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"Otis" is a song by American hip hop artists Kanye West and Jay-Z, from their first collaborative album ''Watch the Throne'' (2011). The song posthumously features soul singer Otis Redding, whose version of "Try a Little Tenderness" is sampled in the song. The production was covered solely by West. The track was premiered by Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and was released onto the Internet the day afterward. Lyrically, the song has the two rappers sharing lines discussing various subjects such as wealth, decadence and fame. The track received highly positive reviews from music critics who praised the trading off of verses by the two rappers and the Redding-sampled beat, which was compared to the style heard on West's ''The College Dropout''. Several publications placed the song amongst the best of the year. The track was released as the second single from ''Watch the Throne'' on July 20, 2011. The song peaked at number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached position 2 on both the Billboard Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The song has since been certified Platinum for sales exceeding 1,000,000. The song received a music video directed by Spike Jonze on August 2011. The video primarily shows West and Jay-Z modifying a Maybach luxury car and then driving around in it with no doors or windows, while four girls are smiling in the backseat. After its release, the video was met with positive reception. The cover art was designed by Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci. Jay and West performed the song at all the stops on their 2011 Watch the Throne Tour. It was also performed at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards and at the 2012 Radio 1's Big Weekend musical festival. At the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012, "Otis" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. ==Background and release== On July 7, 2011, "Otis" was previewed along with the other songs from ''Watch the Throne'' by Jay-Z at a private listening session at the Mercer Hotel in New York City.〔 A select group of reporters, music journalists, and contest winners were present at the listening session. After the listening session, it was confirmed that a song called "Otis", would appear on the album. It was reported that the song would sample soul music singer Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness". On July 20, "Otis" was premiered on Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and subsequently was released for download to the Internet as a way to promote the upcoming album. On July 22, the song was released to the iTunes Store and was a free download for those who pre-ordered the album. It was sent by The Island Def Jam Music Group to rhythmic contemporary and urban contemporary radio on August 9. The cover art for "Otis" was designed by Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci, who had previously designed the artwork for the "H•A•M" single cover and the ''Watch the Throne'' album cover. It features the American flag, both artists names and the name of the song and the album.〔 The artwork was released onto the internet following the song's release and could be downloaded along with the song. Bu Thiam, Def Jam VP of A&R, was with Kanye and Jay throughout the recording process and saw how the duo came up with several of the Watch the Throne tracks. He recalled the story of the song "Otis": "() was late for his flight, we were in the studio working all day and he was late for his flight. As we were leaving he was like, 'Yo hold on for a second.' So he drops his bags and goes to the MPC (beat machine) and his assistant is rushing him and he's just f----ing with (beat ). What's so crazy is the whole time he's doing that Jay is writing his verses in his head. But Jay is watching the NBA playoffs, I think it was the championship; Miami Heat & Dallas Mavericks. So Jay is watching the playoffs. I'm not even thinking Jay is paying attention to what 'Ye is doing and by the time he is finished it's like 'I invented swag ...' And I'm like, 'What the f--- just happened?'"〔http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=23523〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Otis (song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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