"Hate Me Now" is the second and final single by rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

featuring

Puff Daddy Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

, from Nas' third studio album '' I Am...''. The backbeat is inspired by, and contains some samples from,

Carl Orff Carl Heinrich Maria Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, who composed the cantata ''Carmina Burana (Orff), Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Orff Schulwerk, Schulwerk were influential for ...

's "

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...

". It was ranked 119 on XXL's 250 Best Songs of the 1990s.

Production and release

In a 2007 interview with ''

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 ...

'', Nas recalled the making of the song: "It was a track D-Moet produced for Foxy Brown, and she didn't want the record, she didn't like it. It fit with my album, '' I Am...'', so I did the D-Moet track and it sounded perfect for Puff to be on, so I gave it to him, went to the studio, and he rocked it, knocked it out." "Hate Me Now" was released as a single in the U.S. by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

on April 6, 1999.

Composition

Biographer Ronin Ro describes Combs's persona in "Hate Me Now" as "the angry young rapper battling jealous critics," a theme that would influence Combs's 1999 album ''

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

''. The beat samples "

" by

Critical reception

For ''RapReviews.com'', Steve Juon said that "Hate Me Now" was the "only truly overpowering song" from ''I Am...'': "It may be yet another mad track about playa hating, but the rebuttal of the hate is crisp and well defined - owing little to cliche." In 2013, ''

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 ...

'' ranked the "Hate Me Now" video no. 8 in its "50 Best Rap Videos of the '90s" list.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Music video and Sean Combs assault incident

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single, directed by

Hype Williams Harold "Hype" Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video and film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adelphi Univ ...

and featuring

being

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...

, was the subject of extreme controversy, as the original edit also featured

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

, then known as Puff Daddy, on the cross. Puffy, who was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, had demanded that his crucifixion scene be excluded from the broadcast edit of the video. However, the wrong edit was incorrectly sent to

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, which aired that version on the April 15, 1999, edition of '' TRL''. Within minutes of the broadcast, Combs had barged into the offices of Nas' former manager,

Steve Stoute Steve Stoute (born June 26, 1970) is an American record executive who concurrently was Executive Vice President of Interscope Geffen A&M Records and President of Urban Music at Sony Music from 1999 to 2009. In 2017, he founded the music distr ...

, with several bodyguards, and struck Stoute over the head with a

champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

bottle. In June 1999, Stoute sued Combs, resulting in a $500,000 out-of-court settlement from Combs. Combs released a statement afterwards where he said: “I’m glad to get this whole incident behind me. And it’s now time for me to do what I do best – concentrate on my album and give back to my fans.”

Use in media

*The song was used as the entrance song for

Nate Diaz Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist and professional boxer who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for ov ...

at finale of the 5th season of ''

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

'' *The song was used as the entrance song for former UFC Heavyweight Champion

Frank Mir Francisco Santos Miranda III (; born May 24, 1979), is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division. He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years, and Bellator MMA. A former UFC Heavywe ...

UFC 81 ''UFC 81: Breaking Point'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held on February 2, 2008, by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip. Background The main event featured Tim Sylvia and Ant ...

and UFC 92. *The song was used as the entrance song for

Marcus Aurelio Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...

at UFC 102. *The song is the entrance music for

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

pitcher

Huston Street Huston Lowell Street ( ; born August 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels. After ...

. *

Dave East David Lawrence Brewster Jr. (born June 3, 1988), known professionally as Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 for his eighth mixtape, ''Black Rose''. Its release caught the attention of fe ...

, who has multiple collaborations with

, titled his 2015 mixtape 'Hate Me Now'. Nas is featured on the track "Forbes List". *Hate Me Now is also sampled by the mashup artist Girl Talk on his track "Hold Up" from his 2006 album '' Night Ripper''. *This song is also a playable track in the rap karaoke video game " Def Jam Rapstar". *Song was used as the opening intro music alongside an orchestra for the 2009-2010

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

home opener. *

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

freestyled to the song when on the Tim Westwood Show. *The song was used during a promo package for professional wrestler

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame a ...

WrestleMania XXVII WrestleMania XXVII was a 2011 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 27th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 20 ...

. *

Ace Hood Antoine Franklin McColister (born May 11, 1988), known professionally Ace Hood, is an American rapper. Born in Port St. Lucie and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, he was discovered by DJ Khaled and became the first act to sign with his rec ...

freestyled to the song on Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex Freestyle Pt. 2. *The song was used in Skam Season 3 Episode 6 "Escobar Season". *The song was used in the soundtrack for football video game

Madden NFL 10 ''Madden NFL 10'' is an American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. The 21st installment of the ''Madden NFL'' series, it is the first game to feature two players ...

*The song was used in the soundtrack for basketball video game

NBA 2K14 ''NBA 2K14'' is a 2013 basketball video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. The fifteenth installment in the series, it was released on October 1, 2013, for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 4 and the X ...

*The song was used in a musical production in Episode 9 of Dear White People (TV series) *A remix of the song is featured in the first official trailer for the 2023 film '' Gran Turismo'', based on the racing simulation video game series of the same name.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles Music videos directed by Hype Williams Music video controversies Nas songs Sean Combs songs Song recordings produced by Trackmasters Songs written by Nas