"(Always Be My) Sunshine" is a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

song by American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

with guest vocals from fellow emcee Foxy Brown and R&B singer-songwriter Babyface who performs the song's chorus. It serves as the first single from his second album '' In My Lifetime, Vol. 1'' (1997). The track features production by Daven "Prestige" Vanderpool. Vanderpool samples

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

's " Cha Cha Cha", Alexander O'Neal's " Sunshine",

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

's "The Man-Machine" and The Fearless Four's "Rockin' It" for the track's beat. In addition, George Fonenette plays keyboards on this song. The song's lyrics helped indicate Jay-Z's change from his Mafioso rap style to a more commercial " shiny suit" style. Steve Juon of RapReviews.com supports the song claiming that it is a less gangsta version of The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Me & My Bitch", a well-received track. Jay-Z cites this song as "what killed the album."The Scoreboard , Life+Times
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Music video

The music video was directed by

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

. Jay-Z is featured in the video rapping in a room resembling a Rubik's Cube & having a carnival theme to it with Foxy Brown rapping alongside of him. Jay-Z & co-founder of Roc-A-Fella,

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke in 1994, and co-founded the fashion retailer Rocawear with the former in 1999. Early life ...

later regretted doing the video citing that the video wasn't their style.

Formats and track listings

CD

# "Sunshine (Radio Edit)" (3:15) # "Sunshine (Album Version)" (4:11) # "Sunshine (Clean Version)" (4:12) # "Sunshine ( TV track)" (4:12) # "Sunshine (Acappella)" (3:49)

Vinyl

A-side

# "Sunshine (Album Version)" # "Sunshine (TV Track)" # "Sunshine (Radio Edit)"

B-side

# "Sunshine (Clean Version)" # "Sunshine (Instrumental)" # "Sunshine (Acappella)"

Charts

References

1997 singles Jay-Z songs Babyface (musician) songs Foxy Brown (rapper) songs Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Roc-A-Fella Records singles Music videos directed by Hype Williams 1997 songs {{1990s-hiphop-song-stub