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Lift Yourself

"Lift Yourself" is a song by American rapper Kanye West. West wrote the song alongside James Massie and Ben Winters, and produced it with additional production from Mike Dean. The song was debuted on April 27, 2018, through West's website and was released by GOOD Music and Def Jam three days later for digital download and streaming as a standalone single. As the first release of new music from West since his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016), it was perceived by numerous fans and publications to be him trolling them. The song samples Amnesty's "Liberty" and Dancer's "Boom Boom". Following a long build-up, West scats towards the end of the song, rapping nonsensical words.

"Lift Yourself"

April 30, 2018

2015

2:27

  • Kanye West
  • James Massie
  • Ben Winters

Kanye West

"Lift Yourself" received mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom panned the lyrics and dismissed the song for lacking seriousness. Some praised the production, while a few critics expressed more positive feelings towards West's troll performance. The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, while also appearing on charts in Ireland, New Zealand, and Sweden. West and the Sunday Service Choir performed it live on multiple occasions in 2019, including a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Smokepurpp released his remix of the song in April 2018, which West approved of. The following month, Pusha T confirmed the existence of a version of the song that has proper lyrics but has not yet been released.

Composition and lyrics[edit]

"Lift Yourself" has been described as an avant-garde track,[20] which features scatting from West.[11][16][18] For the first two minutes of the song,[1] a chopped up sample of "Liberty" by Amnesty is used to construct its lyrics and melody.[2][18][19] The sample speeds Amnesty's vocals up, being reminiscent of West's early production work with the speed alteration technique.[2][8] "Lift Yourself" also includes a sample of "Boom-Boom" (1987) by Dancer.[21] The song features drum programming, which was contributed by Benji B.[7][13] After "Liberty" is sampled for roughly two minutes, "Lift Yourself" transitions into West's performance during the remainder, with him delivering it in around 30 seconds close to the end of the song.[1][11][19][22]


Before West's verse starts, he assures listeners that it is going to be great, warning them to "watch this shit go."[11][12] In West's verse, he utters nonsensical phrases based around the words poop, scoop, and whoop.[1] West's verse includes him saying, "Whoopdedy-scoop, whoopdedy-whoop-scoop-poop, poop, poop," and the song abruptly ends after the verse.[23] The editors' notes on iTunes questioned whether the song is meant as inspiration or an inside joke by West.[24]

 – production, songwriter

Kanye West

James Massie – songwriter

Sidney Winters – songwriter

 – additional production, mastering engineer

Mike Dean

Andrés Osorio – assistant recording engineer

Sean Solymar – assistant recording engineer

Noah Goldstein – mixer, programmer, recording engineer

 – programmer

Benji B

Credits adapted from Tidal.[13]