Lift Off (song)
Encyclopedia
"Lift Off" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly
wrote that the song "is rescued by Beyoncé, who whips the chorus with a belt so powerful you'd think it insulted her mother." AllHipHop
praised the song saying that it's an "epic anthem that grabs hold of the listener from the first few chords the heavy synths." Slant Magazine
s Matthew Cole also praised the song writing, "'Lift Off' is a study in stylized blockbuster excess, with West's best fanfare since 'Encore' eventually being drowned out by a simulated rocket launch that will sound awesome in your car stereo provided it doesn't cause your subwoofers to bust your windows." Rob Harvilla of Spin
found a "hook so ridiculous ("We gon take it to the moon / Take it to the stars!") that only Beyoncé could sell it." A writer for guardian.co.uk
praised the song calling it "bombastic". Digital Spy
s Robert Copsey praised the song putting it on his list of "Tracks to download" from the album.
David Amidon of PopMatters
praised the hook of the song but said that it contained Jay-Zs "most disturbingly maudlin delivery" since the song "Pray" from American Gangster
(2006). Jason Lipshutz of Billboard
praised the song, calling it an "uptempo Watch the Throne highlight". Another writer for Billboard, Erika Ramirez, wrote "slthough it feels misplaced in between tracks 1 and 3, the 'stadium status' track is one to look forward to in seeing performed on the WTT tour." Jeff Weiss of The Hollywood Reporter
wrote that the song isn't "as Glee
-ready as 'Empire State of Mind
.'" Andy Hutchins writing for The Village Voice
said that "Lift Off, isn't a hit" by concluding "Beyonce dominates; Kanye sounds half-invested at best; and Jay's presence is limited to four bars, one a Dale Earnhardt
reference." Rolling Stone
s Matthew Perpetua commented: "Beyoncé joins the boys for a synth-heavy banger that takes off like a rocket and eventually arrives at a spacey, blissful resolution. It all but demands a sci-fi music video featuring Beyoncé as a sexy astronaut."
The song also received some negative reviews. In his review of Watch the Throne, Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote, "The lowest point is 'Lift Off,' a bombastic mess; West’s stillborn, sung vocal clashes against a triumphant hook from Beyoncé, while the behind-the-scenes cast, including West, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, Q-Tip, Pharrell, Don Jazzy, and the duo LMFAO
, overcook a regal and rugged, yet ultimately muddled, production -- one that also features the voices of Seal and Mr. Hudson." Jayson Rodriguez of XXL
said that "'Lift Off' feels too airy on a project this heavy". Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
described Knowles vocals as "disengaged". Calling the song a "letdown", Tyrone S. Reid of Seattle Post-Intelligencer
wrote that "even with Beyoncé supplying the hook, "Lift Off" is dismal." IGN
s Chad Grischow wrote "the song is actually the least compelling of the album, sounding far more interesting when the heavy bass thump finally strips away late for a great piano melody and bongo fuelled beat."
radio in the United States on August 23. The song became very popular on Twitter
and all across the Internet. Before its release as a single, the song charted at number 81 on the Australian Singles Chart, and peaked at number one on the South Korea Gaon International Chart
. On the chart issue dated August 20, 2011 "Lift Off" debuted at 48 on the UK Singles Chart
.
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...
wrote that the song "is rescued by Beyoncé, who whips the chorus with a belt so powerful you'd think it insulted her mother." AllHipHop
AllHipHop
AllHipHop.com is a hip hop news website. It was founded in 1998. At five million visitors a month, it is the world's most popular hip hop website. Essence magazine has dubbed it "the CNN of hip-hop". In 2006, AllHipHop won the Rising Stars Award from Black Enterprise magazine. In 2007, PC Magazine...
praised the song saying that it's an "epic anthem that grabs hold of the listener from the first few chords the heavy synths." Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
s Matthew Cole also praised the song writing, "'Lift Off' is a study in stylized blockbuster excess, with West's best fanfare since 'Encore' eventually being drowned out by a simulated rocket launch that will sound awesome in your car stereo provided it doesn't cause your subwoofers to bust your windows." Rob Harvilla of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
found a "hook so ridiculous ("We gon take it to the moon / Take it to the stars!") that only Beyoncé could sell it." A writer for guardian.co.uk
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
praised the song calling it "bombastic". Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
s Robert Copsey praised the song putting it on his list of "Tracks to download" from the album.
David Amidon of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
praised the hook of the song but said that it contained Jay-Zs "most disturbingly maudlin delivery" since the song "Pray" from American Gangster
American Gangster (album)
American Gangster is the tenth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 6, 2007 on Roc-A-Fella Records. It is Jay-Z's last studio release for the Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records label and his first concept album, which was inspired by the film of the same name. The album features...
(2006). Jason Lipshutz of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
praised the song, calling it an "uptempo Watch the Throne highlight". Another writer for Billboard, Erika Ramirez, wrote "slthough it feels misplaced in between tracks 1 and 3, the 'stadium status' track is one to look forward to in seeing performed on the WTT tour." Jeff Weiss of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
wrote that the song isn't "as Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
-ready as 'Empire State of Mind
Empire State of Mind
"Empire State of Mind" is a song by American rapper and hip hop artist Jay-Z, featuring vocals and a chorus from R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys. It was released as the third single from Jay-Z's 11th studio album The Blueprint 3 by his Roc Nation label in October 2009...
.'" Andy Hutchins writing for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
said that "Lift Off, isn't a hit" by concluding "Beyonce dominates; Kanye sounds half-invested at best; and Jay's presence is limited to four bars, one a Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
reference." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Matthew Perpetua commented: "Beyoncé joins the boys for a synth-heavy banger that takes off like a rocket and eventually arrives at a spacey, blissful resolution. It all but demands a sci-fi music video featuring Beyoncé as a sexy astronaut."
The song also received some negative reviews. In his review of Watch the Throne, Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote, "The lowest point is 'Lift Off,' a bombastic mess; West’s stillborn, sung vocal clashes against a triumphant hook from Beyoncé, while the behind-the-scenes cast, including West, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, Q-Tip, Pharrell, Don Jazzy, and the duo LMFAO
LMFAO (group)
LMFAO is an American electro pop duo consisting of rappers, producers, dancers, and DJs Redfoo and SkyBlu . The group formed in 2006 in Los Angeles, California. Redfoo is SkyBlu's uncle. Redfoo is also the son of music mogul Berry Gordy, SkyBlu a grandson...
, overcook a regal and rugged, yet ultimately muddled, production -- one that also features the voices of Seal and Mr. Hudson." Jayson Rodriguez of XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
said that "'Lift Off' feels too airy on a project this heavy". Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
described Knowles vocals as "disengaged". Calling the song a "letdown", Tyrone S. Reid of Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
wrote that "even with Beyoncé supplying the hook, "Lift Off" is dismal." IGN
IGN
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...
s Chad Grischow wrote "the song is actually the least compelling of the album, sounding far more interesting when the heavy bass thump finally strips away late for a great piano melody and bongo fuelled beat."
Release and chart performance
"Lift Off" was sent to urban contemporaryUrban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
radio in the United States on August 23. The song became very popular on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and all across the Internet. Before its release as a single, the song charted at number 81 on the Australian Singles Chart, and peaked at number one on the South Korea Gaon International Chart
Gaon Chart
The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
. On the chart issue dated August 20, 2011 "Lift Off" debuted at 48 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA 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... ) |
81 |
| South Korea Gaon International Chart Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts... |
1 |
| UK R&B (The Official Charts Company UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... ) |
15 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... ) |
48 |