"Encore" is a hip-hop song from Jay-Z's '' The Black Album''. It features guest vocals by

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

, Don Crawley, GLC and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

. The song was released by

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. History 1994–2000: Formation ...

and produced by West for

Konman Productions GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

. "Encore" received much popularity in 2004 when it was mixed with

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and dr ...

's hit single " Numb" on the mash-up album ''

Collision Course {{wiktionary A collision course, also known as a ''kamikaze run'', is the deliberate maneuver by the operator of a moving object (or often in Sci-Fi a spaceship) to collide with another object. It is a desperate maneuver since it often damages ...

'' as "

Numb/Encore "Numb/Encore" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and rock band Linkin Park from their EP '' Collision Course'' (2004). It was released as a single on December 13, 2004, by Warner Bros., Machine Shop, Def Jam, and Roc-A-Fella Records. The song i ...

", which went on to win a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Background

''The Black Album'' was touted by Jay Z as his last album before he retired from rap music. He cited a perceived lack of competition as reason for his retirement, stating "The game ain't hot. I love when someone makes a hot album and then you've got to make a hot album. I love that. But it ain't hot." Many critics doubted the longevity of Jay Z's retirement, and Ryan Schrieber of ''Pitchfork'' speculated that the retirement declarations could constitute "an elaborate publicity stunt." Lyrically, "Encore" deals with these themes and addresses rumors of a post-retirement career. Critic Rob Mitchum wrote of the song that "it's a little hard to take Jay's claims of retirement at face value when... ("Encore") makes reference to 'when I come back like

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

wearing the 45.'" The song was first released as the fourth track on Jay Z's ''The Black Album.'' It gained popularity when it was mixed with

's song " Numb." The subsequent track won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the

Grammy Awards of 2006 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. "Encore" was also released as the

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

on a 12" vinyl with "

Dirt Off Your Shoulder "Dirt off Your Shoulder" is the second single released from Jay-Z's 2003 album '' The Black Album''. In 2004, the song was combined with the Linkin Park single " Lying from You" and released as a single for the mash-up album '' Collision Cour ...

." The 12" includes the LP version, radio edit, and instrumental version of both songs.

Song information

"Encore" features vocals by

, Don Crawley, GLC and

. The song was released by

and produced by West for

. The production samples the trumpet introduction to John Holt's cover of "

I Will "I Will" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and features him on lead vocal, guitar, an ...

" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

, therefore there is a

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

songwriting credit on the song.

Reception

Al Shipley of

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

wrote that "Encore" "is perhaps the ultimate ''Black Album'' cut," while critic Dimas Sanfiorenzo called the track "probably one of the happiest songs of Hov's career."

Credits and personnel

*Produced by Kanye West . *Recorded by Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton at Baseline Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, and at Record Plant Studios in Daytona Beach Florida. *Mixed by

Corey Cuomo Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a cau ...

and

Jimmy Douglass Jimmy Douglass, also known as "The Senator", is an American recording engineer and record producer. His career has spanned more than four decades. Career In the early 1970s at Atlantic Records studios in New York City, he started his studio ca ...

. *Additional vocals by Kanye West, Don Crawley, John Legend and GLC. *Written by Jay Z

Charts

References