Ultralight Beam
"Ultralight Beam" is a song by American recording artist Kanye West from his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016). The song features vocals by R&B singers The-Dream and Kelly Price, rapper Chance the Rapper, gospel singer Kirk Franklin and a ten-piece choir, with additional vocals by Natalie Green and Samoria Green. It was first performed live on Saturday Night Live in February 2016.
"Ultralight Beam"
The song, heavily influenced by soul and gospel music, is about West's faith in God. As described by producer Derek Watkins, Its recording process took place over multiple jam sessions, where some of West's regular collaborators, including Mike Dean, were involved. Other participants included Watkins, producer Swizz Beatz and singer Justin Bieber, whose contributions were omitted from the final recording. In an interview, Watkins describes the "ultralight beam" as "the connection that goes straight to heaven."[2] The song's opening is taken from a video uploaded to the social media site Instagram of a four-year-old girl named Natalie Green talking about God.
Since being released, "Ultralight Beam" has received universal acclaim from music critics, who complimented its message and performances. Chance the Rapper was singled out with praise for his performance. It charted in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland, and Canada in 2016. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017. The song appeared on year-end lists for 2016 by multiple publications, including Complex and Consequence of Sound. In 2019, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone both listed it among the best songs of the 2010s.
The song has since been performed by both West and Chance the Rapper in concert. It has left a significant legacy despite never being released as a single. The song has been covered by other artists including Harry Styles, Stormzy, Austin Gleason and Local Natives. A reinterpretation of the song, produced by West, was released by the Sunday Service Choir in 2019.
Composition and lyrics[edit]
"Ultralight Beam" is a hip hop song with elements of soul and gospel music.[2][7][8] The song has one official sample credit, a video uploaded to the social media site Instagram by user @sheisnatalie of a four-year-old girl named Natalie Green talking about God.[9] In the video, she says, "We don't want no devils in the house, God!", followed by: "We want the Lord, and that's it!" The clip is used as the song's intro.[10] The girl's adoptive parents sued West on February 8, 2019, claiming in court documents that although the sample was cleared by her biological mother, she was not authorized to give permission for its use.[11]
After the Instagram sample, West sings his verse, with assistance from The-Dream. Kelly Price provides the third verse and Chance the Rapper raps the fourth verse. The song ends with West, the choir, and gospel singer Kirk Franklin.[2] In his verse West talks about his relationship with and his faith in God.[12] In her verse, Price asks her own questions about God, but ultimately knows when her faith is tested she can look towards "the light" and everything will be alright.[12] In his verse, the longest on the song, Chance the Rapper speaks about his relationship with God, his daughter, and his life growing up in Chicago.[12] He also comments on Spike Lee's film Chi-Raq (2015), whose premise he has openly spoken out against.[12] Explaining the lyrics: "You can feel the lyrics, the spirit coming in braille/Tubman of the underground, come and follow the trail," Chance the Rapper wrote: "The Tubman line refers to my own leadership of all other artists towards independence and freedom."[13]
Watkins, Price, and Chance the Rapper have spoken out about the song's meaning. In an interview with The Fader, Derek Watkins describes the "ultralight beam" as "the connection that goes straight to heaven."[2] Watkins continued, "This is the thing that people say is intangible, that people try to wrap their heads around. A lot of different people articulate it in different ways, but it just made sense in the way that Kanye said it."[2] Chance the Rapper has said that "'Ultralight Beam' is about West's faith in God. Whenever he's down or feels he can't fight anymore, he searches for the light and knows, in God's hands, everything will be alright."[14] Price has praised the track, calling it "a street parable."[4] Price continued, "I can listen to it and hear messages of hurt, shame, anger, and fear, and then I can turn around and see hope, faith, redemption, compassion, rejuvenation, forgiveness, and getting up from a fall."[2]
Release and promotion[edit]
"Ultralight Beam" was released on February 14, 2016, as the first track on West's seventh studio album The Life of Pablo.[6][15] The day before, West performed the song on Saturday Night Live with Chance the Rapper, Kirk Franklin, The-Dream, Kelly Price and a gospel choir.[16] The performance received positive reviews from critics, with many commenting on Chance the Rapper's verse. Matt Wilstein of The Daily Beast said that he "ended up stealing the show with his fire verse."[17] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described the performance as "stirring" and "of uncommon intensity and vision."[18] Price, in particular, has praised the performance because of her "spiritual connection" to the song.[4] Two days before the album's release, a handwritten track list had been tweeted by West. It showed the song was called "Ultra Light Beams" rather than "Ultralight Beam" as it was titled on the official release.[19] Chance the Rapper revealed the song was originally slated to be the closing track to The Life of Pablo rather than the album's opener.[13]
On Easter 2016, West shared the SoundCloud link to an alternative version of the song, titled "Ultralight Prayer", via Twitter and wished everyone a happy Easter in his tweet.[20] Chance the Rapper is not present on the two-minute long alternate gospel version sung by Franklin.[20] When West traveled to Iceland with The Kardashians in April 2016, it had been rumored he was either filming a music video for "Ultralight Beam" or another album track, "Highlights". His wife Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloé Kardashian confirmed West filmed a video for "Highlights".[21] Kim released Ultra Light Beam Highlighters for KKW Beauty in November 2017, as an "unexpected tribute" to her husband's song of the same name.[22] This marked the first time West was part of KKW Beauty. It was not the first connection between his music and Kim's brand. She featured prominently on some of the merchandise for West's Saint Pablo Tour.[22] The name choice was praised by fans across Twitter.[22]
Live performances[edit]
West performed "Ultralight Beam" with Chance the Rapper, Kirk Franklin, The-Dream, Kelly Price and a gospel choir live on Saturday Night Live along with The Life of Pablo track "Highlights" the day before the album's release.[16] Immediately after the performance, West made the announcement that The Life of Pablo had been released telling viewers: "Kanye West dot com right now, Tidal streaming right now."[60] "Ultralight Beam" was on the setlist West shared for the kickoff show on his Saint Pablo Tour in Indianapolis on August 25, 2016, but he did not perform the song there as planned.[61] On September 5, 2016, West performed the track as a closer for the tour's Madison Square Garden show. GQ's Jake Wolf felt, "It served less as musical entertainment and more as a collective exhalation for everyone making their way towards the exit."[62][63] Rapper G-Eazy and DJ Carnage moshed with a fan to the song when West performed it live on October 29, 2016, in Las Vegas on the Saint Pablo Tour.[64] In September 2019, Chance the Rapper performed his verse at a "Sunday Service" of West's in Chicago.[65] Chance the Rapper would also perform his verse as part of a medley on his 2020 NBA All-Star Game halftime performance.[66]
Commercial performance[edit]
"Ultralight Beam" charted in a number of countries and performed similarly to the album track "Waves" commercially. The song peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the highest charting non-single from The Life of Pablo in the United Kingdom; the song remained on the chart for two weeks.[67] As of October 24, 2019, the song ranks as West's 36th most successful track of all time on the UK Singles Chart.[68] The song entered at number 67 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 7.8 million streams—the highest charting non-single from the album in the United States—and spent two weeks on the chart before dropping off it.[69][70] On the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, "Ultralight Beam" debuted at number 22 in the same week as it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100.[71] In its second week on the chart, the song fell 11 places to number 33.[72] It fell a further eight places to number 41 in its third and final week on the chart.[73][71] In Canada, the song debuted at number 88 on the Canadian Hot 100, where it remained for one week before dropping off the chart.[74] Along with "Waves" and "FML", it became one of only three non-single releases from the album to chart in Canada.[75] The song charted in Ireland, debuting at number 78 on the Ireland Singles Top 100 chart where it remained for two weeks. This made it the highest charting non-single release from The Life of Pablo in the country. Like "Waves" it was the second non-single release from the album to chart in Ireland.[76] The following week, the song dropped to number 82 and then off the chart.[77][76]
In March 2018, the song was certified Platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[78] It stands with "Waves" as one of the two non-single releases from The Life of Pablo to achieve the certification in the US.[79] The track was certified Silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on March 15, 2019.[80]