Song Cry Information & Song Cry Links at HealthHaven.com

"Song Cry"
Single by Jay-Z
from the album The Blueprint
Released	August 6, 2002
Format	12" Single, CD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Hip hop
Length	5:03
Label	Roc-A-Fella Records
Writer(s)	Shawn Carter, Douglas Gibbs, Randolph Johnson, Justin Smith
Producer	Just Blaze
Jay-Z singles chronology
Music video
	"Song Cry" at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)

"Song Cry" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and produced by Just Blaze. It was the fourth and final single from his sixth studio album The Blueprint. The song is a slow and quiet melodic rap ballad in which Jay-Z laments the break-up of an earlier relationship due to his own neglect and infidelity.

"Song Cry" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance but lost to "Hot in Herre" by Nelly. It contains a sample of "Sounds Like a Love Song" by Bobby Glenn and also appears on the 2001 live album Jay-Z: Unplugged. However, in this song, the sample is performed by female vocalist Jaguar Wright, though she is not identified in the liner notes of the album.

[edit] Song information

The song was inspired by Jay-Z's real life relationship with his girlfriend who supported him before he became famous. Afterwards, Jay-Z got a lot of attention from female groupies and cheated on her several times. She responded by cheating on him as well, which he in turn could not handle. In the chorus he points to his music as the only outlet for his emotions: "I can't see'em coming down my eyes, so I gotta make the song cry". In a recent interview with Bill Maher on Real Time with Bill Maher, Jay-Z admitted to taking elements from three past relationships, and weaving them into the narrative presented in "Song Cry".

[edit] Music video

"It's like boy meets girl. They've been together from day one. They grew up together in the 'hood from humble beginnings. They were together and everything was cool. Then he made it successful and all the trappings came with it — fast money, fast cars, partying — and time spent is less and less. It just gets crazy. It's not necessarily cheating, it's just partying and being a real busy person, relationship strain and what comes along with it."
– Jay-Z, MTV News^[1]

The music video was directed and edited by Sanaa Hamri and produced by Meredith Welsch. After completing a promo tour for The Blueprint, Jay-Z planned to start working on the The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse. However, demand grew so much that "I had to give it to them" said Jay-Z in an interview with MTV.^[1]

[edit] Notable live performances

During his 2006 Water for Life Tour, Jay-Z performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the venue's first hip hop show ever. American actress Gwyneth Paltrow did the chorus.^[2]^[3]^[4]

[edit] Sampled by other artists

By Lil' Kim in her song "Hold On"
By Ghostface Killah in his song "Back Like That"
By Mila J in her song "Complete"
By LeToya in her song "When I Get Around Him"
By Keyshia Cole in her song "You've Changed"
By Ludacris in his song "Love Song"
By Deemi in her song "Wasn't Surprised"
By Rihanna in her song "Good Girl Gone Bad"
By Stat Quo in his song "I Am Hip Hop"
By Gagong Rapper in his song "Mahal Kita"
By Lloyd featuring Lil Wayne in the song "You"
By Sleepy Malo "Even Players Get Played"

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Reid, Shaheem (2002-03-06). "Jay-Z Shoots New Video, Unsure If Clip With R. Kelly Will Come". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452773/20020306/jay_z.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
^ "Jay-Z joined by onstage by Chris and Gwynnie at London show". www.nme.com. http://www.nme.com/news/jay-z/24489. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
^ "Jay-Z - Jay-Z. Albert Hall, London; Wednesday, September 27 - Live Reviews - NME.COM". www.nme.com. http://www.nme.com/reviews/jay-z/8048. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
^ "Jay-Z, Royal Albert Hall, London - Reviews, Music - The Independent". www.independent.co.uk. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/jayz-royal-albert-hall-london--none-onestar-twostar-threestar-fivestar-419248.html. Retrieved 2009-08-22.

[edit] See also

List of Jay-Z songs

[MTV-0] Reid, Shaheem (2002-03-06). "Jay-Z Shoots New Video, Unsure If Clip With R. Kelly Will Come". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452773/20020306/jay_z.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-06-30.

[1] "Jay-Z joined by onstage by Chris and Gwynnie at London show". www.nme.com. http://www.nme.com/news/jay-z/24489. Retrieved 2009-08-22.

[2] "Jay-Z - Jay-Z. Albert Hall, London; Wednesday, September 27 - Live Reviews - NME.COM". www.nme.com. http://www.nme.com/reviews/jay-z/8048. Retrieved 2009-08-22.

[3] "Jay-Z, Royal Albert Hall, London - Reviews, Music - The Independent". www.independent.co.uk. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/jayz-royal-albert-hall-london--none-onestar-twostar-threestar-fivestar-419248.html. Retrieved 2009-08-22.

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