"Broccoli" is a song by American rapper

DRAM Dram, DRAM, or drams may refer to: Technology and engineering * Dram (unit), a unit of mass and volume, and an informal name for a small amount of liquor, especially whisky or whiskey * Dynamic random-access memory, a type of electronic semicondu ...

featuring

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper. He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit "One Night (Lil Yachty song), One Night", the lead single from his debut extend ...

, released on April 6, 2016, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and

Empire Distribution Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, EMPIRE has offices in New York, London, ...

as the lead single from DRAM's debut studio album, ''

Big Baby DRAM ''Big Baby DRAM'' is the debut studio album by American rapper DRAM. It was released on October 21, 2016, by Empire Distribution and Atlantic Records. The album features guest appearances from Young Thug, Erykah Badu, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Tr ...

''. It was produced by J. Gramm, with

Rogét Chahayed Rogét Lutfi Chahayed (born May 31, 1988) is an American record producer and songwriter. Referred to as "one of hip-hop and pop's most dependable hit machines" by ''Billboard'', Chahayed has received nine Grammy Award nominations; in 2022, he w ...

as co-producer. It received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...

at the

59th Annual Grammy Awards The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year ...

Background and release

The song was released for digital download as a single on April 6, 2016. It is the first single from DRAM's debut studio album, ''

'', which was released in October 2016. A limited edition

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone record, gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics ...

7" vinyl version of the song was released on November 25, as part of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

's Black Friday sale. In an interview with

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

, DRAM spoke on the creation process behind the song:

"I was first introduced to Yachty through
Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...
. I was in Shangri La and Rick asked me if he could bring Yachty through. We linked and played each other music. A good month later, one of my main camera guys was following Yachty around during his SXSW run and I came about during the conversation. We exchanged numbers and I saw he was in LA, so I called him and he answered on the first fucking ring. He came to the studio and we had the loop of this going. We weren’t sure on what was going to make it carry over. At first, it was the piano with the drum loop, we had the flute and when that went in, everyone started vibing. Yachty started on his verse and I didn’t have any bars at first so I told him to go in. When he left, I didn’t even have my verse, I just had the bridge."

"Broccoli" debuted at number 87 on US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the chart dated July 2, 2016. It rose to number 65 on the Hot 100 the following week and has peaked at number 5, making it DRAM and Lil Yachty's first top 5 entry. As of January 2017, the song has sold 1,104,000 copies in the United States. The song was certified quintuple platinum 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/o ...

(RIAA) on April 6, 2017, for combined sales and streaming-equivalent points of five million units in the United States.

Critical reception

James Grebey of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' said "the pair’s affable, clever rapping is a delight over the beat, which switched from a grizzled boom to some flighty, '' Kirby’s Dreamland-''esque twinkling."

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

's Marcus J. Moore opined, "D.R.A.M. comes through with his usually energetic rhymes, proclaiming his territory while giving the track even more punch." The same magazine listed "Broccoli" on their ranking of the 100 best songs of 2016 at number 33. The track was named the 47th best song of the year on ''

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 ...

''s "50 Best Songs of 2016" list. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' ranked "Broccoli" at number three on their "100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list. In the annual ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2016, "Broccoli" was ranked at number 26.

Sampling

The song was

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

in the

Beyoncé 2018 Coachella performance Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figu ...

. It samples "No Drama" performed by Phemza The Kween featuring Klondike Blonde.

Music video

The song's accompanying music video premiered on July 22, 2016 on DRAM's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

account. The video makes extensive use of

wiggle stereoscopy Wiggle stereoscopy is an example of stereoscopy in which left and right images of a stereogram are animated. This technique is also called wiggle 3-D, wobble 3-D, wigglegram, or sometimes Piku-Piku (Japanese for "twitching"). The sense of depth ...

. As of May 2025, the music video has 467 million views on YouTube.

Track listing

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

— 8891526038 — Record Store Day limited edition 7" vinyl

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Lyrics of this song at Genius
{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs DRAM (musician) songs Songs about cannabis Lil Yachty songs Songs written by Rogét Chahayed Songs written by Lil Yachty Empire Distribution singles Atlantic Records singles Songs written by DRAM (musician)