page_title: Devil in a New Dress
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: Devil in a New Dress / Reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Kanye West performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival on September 16, 2011 in Austin, Texas.
context_page_description: "Devil in a New Dress" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Originally released through West's GOOD Friday initiative, a weekly free music giveaway started by the rapper to promote My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, it later appeared on the album with an added guitar solo by producer Mike Dean and an additional guest verse featuring rapper Rick Ross. "Devil in a New Dress" was produced by Bink!. It was the only song in the album not to be produced by West. The song samples Smokey Robinson's slow jam recording "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and is themed lyrically to lust and heartache. Both the topics of love and religion serve as the main inspiration to the song.
  The song received acclaim from music critics, who praised the delivery of West's verse, the lush production and the guest appearance by Ross. It has been remixed by several musicians, such as J. Cole, Jay Electronica and Young Chris. Ross promoted the song releasing a music video in which he showcased his verse. The song was prominently featured in West's short film Runaway during a dinner room sequence.
context_section_description: "Devil in a New Dress" has received general acclaim from music critics, and was noted for its soulful production, as well as the verse provided by Ross. It was considered a highlight of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and has been described as "perhaps the easiest song to like on first listen." It was compared favorably to songs from West's debut studio album The College Dropout by Jon Caramanica of The New York Times. Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic felt that the track brought out the best in Ross. Slant Magazine viewed that on "Devil in a New Dress", West perfected the sampling style he helped make popular, and commented that West "manipulates the pitch and tempo of Smokey Robinson's 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' until it crawls luxuriantly out of the speakers like wine poured in slow motion. It's a gorgeous slow burner that turns tragic in its third act, as Kanye's rhymes swap lust for heartache before distorted guitar lines and a muscular verse from Rick Ross close it out".
  Chicago Sun-Times praised West's vocal delivery, saying "he rips more hard raps on 'Devil in a New Dress' -- chuckling through lines like, 'We love Jesus / but you done learned a lot from Satan / We ain't married / but tonight I need some consummation,' and later chewing through an impersonation of a preacher, 'Say-tan! Say-tan! Say-tan!'—all over a fluttery, high, quiet-storm soul vocal that's part bedroom allure, part angelic prayer." MTV stated "West's breezy GOOD Fridays release gets a wintertime tune-up with Ross riding shotgun. The Miami Don's majestic contribution comes with a revamped breakdown setting up his slick boats. Still, Yeezy's verse holds up over the Boss's even with the refinement." Dan Vidal of URB stated Ross brought his best to the track, writing that he "steps his tired old coke-rhymes up to intense lyrical portraits on the final version of 'Devil In A New Dress'." Stereogum's Amrit Singh described the production style as a throwback to vintage hip-hop beats, and praised West's extended use of metaphors on the track. AbsolutePunk's Drew Beringer cited the track as an example of West's "penchant for soul", calling the track excellent. AllMusic's Andy Kellman also described the beat as a "throwback soul production", writing that it was "provided by the Smokey Robinson-sampling Bink, it’s as gorgeous as any of West’s own early work, yet it’s marred by an aimless instrumental stretch, roughly 90 seconds in length, that involves some incongruent electric guitar flame-out."
  The Village Voice's Sean Fennessey commented that the production by Bink! was gorgeous in nature. He compared the original three-minute long version of the song to the one on the album, writing that the original "was affecting, funny (“I ordered the jerk, she said 'You are what you eat.'”) and soulful—a touch of the old Ye. And just three minutes long. But the album version is something bigger, with a magisterial guest verse from Rick Ross (appearing twice here) that comes after an odd but sumptuous acid-jazz breakdown." Craig Jenkins  of Prefix Music opined that "Bink’s beat for 'Devil in a New Dress' peters out midway through, and a live band plays a sultry, emotive take on that beat." Andrew Barber of Complex stated that for the people disappointed in the briefness of the verses provided by Ross on "Monster", this track more than makes up for it. Barber favorably compared the track to the style of West's older songs, and commented that it showcased West's "softer, more vulnerable side, opening up about a woman."
caption: Even though West was not a credited producer on the track, the composition style of "Devil in a New Dress" was compared favorably to his own.
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