# Illest Motherfucker Alive

"Illest Motherfucker Alive" (censored on the album as "Illest Motherf**ker Alive") is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from the deluxe edition of their collaborative studio album, Watch the Throne (2011). The song features additional vocals from Kid Cudi, Bankulli, and Aude Cardona. It was produced by Southside, West, and Mike Dean, who served as co-writers with Jay-Z and Kid Cudi. Southside provided the beat to West after the production of the latter's "See Me Now" in 2010, crafting its basis with his Roland TR-808; West then incorporated the synths.
The song features cello and snare drums, which are combined with orchestral sections. Lyrically, it sees Jay-Z and West taking pleasure in their success. "Illest Motherfucker Alive" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly highlighted its strength as a track. Some praised the lyrical content, while a couple of reviewers found the subject matter to be off-putting. In the United States, the song reached numbers 4 and 22 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales charts, respectively.

## Background and recording

Jay-Z and West are both American rappers who have collaborated on several tracks together, such as the singles "Swagga Like Us" (2008), "Run This Town" (2009), and "Monster" (2010). In 2010, the two began recording a collaborative record titled Watch the Throne. "Illest Motherfucker Alive", a track from the album's deluxe edition, includes additional vocals from opera singer Aude Cardona, who also sings on the single "H.A.M." Cardona explained that she once woke up to a message asking if she was an opera singer and did not initially realize it was from West's manager, who was recruiting her for the album. A friend of Cardona's from Jive Records recommended her to the owner of Electric Lady Studios – where West had previously recorded – which led to her being recruited by his team. She was surprised to record at the location of The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, Manhattan due to rarity of recording in a hotel, only meeting West there. Cardona found that despite West being clear in his vision, he had a willingness to listen to other ideas.
The song was produced by Southside, West, and Mike Dean, who wrote it alongside Jay-Z and Kid Cudi. Southside revealed that after he was present in the studio during Lex Luger's production work for West's track "See Me Now" (2010), the rapper's manager offered him a potential role in exchange for some beats. West was then sent the track by Southside after having requested it to do whatever he wanted, resulting in "Illest Motherfucker Alive". Lex Luger contributed to the creation on a consistent basis with Southside, who used the Roland TR-808 to craft the song's drums, snares, hi-hat, and breakdowns. West added the vast majority of the synths; Southside described these as the rapper's "classical, musical space-synth" material and the opera aspects as comparable to seeing "a movie in his head or something". Sections of the song were kept from recording sessions at Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire that started in November 2010, after much of Jay-Z and West's material from these sessions had been scrapped. Further sessions were held for the song at the Mercer Hotel from January 2011 onwards.

## Composition and lyrics

"Illest Motherfucker Alive" contains cello arrangement handled by Dean. The song combines Southside's snare drums with West's orchestral sections, featuring opera vocals from Kid Cudi, Bankulli, and Cardona.
In the lyrics of the song, Jay-Z and West take pleasure in their success. West insults a woman in the opening verse as he boasts about his "bulletproof condom" and "staples on my dick" for centerfolds; Complex's Brian Josephs assumed that he was referencing his ex-partner Amber Rose. The rapper also raps about wearing fur, citing inspiration from Jerome of the TV series Martin for this dress style. Jay-Z raps about competing with the likes of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, while he compares the album with West to the band and his wife Beyoncé to Yoko Ono. He raps about his home replicating a museum, calling his works from Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol as equivalent to the Muses.

## Release and reception

In July 2011, it was reported that the song would be included on the album. On August 23, 2011, Def Jam, Roc Nation, and Roc-A-Fella released the deluxe edition of Watch the Throne, including "Illest Motherfucker Alive" as the 14th track. Simon Price from The Independent on Sunday characterized the song as "brilliantly absurd" for West's boasts, while the staff of XXL called it a prime example of the grandiosity that is guaranteed "with stars of [Jay-Z and West's] ilk". In TheWrap, Chris Willman felt that Jay-Z achieves "previously unaccessed levels of anti-self-effacement" as he competes with Presley and the Beatles. Writing for Tiny Mix Tapes, Ross Green considered the song and fellow deluxe release "The Joy" as "stellar bonus tracks" that should have been on the album's regular edition instead of "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Lift Off". At Complex, Josephs said the song sounds like fellow rapper T.I.'s "What You Know" (2006) if the single was recorded at the Mercer Hotel and viewed its presence on Watch the Throne as "pretty much there for you to revere two impossibly rich black men", calling out West's typical utters for a likely pettiness towards Rose. Providing a negative review for SFGate, Aidin Vaziri wrote that the song manages to make success sound "so unappetizing" and only offers "empty gloating from two men who have missed the point of life itself".
Following the album's release, the song peaked at number four on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, and reached number 22 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart.

## Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Recording
* Recorded at Real World Studios (Wiltshire, UK) and (The Mercer) Hotel (New York)
* Mixed at (The Mercer) Hotel (New York)
Personnel
* Kanye West – songwriter, producer
* Jay-Z – songwriter
* Mike Dean – songwriter, producer, mix engineer, cello arrangement
* Southside – songwriter, producer
* Kid Cudi – songwriter, additional vocals
* Noah Goldstein – recording engineer
* Mat Arnold – assistant recording engineer
* Bankulli – additional vocals
* Aude Cardona – additional vocals

## Charts

Chart performance for "Illest Motherfucker Alive" :
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard) | 4 |
| US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (Billboard) | 22 |