Hollywood (Jay-Z song)
Encyclopedia
"Hollywood" is a song recorded by American recording artist Jay-Z
for his ninth studio album, Kingdom Come
(2006). The song features Jay-Z's now-wife, American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles
. It was composed by Jay-Z, Shaffer Smith
, and Reggie "Syience" Perry
. "Hollywood" is a disco-influenced R&B song with lyrics that detail the tiredness music stars, working in the American cinema
industry, sometimes feel.
The song was generally well received by music critics who praised its musical arrangement as well as the guest vocals by Knowles. Even without a proper official release, "Hollywood" charted on a few US Billboard component charts
, reaching a peak of number 56 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart in early March 2007. It also gained attention in Australia where it charted inside the top 100 positions of the ARIA Singles Chart
.
Knowles later recorded a solo version of the song, which was re-titled "Welcome to Hollywood", and included it on the deluxe edition of her second studio album, B'Day
(2006). A video interlude was recorded for The Beyoncé Experience
tour where clips of Knowles were shown and music videos from her B'Day Anthology were comprised together, while the song was played on the tour.
(2006). It sees songwriting duties by Shawn Carter
as well as Shaffer Smith
, and utilizes production from Reggie "Syience" Perry. The song is an R&B
intoned simple one, also containing elements of disco
, which is a genre of dance music
. According to Louis Pattison of New Musical Express, "Hollywood" expresses "a weariness with the showbiz merry-go-round." It was sent to US rhythmic radio
for airplay
as of January 23, 2007.
stated that Knowles shines on "Hollywood". This was echoed by Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times
who said that Knowles "sounds great on 'Hollywood'." By contrast, Henry Adaso of About.com
coined the collaboration of Jay-Z and Knowles on "Hollywood" as the worst one on the entire album. Louis Pattison of New Musical Express
considered Knowles voice as "commanding" on the song. Azeem Ahmad of musicOMH
wrote: "[...] Despite the poignancy of the imagery evoked, ['Hollywood' is] a little bit too contrived, clichéd and poppy. Although the irony of this will (probably) have been deliberate, it's a far cry from the soulful "Do U Wanna Ride" featuring John Legend
on a Kanye West
production." Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly
described "Hollywood" as a "brassy, sassy" R&B song with a chorus belonging "in a Vegas revue, not a hip-hop
album."
. It entered US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart at number 78 on February 17, 2007. On the chart issue dated March 3, 2007, "Hollywood" moved up 26 places from number 72 to number 56, which became its peak on that chart. It was the second greatest gainer that particular week, only behind Knowles' "Listen" (2007), which was released as the lead single
off the soundtrack album
Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture. "Hollywood" also debuted and peaked at number 21 on the US Hot Rap Songs
chart on March 3, 2007 itself.
"Hollywood" made its debut at number 51 on the ARIA Physical Singles Chart and at number 27 on the ARIA Urban Chart on April 23, 2010. The following week, it achieved a high point of number 47 on the Physical Singles chart while remaining at its debut position on the Urban Chart. On May 7, 2007, "Hollywood" made its debut at number 98 on the main ARIA Singles Chart
. It also ascended to number 25 on the Urban Chart. The song charted for only one week on the ARIA Singles Chart, for fifteen weeks on the Physical Singles Chart, and for ten weeks on the Urban Chart.
(2006) with Knowles on lead under the title "Welcome to Hollywood". All of Jay-Z's rap verses were removed and replaced with Beyoncé's hook of the original songs. Jay-Z's outro verse was also re-recorded by Beyoncé as well. The chorus still features Jay-Z in the background. This version was included on Knowles' 2007 live album, The Beyoncé Experience
. A karaoke version of "Welcome to Hollywood" was later included on Knowles' 2008 album, Beyoncé Karaoke Hits, Vol I.
A video interlude was recorded for The Beyoncé Experience
tour where clips of Knowles were shown and music videos from her B'Day Anthology were comprised together. The video also shows video clips of Beyoncé behind the scenes of photo shoots and commercials and red carpet events with fans. "Welcome to Hollywood" was included as the 31st track on Knowles' live album, The Beyoncé Experience Live (2007).
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
for his ninth studio album, Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come (Jay-Z album)
Kingdom Come is the ninth studio album by American rap artist Jay-Z. It was released on November 21, 2006. It was considered a "comeback album" for the established rapper, as 2003's The Black Album was slated to be his final release...
(2006). The song features Jay-Z's now-wife, American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
. It was composed by Jay-Z, Shaffer Smith
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...
, and Reggie "Syience" Perry
Syience
Reggie Syience Perry is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, record producer and musician. He has worked with a number of recognizable and respected artists, including Beyoncé, Cheryl Cole, Jay-Z, John Legend, Mary J Blige, Ne-Yo, and Nelly. Syience won two Grammys for his work on Mary J...
. "Hollywood" is a disco-influenced R&B song with lyrics that detail the tiredness music stars, working in the American cinema
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
industry, sometimes feel.
The song was generally well received by music critics who praised its musical arrangement as well as the guest vocals by Knowles. Even without a proper official release, "Hollywood" charted on a few US Billboard component charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
, reaching a peak of number 56 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart in early March 2007. It also gained attention in Australia where it charted inside the top 100 positions of the ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
.
Knowles later recorded a solo version of the song, which was re-titled "Welcome to Hollywood", and included it on the deluxe edition of her second studio album, B'Day
B'Day
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. It was released to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a...
(2006). A video interlude was recorded for The Beyoncé Experience
The Beyoncé Experience
The Beyoncé Experience was the second worldwide concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support to her second solo album B'Day. According to Vibe, the tour grossed over $18.1 million.-Background:...
tour where clips of Knowles were shown and music videos from her B'Day Anthology were comprised together, while the song was played on the tour.
Background
"Hollywood", featuring guest vocals from Knowles, was included as the tenth track on Jay-Z's ninth studio album, Kingdom ComeKingdom Come (Jay-Z album)
Kingdom Come is the ninth studio album by American rap artist Jay-Z. It was released on November 21, 2006. It was considered a "comeback album" for the established rapper, as 2003's The Black Album was slated to be his final release...
(2006). It sees songwriting duties by Shawn Carter
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
as well as Shaffer Smith
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...
, and utilizes production from Reggie "Syience" Perry. The song is an R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
intoned simple one, also containing elements of disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, which is a genre of dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
. According to Louis Pattison of New Musical Express, "Hollywood" expresses "a weariness with the showbiz merry-go-round." It was sent to US rhythmic radio
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...
for airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
as of January 23, 2007.
Critical reception
The song was generally well-received by music critics who complimented Knowles' guest vocals and the R&B tone. Spence D., writing for IGN MusicIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
stated that Knowles shines on "Hollywood". This was echoed by Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
who said that Knowles "sounds great on 'Hollywood'." By contrast, Henry Adaso of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
coined the collaboration of Jay-Z and Knowles on "Hollywood" as the worst one on the entire album. Louis Pattison of New Musical Express
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
considered Knowles voice as "commanding" on the song. Azeem Ahmad of musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
wrote: "[...] Despite the poignancy of the imagery evoked, ['Hollywood' is] a little bit too contrived, clichéd and poppy. Although the irony of this will (probably) have been deliberate, it's a far cry from the soulful "Do U Wanna Ride" featuring John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
on a Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
production." Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
described "Hollywood" as a "brassy, sassy" R&B song with a chorus belonging "in a Vegas revue, not a hip-hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
album."
Chart performance
"Hollywood" charted on a few US Billboard chartsBillboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. It entered US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart at number 78 on February 17, 2007. On the chart issue dated March 3, 2007, "Hollywood" moved up 26 places from number 72 to number 56, which became its peak on that chart. It was the second greatest gainer that particular week, only behind Knowles' "Listen" (2007), which was released as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
off the soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture. "Hollywood" also debuted and peaked at number 21 on the US Hot Rap Songs
Hot Rap Songs
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
chart on March 3, 2007 itself.
"Hollywood" made its debut at number 51 on the ARIA Physical Singles Chart and at number 27 on the ARIA Urban Chart on April 23, 2010. The following week, it achieved a high point of number 47 on the Physical Singles chart while remaining at its debut position on the Urban Chart. On May 7, 2007, "Hollywood" made its debut at number 98 on the main ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. It also ascended to number 25 on the Urban Chart. The song charted for only one week on the ARIA Singles Chart, for fifteen weeks on the Physical Singles Chart, and for ten weeks on the Urban Chart.
Track listing
-
- CD single
- "Hollywood" (radio edit)
- "Hollywood" (main version)
- "Hollywood" (instrumentalInstrumentalAn instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
)
Charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| ARIA Singles Chart | 98 |
| ARIA Urban Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
25 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
56 |
| US Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single... |
21 |
| US Rhythmic Top 40 | 36 |
Beyoncé Knowles' solo version
The song is also featured as the fifth track on the 2007 deluxe edition of Beyoncé's B'DayB'Day
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. It was released to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a...
(2006) with Knowles on lead under the title "Welcome to Hollywood". All of Jay-Z's rap verses were removed and replaced with Beyoncé's hook of the original songs. Jay-Z's outro verse was also re-recorded by Beyoncé as well. The chorus still features Jay-Z in the background. This version was included on Knowles' 2007 live album, The Beyoncé Experience
The Beyoncé Experience
The Beyoncé Experience was the second worldwide concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support to her second solo album B'Day. According to Vibe, the tour grossed over $18.1 million.-Background:...
. A karaoke version of "Welcome to Hollywood" was later included on Knowles' 2008 album, Beyoncé Karaoke Hits, Vol I.
A video interlude was recorded for The Beyoncé Experience
The Beyoncé Experience
The Beyoncé Experience was the second worldwide concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support to her second solo album B'Day. According to Vibe, the tour grossed over $18.1 million.-Background:...
tour where clips of Knowles were shown and music videos from her B'Day Anthology were comprised together. The video also shows video clips of Beyoncé behind the scenes of photo shoots and commercials and red carpet events with fans. "Welcome to Hollywood" was included as the 31st track on Knowles' live album, The Beyoncé Experience Live (2007).