"iSpy" is a song by American rapper Kyle featuring fellow American rapper

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles " One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

. It was released on December 2, 2016, by Indie-Pop (independently popular.) and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

. It is the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

from Kyle's debut studio album '' Light of Mine'' (2018). The song was produced by Naz, SuperDuperBrick, and

Lege Kale Malik Keith (born May 9, 1996), professionally known as Lege Kale (pronounced /lej/ /kale/), is an American record producer, songwriter and vocalist. In 2016 he gained critical acclaim as one of the producers of Kyle's single iSpy featuring Lil ...

Background

In an interview for website

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...

, Kyle talked about the creation process behind the song:

The making of "iSpy" it was super casual. It was me and Ayo ow known as Nazin the studio. We just wanted to make some feel-good shit. I just had this little piano and started playing bomp bomp bomp—very badly, though, 'cause I’m not that raw. And then Ayo replayed it and made it saucy.

The official remix, which features American rapper

Kodak Black Bill Kahan Kapri (born Dieuson Octave; June 11, 1997), better known by his stage name Kodak Black, is an American rapper. He gained initial recognition with his single "No Flockin", released in 2014. His debut album, ''Painting Pictures'' (20 ...

, was released on June 9, 2017, with some slightly altered lyrics "to shout out Kodak and otalk about the original single".

Music video

The music video was released on April 7, 2017, on Kyle's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

account. It was directed by

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pro ...

. The official video features the heads of Kyle and Lil Yachty animated onto children's bodies for the duration of the video, with one critic noting that, "their childish sense of humour beams out of every scene." Discussing the idea for the video, Kyle said, "It was illey'sconcept. I just agreed on it. I told him, 'This song is fun. The video needs to be twice as fun...' It doesn't get more feel good than being a baby surrounded by incredible looking women at the beach with no cares in the world." Prior to the release of the official video, an animated lyric video was released on Kyle's YouTube channel and amassed 19 million in its first month, causing the song to receive an uptick in recognition. The lyric video was well received, with one critic saying, "The track itself came out n 2016 but the video...makes the song sound even better." The lyric video was produced by Carpool Films, directed by Jayme Lamperle, and animated by Lamperle, Courtney Garvin, Frank Gidlewski, Evan Red Borja and Jake Reed.

Critical reception

David Drake of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' wrote that the song is "reminiscent of '

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is clas ...

', between the stop-start kick drums, its sweet charming tone, and the evident fun of its screwball lyrics".

Chart performance

"iSpy" debuted at number 80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the chart dated January 14, 2017. It peaked at number four on the chart dated April 22, 2017, becoming Kyle's first and Lil Yachty's second top five single.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Atlantic Records singles Kyle (musician) songs Lil Yachty songs Music videos directed by Colin Tilley Animated music videos Songs written by Lil Yachty