Knockout (Lil Wayne song)

"Knockout"
Promotional single by Lil Wayne featuring Nicki Minaj from the album Rebirth
Released February 2, 2010
Format Digital download
Recorded 2009
Genre Rap rock, pop rock
Length 4:09
Label Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Motown
Writer D. Carter, O. Maraj, K. Crowe & E. Ortiz
Producer J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

"Knockout" is a song by Lil Wayne from his album Rebirth. It features Nicki Minaj rapping near the end of the song and singing the chorus. The song charted on the US Billboard Hot 100 due to strong digital sales with the album's release. This song revolves around Lil Wayne's personal relationships with a diverse group of women.

The song received mixed to generally negative reviews from critics, most of which stated that the song was better meant for other rock artists and Wayne does not have a place in the song. Most critics also gave Minaj a negative review in the song stating that the song went by too fast for her to deliver a worthy verse. The song debuted at forty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 due to strong digital sales along with the album's release date.

As of October 2010 the song sold 519,000 digital copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.[1]

Reception

The song received mixed to generally negative reviews by critics. Behind the Hype gave the song a negative review, stating " 'Knockout' sounds like it's set to an old Blink-182 drumbeat and guitar riff, but without any of the fun. That’s a good analogy for the record as a whole."[2] Culture Bully called it the worst track of the album, along with "The Price is Wrong", and added " 'Knockout' stands as one of the best examples as to why vocoderized pop punk should not exist."[3] AllHipHop stated that the song "possesses a fair balance of rock influenced music, but not offensive to his core base."[4] Consequence of Sound commented that Minaj did a passable job and called the song a "tween rock anthem".[5] Rolling Stone stated that the only reason the album was given a generous review is because of this track (along with others) although there is an overly heavy use of auto-tune.[6] Entertainment Weekly felt the song wasn't suited for Wayne stating "Wayne turns his efforts to blink-182-style pop-punk bounce ('Get a Life,' 'Knockout') and Prince-ly funk fervor ('I'll Die for You'), neither of which suits him much better."[7] The New York Times called the song a parody stating "The songs might have been better as parodies than as imitations, although 'Knockout' — a Coldplay homage backing a raunchy lyric — comes close to being both."[8]

Music video

The video was shot by director David Rousseau on February 6, 2010, where Lil Wayne spent 48 hours shooting a variety of music videos for multiple songs.[9] A sneak peek of the video was shown on May 26, 2010.[10] The video premiered on May 29 of Memorial Day weekend along with videos of other singles from the Rebirth album including "Da Da Da", "Runnin' " with Shanell, and "Get a Life".[11] The entire video was shot in front of a green-screen.[12]

The video features Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj living out a high school fantasy were Minaj plays Wayne's Barbie love interest. During the chorus Minaj sings into the camera wearing a wig that is split in half of blonde hair and green hair with pink hair underneath in the back. Lil Wayne makes a wardrobe change during his second verse and during Minaj's verse they are both in a boxing arena with a large crowd performing. The video ends with both artists in the boxing ring with Wayne shouting the final lyrics. Birdman makes a cameo in the video around the end.

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 44[13]

Certifications

Country Certifications
United States Gold[14]

References

  1. ↑ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/66598/week-ending-oct-3-2010-americas-most-popular-inmate
  2. ↑ 09 February 2010 by Cheese Sandwich (2010-02-09). "Lil Wayne’s ‘Rebirth’ a Strong Argument for Creative Abortion | Movie Reviews | Music Reviews". Behind the Hype. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  3. ↑ "Lil Wayne "Rebirth" Review". Culturebully.com. 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  4. ↑ "Reviews / Music : Lil Wayne - Rebirth (Album Review)". Allhiphop.com. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  5. ↑ Majik8fx (2010-01-08). "Album Review: Lil Wayne- Rebirth « Consequence of Sound". Consequenceofsound.net. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  6. ↑ "Rolling Stone's Music News, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  7. ↑ Leah Greenblatt (2010-01-27). "Rebirth | Music". EW.com. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  8. ↑ New, The (2010-01-31). "Critics’ Choice - New Music from Lil Wayne, Midlake and Orrin Evans - Review". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  9. ↑ "Lil Wayne Shoots Over 10 Music Videos | Lil Wayne". Rap Basement. 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  10. ↑ "Sneak Peek: Lil Wayne f/ Nicki Minaj – ‘Knockout’ + Big Boi – ‘Shutterbugg’". Rap-Up.com. 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  11. ↑ "Sneak Peek: Lil Wayne – ‘Da Da Da’". Rap-Up.com. 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  12. ↑ "Video: Behind The Scenes: Lil Wayne Ft. Nicki Minaj - Knockout". Worldstarhiphop.com. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ "RIAA > Searchable Database > Lil Wayne". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 10, 2011.

External links