"Enemy" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Imagine Dragons and American rapper

JID Destin Choice Route (born October 31, 1990), better known by his stage name JID (also stylized J.I.D), is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Atlanta, he signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscop ...

. It was released through

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

and Kidinakorner on October 28, 2021, as the lead single of the

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to the

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animated series '' Arcane'', to which it also serves as the opening theme. The song was written by the artists alongside Justin Tranter and the producers Mattman & Robin. The song was also included on the band's fifth studio album '' Mercury – Act 1'' (2021) and its reissue, '' Mercury – Acts 1 & 2'' (2022). The song became JID's first song to reach the top 5 in the US, and became the band's first song to reach the top 5 since the 2017 song "

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

". In 2023, for the 35th anniversary of

Alternative Airplay Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

where "Enemy" charted for 54 weeks, of which 9 were spent at the top spot''Billboard'' ranked the song as the 14th-most successful in the chart's history.

Background

"Enemy" was recorded for the

animated series '' Arcane'', which premiered on November 6, 2021. The inspiration behind the song was the video game ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'', with the band having previously recorded the song "

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" for the 2014 ''League of Legends'' World Championship. On

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, JID said "I wrote this verse a couple years ago but initially the opening lines were from a song I started with Mac iller he told me it would fit better on this song and I’m glad he did." The opening title version, featuring a more orchestrated instrumental and slightly extended length, was released on November 23, 2024. It serves as the closing track of the album ''Arcane League of Legends: Season 2 (Soundtrack from the Animated Series)''.

Content

In a press release, the band's vocalist Dan Reynolds explained: "'Enemy' is about reconciling internal conflict in a world where it feels impossible to trust even yourself. In ''Arcane'', two sisters' lives take them on different paths and leads to a division that threatens to tear an entire city apart. Like the series, the song is meant to be both personal and a critique of a society that seems intent on creating division."

Music video

An accompanying animated video was released alongside the song, and produced by

Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on to develop ...

and Fortiche Production. It features the ''League of Legends'' character Jinx in a story about "the parts of her childhood that led her to a life of crime" and several scenes of "the falling out between Jinx and her sister Vi".

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. * Mattman & Robin – producer, composer, lyricist, associated performer, background vocalist, bass, brass band, drums, guitar, programming, synthesizer * Justin Tranter – composer, lyricist, associated performer, background vocalist * Imagine Dragons – composer, lyricist, engineer, studio personnel * John Hanes – additional engineer, mix engineer, studio personnel * JID – associated performer, vocals * Dan Reynolds – associated performer, background vocals * Ben Sedano – engineer, studio personnel * Serban Ghenea – engineer, mixer, studio personnel * Randy Merrill –

mastering engineer Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source ...

, studio personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Arcane 2021 singles 2021 songs Animated series theme songs Imagine Dragons songs JID songs League of Legends Number-one singles in Poland Song recordings produced by Mattman & Robin Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Ben McKee Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Wayne Sermon Interscope Records singles Kidinakorner singles Rap rock songs