a Jeezy record with horns on it, then we put in another bridge, then Dream wrote the hook, then Rihanna sang it, and by the time you got it, it was to the level of like, the Nike Flyknit or something like that. In a 2013 interview with The Breakfast Club, West said that the song took two years to finish, and detailed the creation and process of the song I went upstairs and told Rick Ross, "I've got it", he said "you sure?" and I said, "I got it!" Jeff Bhasker was in there and he came down, we recorded it, and it just started after that. When I said that, a literal light went off in my brain, I was like "All of the lights, all of the lights". There's all kinds of light–there's sunlight, there's flashlight, there's strobe lights, there's night lights, there's streetlights.all of the lights. After having taken the sample out, Yusef eventually came up with the "all of the lights" part after thinking about his son's first words which were "light" Song writer Malik Yusef revealed that the original demo for the song contained a sample of Muhammad Ali saying "The champ is here" Yusef attempted to create rhymes around it, but ended up telling the engineer to remove the sample to clear space on the song. The early working title for "All of The Lights" was previously "Ghetto University" when the production on the song was just beginning. West and Rihanna previously collaborated with Jay-Z on " Run This Town" ( The Blueprint 3, 2009).

Fourteen artists lent their voices as background vocals to the song: Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream, Drake, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Elton John, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, La Roux, Alvin Fields, Ken Lewis, and Rihanna, who also sang the song's hook and is labeled as a featured artist on the single version.

Its production was helmed by West himself and co-produced by Bhasker. "All of the Lights" was written by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter, Stacy Ferguson and Terius Nash. Background and recording įourteen artists lent their voices as background vocals on "All of the Lights" including Rihanna ( pictured) who also sang the song's hook. West and Rihanna performed the song at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, while it was also featured in the promo for the same event. It was given a discretionary warning by Epilepsy Action, stating that the video "potentially triggers seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy". The song's accompanying music video, directed by Hype Williams, featured strobe-lit images of Rihanna and West, as well as Kid Cudi. As of November 2020, it has been certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA. As of December 2011, the song has sold over 1,561,000 digital units in the US. It won Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The single was an international success, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, was the 59th most popular song of 2011, and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the United States, being the 12th most popular song on that chart in 2011, while it also attained respectable chartings in several other countries. "All of the Lights" was universally acclaimed by music critics, who complimented its detailed production and dramatically-themed style. The song is often played along with its accompanying interlude “All of the Lights (Interlude)” It was produced by West and features additional vocals from several other recording artists, including Drake, John Legend, The-Dream, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Elton John, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, La Roux, Alvin Fields, Ken Lewis, Kid Cudi, and Rihanna, with the latter two being credited on the official music video and the official single, but not on the album version of the song. " All of the Lights" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, released as the fourth single from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010).
