"Through the Wire"
Single by Kanye West
from the album The College Dropout
B-side"Two Words"
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2003
RecordedNovember 2002
StudioThe Record Plant
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length
  • 3:41 (album version)
  • 4:34 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Kanye West
Kanye West singles chronology
"Welcome 2 Chicago"
(2002)		 "Through the Wire"
(2003)		 "Slow Jamz"
(2003)
Music video
"Through the Wire" on YouTube

"Through the Wire" is the debut solo single by American rapper and producer Kanye West, who wrote and recorded the song with his jaw wired shut after a car crash on October 23rd 2002. The song samples Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire" and was released on the last day of September 2003 as the lead single from his debut album The College Dropout (2004).

"Through the Wire" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received near-universal acclaim from music critics. It was certified Platinum and Gold in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2005, but lost to Jay-Z's "99 Problems". The music video was financed by West, who was inspired by an Adidas advertisement. It won Video of the Year at the 2004 Source Hip Hop Awards.

Background

On October 23, 2002, West was in a California recording studio producing music for Beanie Sigel, Peedi Crakk, and The Black Eyed Peas. After leaving the studio at around 3 a.m. in his rented Lexus, he had a near-fatal crash when he had fallen asleep at the wheel.[1] He was taken to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, mentioned in the song as "the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died," and had his jaw wired to his face in reconstructive surgery. Two weeks after being admitted to the hospital, he recorded the song at the Record Plant Studios with his jaw still wired shut.[2][3] Consequence recalls West started rapping the lyrics to the song three days after the crash.[4]

The song's title refers to the wires used to hold his broken jaw together, as well as being a play on the song "Through the Fire", which it samples. When asked about how the incident changed his music, West stated:

Well, the only thing this accident's is saying is, "I am about to hand you the world, just know at any given time I can take it away from you." To nearly lose your life, to nearly lose your mouth, your voice, your whole face, as a rapper...and I had to be on TV! My face looks crazy to me now... But I have to just thank God for the situation that I am in... "Through The Wire" is the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me, and now it's obviously the best thing. Look how it exploded![5]

The song originally appeared on West's mixtape Get Well Soon... where his wired jaw was incredibly noticeable, before being re-recorded and released as the first single from The College Dropout in late 2003.[6][7][8] Although he initially had trouble convincing Roc-A-Fella Records executives to let him make his own album as a rapper, he was able to change their minds after the song's release.[9]

Composition

"Through the Wire" was inspired by the 2002 car crash and West has provided a comedic account of his difficult recovery. West samples a pitch-shifted and sped up version of Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire".[10] Coodie, one of the music video's directors, reported that Khan wouldn't initially allow the sample to be cleared until the video was shown to her son and he told Khan about it, leading to the sample being cleared about two weeks later.[11] Khan later expressed her love for the track, calling West a "sweetheart, truly adorable" and the way he used the sample "so clever".[12] However, in June 2019, Khan criticized West's unorthodox, highly pitchshifted use of the sample, calling it "stupid".[13] West did not receive writing credit for the song, which instead went to David Foster, Tom Keane, and Cynthia Weil, who wrote "Through the Fire".[14] West's rapping is described as "a Snoop-meets-Hova flow, twisting up his words with the patented 'izz' inflection."[15]

Release and reception

Dave Heaton of PopMatters called it "as riveting and moving as everyone says it is" and it "may be the album's most startling personal horror story (though it's also a song of hope and gratitude)".[16] AllMusic's Andy Kellman said it was "a daring way to introduce himself to the masses as an MC" and it "couldn't have forged his dual status as underdog and champion any better." Kellman described the content as "heartbreaking and hysterical" and that despite his "inevitable slur, his words ring loud and clear".[10]

The New York Times' Kelefa Sanneh described him as "a wounded hero beating the odds" and it "gave him a chance to prove that he was the exception to the rule that producers can't rap."[7] Stylus Magazine called it "a poignant, pop-culture-packed account of Kanye’s near-fatal run-in with Chaka Khan".[17] By rapping with his jaw sewed up, The Source noted that West used "the element of surprise to his advantage".[18] HipHopDX listed the track as one of "the classics that created" the album's hype,[19] and Pitchfork Media stated it was "chock-full-of-clever".[20] Vibe magazine wrote that "West's sideways approach to music making stands out" on the track and the "raw, teeth-clenching narrative falls in line with his gutwrenching soul beats."[21] At the 2005 Grammy Awards, the track was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance, which was won by Jay-Z's "99 Problems".[22] The track was one of the Award Winning Songs at the 2005 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.[23]

As West's debut single, "Through the Wire" has been recognized as a jump-start for his career after the song was played on MTV. Director for the music video, Coodie, would say "The night of when he did the 'Through the Wire' premiere party at 40-40 Club, that was the night that was like, 'Oh shit.' That's when Def Jam started recognizing him. Everybody was blown away by the video and it just kept building from there. Then after that show on SOBs on October 1st, he was bonafide. He was popping. It was full-on Kanye season." Consequence would say to Complex on The College Dropout's 10th anniversary, "The accident wound up being a blessing for him. Whatever diction issues he had, he came through with a super clear voice. That was like one of those pressure bursts pipes things." In 2010 and 2013, Complex would name "Through the Wire" the 10th best rap song from Chicago.[24][25] Pitchfork included the song in The Pitchfork 500, a 2008 guide to the 500 greatest songs from punk to the present,[26] while Rolling Stone ranked the song at number fourteen on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time in 2020.[27]

Commercial performance

"Through the Wire" debuted at number ninety-four on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number fifteen for five weeks. It remained on the chart for twenty-one weeks.[28] It performed better on the urban contemporary charts, reaching number eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and number four on the Hot Rap Tracks.[29] In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart where it peaked for two weeks and exited the chart after nine weeks. The track charted lower in other European countries, where it reached the top thirty in Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands, the top fifty in Belgium and Switzerland, and number sixty-one in Germany. Its maximum peak time in those countries lasted one week. The single entered the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twenty-four and peaked at number sixteen.[28]

On July 14, 2017, "Through the Wire" was certified Silver in the UK, nearly fourteen years after the single's release.[30] It was certified Gold on September 10, 2021, over 4 years later and almost 18 years after its initial release.[31] The single was certified Platinum in the US on November 20, 2018, fifteen years after its release.[32]

Music video

The music video was directed by Coodie and Chike and it premiered on August 3, 2003.[33] It is a slideshow of videos and pictures of West producing and his crash seen through the frames of Polaroid pictures. West, who financed the video, conceived ideas for the clip after seeing an Adidas advertisement in BlackBook magazine. He stated, "I don't like gettin' ideas from direct shit ... I like to pull ideas from all the way over here. Sometimes my vision can't be explained in words, 'cause I couldn't have even told you in words how I envisioned that video ending up."[34][35] Chike recalled the making of the clip, saying, "one day Coodie calls me out the blue about a concept he and Kanye had for a video revolving around Polaroid snapshots. I was leaving work at 7 PM only to come back at 10 PM, work all night then go home at 7 AM".[36] Coodie stated that "If we would have wrote a treatment" for the video, "they would have shot that down. They had to see it to understand. Otherwise they'd have said, 'No, Kanye should be rapping at a party, with lots of girls poolside'".[36] It was awarded the Video of the Year at the 2004 Source Hip Hop Awards.[37]

Track listing

CD single[38]

  1. "Through the Wire"
  2. "Through the Wire" (instrumental)
  3. "Two Words" (main)
  4. "Two Words" (clean)
  5. "Two Words" (instrumental)

UK CD single[39]

  1. "Through the Wire" (radio edit)
  2. "Two Words" (radio edit)
  3. "Through the Wire" (instrumental)
  4. "Through the Wire" (multimedia track)

Personnel

Information adapted from The College Dropout liner notes.[2]

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[61] Gold 45,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[62] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[63] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States March 1, 2004 Contemporary hit radio Roc-A-Fella, IDJMG [64]

Notes

  1. ↑ While he produced the backing track and wrote the rap for "Through the Wire", West did not receive writing credit for the song, which instead went to the composers of the sampled song "Through the Fire".

References

  1. ↑ "Through the Wire The Reason Kanye | HipHopDX Mobile". 2013-06-09. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  2. 1 2 Album notes for The College Dropout (2004) by Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records (986 173-9).
  3. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (December 10, 2002). "Kanye West Raps Through His Broken Jaw, Lays Beats for Scarface, Ludacris". MTV. Accessed October 23, 2007.
  4. ↑ "The Making of Kanye West's "The College Dropout""Through The Wire"". Complex. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  5. ↑ Johnson Jr, Billy (April 11, 2004). "Live Wire". Yahoo! Music. Accessed October 23, 2007.
  6. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (December 10, 2002). "Kanye West Raps Through His Broken Jaw, Lays Beats For Scarface, Ludacris". MTV. Accessed October 23, 2007.
  7. 1 2 Sanneh, Kelefa (February 9, 2004). "The College Dropout Review". The New York Times. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  8. ↑ Stereo Williams (5 April 2018). "The 10 Most-Anticipated Debut Albums in Hip-Hop History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  9. ↑ Eliscu, Jenny (August 19, 2007). "Genius Is As Genius Does". USA Weekend. Accessed October 23, 2007.
  10. 1 2 Kellman, Andy (2004). "The College Dropout Review ". Allmusic. Accessed June 6, 2018.
  11. ↑ Zwerling, Jared (2003). "Director Coodie & Chike talk about their music videos ". ESPN. Accessed February 8, 2019.
  12. ↑ Ingham, Tim (October 27, 2009). "Chaka Khan". Metro. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  13. ↑ Price, Joe (June 27, 2019). "Chaka Khan on Kanye West Sampling Her on "Through the Wire": 'I Thought It Was Stupid'". Complex. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  14. ↑ The Words and Lyrics of Kanye West: Through the Wire. New York: Atria Books. 2008. ISBN 978-1-4165-3775-5. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  15. ↑ D., Spence (April 19, 2004). "The College Dropout". IGN. Accessed October 24, 2007.
  16. ↑ Heaton, Dave (March 12, 2010). "The College Dropout Review". PopMatters. Accessed June 6, 2018.
  17. ↑ "The College Dropout Review". Stylus magazine. Accessed February 2, 2019.
  18. ↑ Rosario, Robert "Boo" (March 2010). "Record Report". The Source magazine, p. 157.
  19. ↑ "Kanye West - College Dropout". HipHopDX. Accessed August 3, 2010.
  20. ↑ Mitchum, Rob (February 13, 2010). "The College Dropout Review". Pitchfork Media. Accessed March 27, 2014.
  21. ↑ Frosch, Dan (October 16, 2010). "Kanye West-College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)". Vibe magazine. Accessed October 24, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Grammy Awards: Best Solo Rap Performance". Rock on the Net. Accessed October 24, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Lil Jon, R. Kelly, Kanye West and EMI Take Top Honors at BMI Urban Awards". BMI. August 26, 2005. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  24. ↑ "The 50 Greatest Chicago Rap Songs#11. PsychoDrama "Magic"". Complex. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  25. ↑ "The 50 Greatest Chicago Rap Songs". Complex. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  26. ↑ "The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  28. 1 2 "Kanye West - Through The Wire". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  29. ↑ "Through the Wire - Kanye West". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  30. ↑ "Award - Kanye West - Through the Wire". bpi. Accessed December 7, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Award". BPI. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  32. ↑ "Gold & Platinum - Kanye West - Through the Wire". RIAA. Accessed December 7, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Through the wire". mvdbase. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  34. ↑ "The Set Up Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine". XXL magazine (March 2004). Accessed August 3, 2007.
  35. ↑ Ryan, Chris (February 9, 2004). "Kanye West Archived July 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine". Spin magazine. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  36. 1 2 Bolden, Janeé (November 28, 2005). "Kanye West's Video Directors Coodie and Chike". SOHH. Accessed April 26, 2010.
  37. ↑ "The Noonie G. Story". Black Film (July 19, 2005). Accessed August 3, 2007.
  38. ↑ "Kanye West | Through the Wire | Album". MTV. Archived January 13, 2016. Accessed October 24, 2007.
  39. ↑ "Kanye West | Through the Wire UK CD | Album". MTV. Archived January 13, 2016. Accessed October 24, 2007.
  40. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 299.
  41. ↑ "Issue 745" ARIA Top 40 Urban Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  42. ↑ "Kanye West – Through the Wire" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  43. ↑ "Kanye West – Through the Wire" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  44. ↑ "Kanye West – Through the Wire". Tracklisten.
  45. ↑ "Kanye West – Through the Wire" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  46. ↑ "Discography Kanye West". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  47. ↑ "Kanye West – Through the Wire". Top 40 Singles.
  48. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  49. ↑ "Kanye West - Through The Wire". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  50. ↑ "Kanye West – Through the Wire". Swiss Singles Chart.
  51. ↑ "Kanye West: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  52. ↑ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  53. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  54. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  55. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Rap Tracks)". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  56. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  57. ↑ "UK Singles Chart 2004" (PDF). ChartsPlus. Retrieved January 30, 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  58. ↑ "2004 Urban top 30" (PDF). Music Week. January 22, 2005. p. 24. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  59. ↑ "Billboard Year End 2004". bobborst. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  60. ↑ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  61. ↑ "Danish single certifications – Kanye West – Through the Wire". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  62. ↑ "British single certifications – Kanye West – Through the Wire". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  63. ↑ "American single certifications – Kanye West – Through the Wire". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  64. ↑ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1544. February 27, 2004. p. 47. Retrieved July 10, 2022.

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