"Fancy" is a song by Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

, from his debut album, ''

Thank Me Later ''Thank Me Later'' is the debut studio album by Canadian rapper and singer Drake. It was released on June 15, 2010, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown Records. Production for the album took place at various re ...

''. The song features vocals from American rapper T.I. and producer

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

, the latter of whom also co-produced the track alongside Noah "40" Shebib. The song was released to US radio stations on August 3, 2010, as the album's fourth official single, however promotion of the track ended earlier than expected due to Drake's uncertainty towards the song's planned music video and promotion. The song contains a sample of "I Don't Want to Play Around" by

Ace Spectrum Ace Spectrum was an American R&B, soul and disco musical group that was popular in the mid-1970s. History Based in New York City, the group consisted of Rudy Gay Sr., Elliot Isaac, Henry "Easy" Zant, Aubrey "Troy" Johnson, and, on their final al ...

. The original version that had leaked features the chorus sung by

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

and T.I., while Young Jeezy and T.I. raps the first verse and the First three are rapped by Drake. It was intended to be on Mary J. Blige's album ''

Stronger with Each Tear ''Stronger with Each Tear'' is the ninth studio album from American R&B and soul singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige. The album was released in the US on December 21, 2009, under Blige's own imprint, Matriarch Records. Internationally it was rele ...

'', but missed the deadline and was later given to Drake in 2008. Blige's vocals were kept on Drake's version as a backing vocal, though formally uncredited. The track received a nomination for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Music video

A music video was filmed for the song on July 16, 2010. It was directed by

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on si ...

. The video, however, was never released. In late September 2010, Drake told

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

that the reason why the video has not yet premiered is because he's debating whether to reshoot the video for "Fancy" or commission a clip for his next single, "Show Me a Good Time", he stated: "We shot 'Fancy,' and to be honest with you, it was done and I watched it and I just had a way better idea, and that's why the video hasn't come out yet. And to follow up 'Find Your Love' and 'Miss Me,' I really wanted to do something different, conceptually, and so I had this amazing idea and now I'm debating whether I should reshoot it or go straight to ''Show Me a Good Time''".

Live performances

and

performed the song at the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

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California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, on September 12, 2010. Mary J. Blige performed alongside them in place of T.I., who was unable to attend; she sang a verse from the original leaked version, in addition to the chorus. On New Year's Eve 2011 on ABC, Drake performed a new version of his "Fancy" track on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest. The record still has

. The new verse was ultimately used on " Over My Dead Body", the opening track from his sophomore effort '' Take Care''.

Remix

Following the performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, the song was re-purposed as a remix using one of the verses and additional ad-libs from Blige's original version in place of T.I.'s verse. This version also features part of the first verse of the original Ace Spectrum song preceding the first chorus, as well as some minor alterations to the music in the bridge.

Chart performance

"Fancy" debuted the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 99, the week following the album's release, due to it gaining strong digital sales. The song eventually peaked at number 25 on the chart. It reached its peak at four on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 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 ...

chart and one on the US

Hot Rap Songs 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 single 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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA) for sales of over a million digital copies in the United States.

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fancy (Drake Song) Drake (musician) songs T.I. songs Swizz Beatz songs Song recordings produced by 40 (record producer) Song recordings produced by Swizz Beatz Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Swizz Beatz Songs written by T.I. Songs written by Drake (musician) 2010 singles Cash Money Records singles Music videos directed by Anthony Mandler Songs written by 40 (record producer) Songs written by Mary J. Blige 2010 songs