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Blood on the Leaves

"Blood on the Leaves" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West from his sixth studio album Yeezus (2013). In the song, West presents his thoughts on how fame can cause the destruction of relationships, while making comparisons of contemporary times to the lynching of African Americans in the United States during the pre-civil rights era. West delivers his vocals through an Auto-Tune processor, like on his 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak. It contains samples of both singer Nina Simone's 1965 rendition of Billie Holiday's song "Strange Fruit", and "R U Ready" by the duo TNGHT, who co-produced the track.

"Blood on the Leaves"

June 18, 2013

2013

Hip hop

6:00

The song received universal acclaim from music critics, with many commenting on its lyrical message and praising its samples. It was named one of the best tracks of 2013 by multiple publications. Pitchfork later placed the track on their list of the 200 best songs of the 2010s. Despite not being released as a single, the song managed to enter charts in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Australia in 2013. A music video was set to be directed by American filmmaker David Lynch, but plans were abandoned. Since its release, West has performed the song live on multiple occasions, including at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and on the 2016 Saint Pablo Tour.

Release[edit]

"Blood on the Leaves" was released on June 18, 2013, as the seventh track on West's sixth studio album Yeezus.[10] According to Mohawke, "Blood on the Leaves" was originally intended to be the album's opener instead of "On Sight", but was changed "at the last minute" due to "the message ["On Sight"] puts across that [Yeezus] is a very different record."[3] In November 2013, Mohawke announced via Twitter that the song was to-be released as the next single for the album, after "Bound 2" in August 2013.[11] That same month, West subsequently announced the release during an appearance on 92.3 NOW.[12] David Lynch stated his intentions to direct a music video for "Blood on the Leaves" due to his fondness for the song, but plans were abandoned after Lynch "never got [any] ideas."[13]

Commercial performance[edit]

Upon the album's release, the track charted at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and disappeared from the chart afterwards until making a re-entry at its peak position of number 89 on September 14, 2013.[27][28] The track charted at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart initially, then went on to peak at number 27 in the same week as reaching its peak position on the Hot 100 and spent a total of five weeks on the chart.[29][30] "Blood on the Leaves" was certified Gold in the United States in 2015, despite West releasing no album that year.[31] It was later certified Platinum in the United States in 2018.[32] In France, the track debuted at number 131 on the SNEP chart upon the release of Yeezus.[33] It entered at number 174 on the UK Singles Chart.[34]

Live performances[edit]

West performed the song live at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.[35] He was originally supposed to perform "Black Skinhead", though changed to performing "Blood on the Leaves" instead shortly before the show.[36] The performance was notable for its minimal lighting and forest-themed backdrop.[35] Moments before taking the stage, West posted a photo of the backcloth on Twitter with the caption; "it's a tree that was used for lynching."[35] Later he posted a message on his website, "This tree was used for lynching. Those who were murdered are buried in the ground around the tree. Blood on the leaves."[35] The song was performed live by West on Later... with Jools Holland in September 2013;[37] this performance was singled out for praise by Bruce Springsteen during an interview with NPR, who called it "fantastic".[38] West omitted Jay-Z's name from the song's lyrics when performing it live at the X Games Austin 2014 Music Festival, where his name was also omitted from the lyrics of "Cold".[39] Other live performances include Glastonbury in June 2015 and on the Saint Pablo Tour in August 2016.[40][41]

Cover version and remixes[edit]

American musician Raury covered the song during his appearance on Hot 97 in September 2014.[42] A version titled "Blood on the Leaves (DOGMA remix)" was released in June 2013, which includes Nina Simone's vocals being mashed.[43] American rapper Waka Flocka Flame freestyled over the song's instrumental in May 2014 as part of his weekly series of freestyles every Monday, leading up to the release of his third studio album Flockaveli 2.[44] A remix of the song was shared by Nicolas Jaar in February 2016.[45] American rapper YvngxChris used a similar chop of this sample for his song of the same name as Ye's song, which blew up on TikTok and would eventually get a remix with SSGKobe, Kashdami, UnoTheActivist, and Ken Carson.[46][47]