"4 da Fam" is a song by American rapper Amil, featuring verses from American rappers

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 ...

Memphis Bleek Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper. He is best known for his affiliation with fellow New York City-based rapper Jay-Z, with Cox often described as his hype man and protégé. Cox s ...

, and

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his association with Jay-Z and his label Roc-A-Fella Records, to which Grant signed ...

Ty Fyffe Tyrone Gregory Fyffe (born June 4, 1971), also known as Sugarless, is an American record producer from Queens, New York City. During his career he produced tracks for MC Lyte, Foxy Brown, Slick Rick, Ja Rule, Canibus, Jayo Felony, Queen Pen, ...

produced the song. It was released on

Roc-A-Fella Roc-A-Fella Records was an American record label and music management company founded in 1994 by record executives and entrepreneurs Jay-Z, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem Burke, Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Carter issued his debut album, ...

as the second single from her debut album ''

All Money Is Legal ''All Money Is Legal'', also known as ''A.M.I.L.: (All Money Is Legal)'', is the only studio album by American rapper Amil. It was released on August 29, 2000, through Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-A-Fella, Columbia Records, Columbia, and Sony Music ...

''. In one of the verses, Jay-Z discusses his fears of becoming a father. "4 da Fam" received mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

; some critics praised Jay-Z's verse, while others criticized Amil's contributions. It appeared on several ''Billboard'' charts. The song peaked at 99 on the

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 ...

''Billboard'' chart and No. 97 on the

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 stat ...

''Billboard'' chart. "4 da Fam" was promoted with a music video, which was played on the music show ''Artist Corner'' and the

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

network.

Recording and release

produced "4 da Fam" and wrote it with Amil Whitehead, Shawn Carter (Jay-Z),

Dwight Grant Dwight Lamont Grant (born September 14, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the welterweight (MMA), welterweight division. He had previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Born and r ...

(Beanie Sigel), and Malik Cox (Memphis Bleek). The track was mixed by Pat Viala and recorded by

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

. It was released on September 13, 2000 as the second single from Amil's debut album, ''

'' (2000). The song was made available as a

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

through

. It was also included on a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

with the album's

lead single A lead single (or first 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. A similar term, "debut ...

" I Got That". In advertisements for ''All Money Is Legal'', "4 da Fam" was promoted as one of its "blazin' joints". A music video, directed by Nick Quested, was released for "4 da Fam" in 2000. It was played that year on the music show ''Artist Corner'' and

. The video was uploaded to Amil's

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

account on October 25, 2009.

Composition and lyrics

At 4 minutes and 19 seconds long, "4 da Fam" includes verses from Amil, Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, and Beanie Sigel. Steve Rivers of ''Ebony'' described it as a "crew love record". In his verse, Jay-Z raps about becoming a father in the verse: "I got four nephews and they're all writing ... and I'm having a child, which is more frightening." Rob Markman of

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

wrote that fatherhood was a subject that Jay-Z explored from his debut album ''Reasonable Doubt'' (1996). Jay-Z's other lyrics include: "Y'all niggas truly ain't ready for this dynasty thing / Y'all thinking

Blake Carrington Blake Alexander Carrington is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. The role of Blake was originally portrayed by actor John Forsythe from 1981 to 1989. Forsythe returned for the ...

, I'm thinking more like

Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...

." and "I got 4 nephews, and they all write-ing / They all young and wild, plus they all like Beans."

Reception

"4 da Fam" received mixed reviews from

. Andrew Barber and Al Shipley of ''Complex'' praised Jay-Z's contribution, and wrote that "he had the best verse and batted clean up". In a 2018 article, they included "4 da Fam" in their list of the top-100 best Jay-Z songs. John Kennedy of

Vulture.com ''Vulture'' is an American entertainment news website. It is the standalone pop culture section of ''New York'' magazine. Its tagline is "Devouring Culture". History ''Vulture'' debuted in April 2007 as an entertainment blog on nymag.com, the w ...

identified the single as an improvement over the track "Pop 4 Roc" from Jay-Z's fourth studio album '' Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter'' (1999), and described "4 da Fam" as "the real deal". While critical of Amil, Son Raw of ''Fact'' referred to the single as a "prime '' Roc La Familia''-era posse cut". "4 da Fam" peaked at 99 on the

''Billboard'' chart on July 22, 2000, and remained on the chart for a week. On the same day, it reached a peak position of No. 97 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs ''Billboard'' chart, staying on the chart for a week. It also peaked at No. 29 on the

''Billboard'' chart, and remained on that chart for 11 weeks.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''All Money Is Legal'': *Featuring – Beanie Sigel, Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek *Mixed by – Pat Viala *Producer – Ty Tyfife *Recorded by – Just Blaze *Written by – Ty Tyfife, Amil Whitehead, Shawn Carter, Dwight Grant, and Malik Cox

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:4 Da Fam 2000 singles Amil songs Beanie Sigel songs Jay-Z songs Memphis Bleek songs Songs written by Jay-Z 2000 songs Songs written by Amil