RoboCop (song)

In the lyrics of the song, West reflects on his break-up with Alexis Phifer. After having experienced an internet leak in October 2008, "RoboCop" was included as the seventh track on the album in November. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly applauded the composition. Some selected it as an album highlight and reception of West's vocals was lukewarm, though a few critics disliked the structure. West recorded an accompanying music video with Amber Rose, though it was never released. West performed the song in February 2009 for his second live album, VH1 Storytellers (2010).

Background and recording[edit]

West's 2007 hit single "Can't Tell Me Nothing" was passed on to him by American rapper and his Def Jam labelmate Young Jeezy, who performs ad-libs on the song.^[1] Following the success of "Can't Tell Me Nothing", Young Jeezy felt as if he deserved a feature from West and later guested him on his single "Put On" (2008).^[2] West subsequently featured the rapper on 808s & Heartbreak track "Amazing", marking the second collaboration between the two of them.^[3] Speaking of "RoboCop" in 2008, Young Jeezy referred to how people can "hear some songs and they just sound big", calling the song an example of this and saying it immediately "just sounds like a big hit".^[4] On the album's 10th anniversary in 2018, fellow rapper Consequence described the song as "so conceptual" and said it "would've probably been an easier rhyme to write".^[5] In an interview for Complex a year later, he likened West's ninth studio album Jesus Is King (2019) to 808s & Heartbreak creatively; he cited writing the song's chorus as part of his challenging involvement.^[6] "RoboCop" was produced solely by West, who co-wrote it with Esthero, Malik Yusef, Consequence, Kid Cudi, frequent collaborators Tony Williams and Jeff Bhasker, T-Pain, and Young Jeezy, while Scottish film composer Patrick Doyle also received credit since he wrote the 1998 recording "Kissing in the Rain" that the song embodies.^[7] A rough version of the song leaked online in October 2008, after West collaborator Mike Dean had confirmed earlier that month how it was supposed to receive Herbie Hancock's "magic touch" before the album's release while he was in France.^[8][9] West blogged that he lacked any responsibility for the unfinished version's leak, admitting he was "pretty upset about it, but that's the way life is sometimes!"^[8]


"RoboCop" draws its title from the 1987 film of the same name.^[10] An 11-piece orchestra played for the song, being conducted by Larry Gold.^[a][7] It was recorded during the three week period that West worked on the album in 2008, being tweaked to perfection across different studios while he was on his Glow in the Dark Tour.^[11][12] West collaborator A-Trak recalled in 2015 from working with West on the song that he asks everyone for his recording approach while feeling "super confident" with his vision and being sufficiently honest about his limitations, knowing bringing "some of the greatest people into the room" will create a better product.^[13] A-Trak explained that West asked literally anyone what they think of something and reply "Okay, cool", before asking how they would do the instrument and going back to assembling; he praised West's team effort.^[13] On the 10th anniversary of 808s & Heartbreak, engineer Anthony Kilhoffer cast light on the "never-ending production decisions" for the track, which he felt evoked the mixing of West's single "Stronger" (2007).^[12] According to fellow engineer Manny Marroquin, West was not 100 percent happy with the track. Marroquin viewed the creation of the track as "challenging" since West "heard it in his head and he couldn't get it", thus three or different versions were created. Esthero revealed a demo exists with an alternate string arrangement that she prefers to the final version, admitting she was unsure of how long they worked on the demo's production. However, Esthero could remember randomly coming out with lyrics in a room; she recalled responding to West's work being played "over and over again" by pointing out what words sounds were close to and attempting to fix sentences.^[5]

Composition and lyrics[edit]

Musically, "RoboCop" is an art pop number.^[14] As it progresses, the time signature shifts.^[15] The song embodies portions of "Kissing in the Rain", written and performed by Doyle.^[7] It contains gunshots, police sirens, and crashing drums,^[16] which are backed by lush strings.^[15][17][18] The melody is slightly altered throughout by the strings, which were arranged by Gold and engineered by Jeff Chestek, who was assisted by Rick Friedrich, Montez Roberts, and John Stahl.^[7][18] The song has orchestral effects, featuring layered violins alongside violas.^[7][19] It also incorporates a cello, bass, and keyboards, the latter of which were played by Bhasker. The orchestra was added to the chorus by Ken Lewis, while Bhasker and Williams perform background vocals on the song.^[7] Auto-Tune is utilized strongly on West's voice throughout,^[19][20][21] with him performing verses, a chorus, and an interlude.^[15][22]


In the lyrics of "RoboCop", West reminisces on the break-up between him and his ex-fiancée Alexis Phifer.^[10][23] He expresses anger towards Phifer, calling her "a drama queen" and comparing her to both the antagonist from the 1990 film Misery and RoboCop's cyborg titular character.^[10][23] West casts doubt on ever becoming a robot on the song's interlude, alluding to him using Auto-Tune for a creative venture.^[21][22] At the end of the verses, he utilizies the character's "drop it" catchphrase.^[10] On the outro, West repeatedly delivers a stanza about his lack of trust in Phifer: "You spoiled little L.A. girl / You're just an L.A. girl."^[19][24]