"Back to Me" (stylized in uppercase) is a song by the American

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. Hi ...

supergroup

¥$ ¥$ is an American hip-hop superduo composed of rapper Kanye West and singer Ty Dolla Sign. With the two maintaining a strong relationship during 2023, West invited Ty Dolla Sign to record songs in Tokyo, Italy, and later Saudi Arabia. During t ...

, composed of rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and singer

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

, featuring American rapper

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper and songwriter. He signed with Interscope Records in 2006 and recorded his debut album for the label; however, its release was cance ...

. It was produced by the supergroup, alongside

88-Keys Charles Misodi Njapa (born March 5, 1976), known professionally as 88-Keys, is an American record producer and rapper from New York City. Biography Born in New York City to West African parents from Cameroon, he was raised in the Eastchester se ...

, AyoAA and Wax Motif, with additional writing by Nicholas Balding, Sasha Hashemi, and Zachary Frenes. The song contains samples of "

Rock Box "Rock Box" is a song by the American hip hop group Run-DMC. The song was produced by Larry Smith and Russell Simmons and released by Profile Records in March 1984. Following the popularity of their previous two singles " Hard Times" (1983) an ...

" by

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the mos ...

and the film ''Dogma'' (1999).

Composition

The song features a "crisp" drum break and "ethereal" vocal samples. It additionally uses a sample and interpolation of the character

Jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

's lines from the film ''

Dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

'' (1999): "I fell in love with you, we fell in love with you! Guys like us just don't fall out of the fucking sky, you know?" and "Beautiful, naked, big-titty womеn just don't fall out the sky, you know?" Steven J. Horowitz of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' stated that "The rolling drums and bleating bass line of 'Back to Me' recall the patter of ' Runaway.

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews, with particular praise towards Freddie Gibbs' performance. Gabriel Bras Nevares of ''

HotNewHipHop ''HotNewHipHop'' (HNHH) is an online publication that covers daily news about hip hop and pop culture, including streetwear, sports, and Sneaker collecting, sneakers. In addition to its editorial content, HotNewHipHop also produces the video seri ...

'' described Gibbs in the song as "displaying why he's one of the best spitters in the game right now" and additionally remarked about the song: "Say what you will about Ye, his collaborators, and the ugly parts of this rollout, release, and platform, but talking strictly about the music, the effort here is undeniable." In a negative review of ''Vultures 1'',

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' stated that the standard of Kanye West's lyrics is "thrown into stark relief by an exceptionally snappy guest verse from Indiana MC Freddie Gibbs on Back to Me". Jayson Buford of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' commented, "Freddie Gibbs, another eccentric loudmouth, shows up on 'Back to Me' and although the production on that song sounds like the ending to an

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series, Gibbs's verse is strong." ''HotNewHipHop''s Aron A. wrote that "Freddie Gibbs delivers the verse of the album, if not the year so far on 'Back To Me.' He swiftly turns Ye's cheeky interpolation of Jay's 'beautiful big t*tty women just don't fall out the sky you know' into a katana-sharp verse that's equally playful and gruff with bars like, 'Turn a bird bitch to my '' X'' like I was Elon.'"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Fred Thomas commented, "A robust verse from Freddie Gibbs comes close to salvaging the otherwise uncalled-for filler of 'Back to Me'". Reviewing ''Vultures 1'' for ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'', Scott Glaysher commented the song is "where things get a little strange, not necessarily for Kanye, but by listeners' standards". Regarding to the use of the line from ''Dogma'', Glaysher stated that "Ye and Ty Dolla's creative output gets a little mundane when they simply repeat the actor's soundbite with some programmed drums underneath." He described Freddie Gibbs' verse as "fierce".

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Back to Me 2024 songs Kanye West songs Ty Dolla Sign songs Song recordings produced by Kanye West Song recordings produced by Digital Nas Song recordings produced by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Ty Dolla Sign Songs written by 88-Keys Songs written by Digital Nas Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Nic Nac