"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" is a song by American rapper Nas featuring fellow American rapper

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

, released on June 4, 1996 as the first single from his second album, ''

It Was Written ''It Was Written'' is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album ''Illmatic'' (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for ''It ...

'' (1996). Produced by

Trackmasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

, with some uncredited input by Rashad Smith, it is based on the 1985 hit of the same name by American rapper

Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker and minister. He is the first commercially successful rapper ...

and samples the beat of " Friends" by

Whodini Whodini is an American hip hop group that was formed in 1982. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, a.k.a. Ecstasy (who wore a Zorro-style hat as his trademark; J ...

. Lauryn Hill's verse interpolates the song "Walk Right Up To The Sun" by

The Delfonics The Delfonics were an American R&B/soul vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Delfonics were most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include " La-La (Means I Love You)", " Didn't I (Blow Your Mind Thi ...

. The single marked Hill's first musical appearance outside of the

Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with i ...

. "If I Ruled the World", bolstered by a high-budget music video directed by

Hype Williams Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adel ...

and designed by visual artist and designer

Ron Norsworthy Ron Norsworthy is an American visual artist and designer. His work employs notions of spaces and decoration of space as narratives about his lived experience as a queer person of color as well as that of his community/communities. His interdiscip ...

, became Nas's first single to gain mainstream notice. The single reached number 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, while also peaking in the top 20 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart, and on the

Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

chart. The song was nominated for a 1997

Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously, a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. In 2003, this award was split into separate a ...

. It is considered to be one of the greatest rap songs of all time by many publications. In June 2021, the song was certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America, becoming Nas' first single to achieve this.

Critical reception

Daryl McIntosh from Albumism noted "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" as "an example of the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

's ambition", complimenting it for having "one of the most memorable choruses of the era." Daisy & Havoc from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update rated it five out of five, adding, "This one should do well right now for a handful of reasons — it features

from

, it's not dissimilar to Fugees and, most importantly of all, it's a really appealing track with an addictive chorus, some great vocals and a laid-back but still serious rap. Just hope it doesn't get forgotten in the rush."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" was directed by American director

and designed by visual artist and designer

. It was released for the week ending on June 16, 1996.

Single track listing

* US 12" vinyl :A1. "If I Ruled the World" (Main Mix) (4:42) :A2. "If I Ruled the World" (Instrumental) (4:34) :B1. "If I Ruled the World" (Clean Mix) (4:42) :B2. "If I Ruled the World" (A Cappella) (4:42) * Europe maxi-CD (COL 663296 2) # "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (Main Mix)" (4:45) # "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (Instrumental)" (4:36) # "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (Clean Mix)" (4:45) # "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (A Cappella)" (4:42) * Europe CD (COL 663296 1) # "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (Main Mix)" # "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (Instrumental)"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:If I Ruled The World (Imagine That) 1996 singles Music videos directed by Hype Williams Nas songs Lauryn Hill songs Songs written by Nas Songs written by Samuel Barnes (songwriter) Songs written by Jean-Claude Olivier 1996 songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Trackmasters