"So Appalled" is a song by American 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 ...

from his fifth studio album, ''

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010. Retreating to a self-imposed exile in Hawaii after a period of ...

'' (2010). The song was produced by West, along with

No I.D. Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), known professionally as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American record producer, DJ and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his early work with Chicago-based rapper Common, as well a ...

and Mike Dean, and features verses by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Cyhi the Prynce Cydel Charles Young (born September 15, 1984), known professionally as CyHi the Prynce (also referred to as CyHi Da Prynce or simply CyHi), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He signed a major label recor ...

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...

, and

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

respectively, who all receive writing credits. Lyrically, the song explores topics such as the troubles produced from being famous, social concerns and features numerous

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

references. The

posse cut A posse cut is a popular form of song in hip hop music that involves successive verses by four or more rappers.Edwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC'', Chicago Review Press, p. 221. Tracks described as posse cuts ...

received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with West and Jay-Z's verses commonly being cited as the highlights. Critics generally praised the production of the song. Originally, the song was released in an unmastered form through West's

GOOD Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

initiative, a weekly free music giveaway started by the rapper to promote the album. Following this, "So Appalled" made its way onto ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' with the addition of an extended verse. "So Appalled" charted on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles singles chart. West performed the song with Jay-Z at their

Watch the Throne Tour The Watch the Throne Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West that began on October 28, 2011, in Atlanta and continued until June 22, 2012, with its final show scheduled in Birmingham. Originally scheduled f ...

and with Pusha T on his own tour.

Background

"So Appalled" was first released on September 24, 2010, and was the seventh song to be featured on West's GOOD Fridays, a music giveaway that provided free

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

downloads every week. It was originally believed to be a song for West and Jay-Z's collaborative album ''

Watch the Throne ''Watch the Throne'' is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West. It was released on August 8, 2011, by Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings. Prior to its release, Jay-Z and West had collaborated ...

'', but it was later confirmed not to be. The song would later find its way onto West's fifth studio album, ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' along with two other GOOD Friday songs.Fennessey, Sean (2010-11-17)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
. ''

The 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 newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-17. The version on the album was altered production-wise and was longer, and featured a sample of the

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

's song "You Are – I Am". The song was released with two covers, one with a famous photo of a model vomiting red nail polish, taken by Guy Bourdin; and the other containing the same image, with dimmed lighting and obscured by thick red letters. Before its release the song was leaked online and was nearly scrapped.

Recording

The majority of ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'', including "So Appalled", was recorded in

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

.Callahan-Bever, Noah (2010-12-12)
Kanye West: Project Runaway
. ''

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 ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-30. Following several media controversies, West decided to record his next album in a reclusive manner only working with artists he considered himself familiar with.Rodriguez, Jayson (2010-05-25)
Kanye West's 'Power' Producer Explains How Song Happened
. MTV. Viacom Retrieved on 2010-11-30. Amongst the various artists invited down to Hawaii to record songs for the album was Pusha T, a rapper known for the hip-hop duo

Clipse Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip-hop, hip hop duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formed in 1994, it consists of brothers No Malice, Gene "Malice" and Pusha T, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during t ...

. While in Hawaii, Pusha-T commented that the very first thing he recorded was his verse for "So Appalled".Pump, Joe Lay (2010-11-03)
Pusha Talks The Difference Between Working With Kanye & Pharrell
. PushaT.com Retrieved on 2010-11-30. He favorably compared recording with West with another producer he was used to working with,

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, commenting that he enjoyed how the process was more of a canvas. When working with other producers usually a majority of the track was already done by the time he got to the recording studio, but with West, the process was more creative in nature. Pusha described the recording process with West as a "roller coast" and stated that he never knew what to expect while working with the producer. Upon hearing the production of the song, Pusha-T commented that it was so good it persuaded him to write a particularly inspired verse.Blanco, Alvin (2010-11-18)
Pusha T Says Cryptic 'So Appalled' Verse Is 'Self-Explanatory'
MTV. Viacom Retrieved on 2010-11-30. On the production of "So Appalled", he said "it's Kanye, the beat brings the ghost out of you." The rapper described his verse as "self-explanatory" and stated that it was one of his favorite of his career. Pusha T called his verse "his personal favorite" and that the track was originally supposed to be just him and Kanye. When the song was finished, Pusha-T was so impressed with the track that he argued with West to include it on his album, stating that the song was so good it didn't matter whether or not it had leaked. He commented;

"I had already raved over the record because it leaked. I was like listen, there is no way this be on your album, you'd have to be crazy. He was like 'Really, you think so?' I was like c'mon man we got to stop treating rap like oh it came out it's dead. When it's good, we have to make people love it and digest it. We can't treat this like
mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...
throwaways like everybody else does. Everybody else does half-ass music. So what people don't know is that what Kanye did during that album is literally, I walked into the studio and I had the pick of 17 records and he was like do what you want to do to any of these, do what you like."

One of the producers and guest appearances on the song is RZA,

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

of the hip-hop group

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

.Langhorne, Cyrus (2010-08-01)
News: Kanye West fantasizes more RZA production
. SOHH Retrieved on 2010-11-30. RZA spoke positively of West, viewing that he embodied the mentality of the Wu-Tang Clan. RZA sent several beats to West, including some that he cited as being edgy, because he felt that West was the type who could work well on more forceful production, including the brooding beat for "So Appalled". The song was nearly featured on '' Last Train to Paris'', a studio album by Diddy.Barber, Andrew (2012-12-07)
Kanye West f/ Jay-Z, RZA, Cy-Hi Da Prynce & Pusha-T "So Appalled" (2010)
. ''Complex''. Retrieved on 2010-11-30. According to another producer on the song,

, it was offered to both Jay-Z and Diddy before it leaked. West freestyled over the track for fun and found that he actually liked it enough to ultimately use it himself, stating that it would make a good group song. Cyhi the Prynce's verse only appeared on the song because he "tricked" West. Originally he was only supposed to deliver a quick

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

, but at the time West was tired and let Cyhi record his verse alone. When West awoke and played back the tape, he was surprised to find that Cyhi had recorded an entire verse. Impressed with it, West decided to include it on the track anyway. The song reportedly offended M.C. Hammer, who Jay-Z references on the line "I spent another 30 / Cause unlike Hammer 30 million can't hurt me".Martin, Andrew (2010-08-12)
MC Hammer Responds to Jay-Z's "So Appalled" Verse
. Prefix Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.

Composition

"So Appalled" has been described as an epic posse cut featuring a large roster of performers. West uses his verse to address his past critics and comment on his status as a celebrity.Martin, Andrew (2010-11-24)
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (New Album)
. Prefix Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-04-30. West's performance on the song is notably intense, forcefully rapping lines such as "we above the law, we don't give a fuck 'bout y'all / I got dogs that'll chew a fucking hole through the wall."

sets the tone of the song using several ad-libs such as "one hand in the air, if you don't really care" and the line "this shit is fucking ridiculous" which is repeated several times throughout the song, delivered by nearly every rapper.Empire, Kitty (2010-11-19)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
. ''

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 ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-19. The second verse is delivered by Jay-Z, who spends the majority of his verse deconstructing the hate that surrounds fame and poses the question, "would you rather be underpaid or overrated?" Jay-Z comments on how a career in the music industry creates many opponents. The third verse is delivered by Pusha T, who muses on

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

dealing. The song contains numerous

references, including ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005), and the second inst ...

'', the

breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals li ...

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Austral ...

, the business figure and future United States President,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, rapper M.C. Hammer and "We Major", a song from West's album ''

Late Registration ''Late Registration'' is the second studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions held a ...

''. On the unconventional structure of the song, Sputnikmusic's Channing Freeman said that verses were "very lengthy – Kanye appears within the first minute and then drops out for good – but the droning beat is so mesmerizing that it's barely even noticeable."Freeman, Channing (2010-11-11)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2010-11-12. Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' explained the use of several guest appearances, writing "Kanye has never been short on ambition or ego, so it's no surprise he should have his guests (including such hip-hop luminaries as Jay-Z, Swizz Beats and RZA) queue up on "So Appalled" to confirm in turn how 'this shit is fucking ridiculous'".Gill, Andy (2010-11-19)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
. ''

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-19.

Reception

"So Appalled" received mostly favorable reviews from contemporary critics. David Browne of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' wrote that he felt that the track was "built on rumbling tanks of pianos and strings" and that it sounded as if West was "marching into the

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

." David Amidon of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' compared the production to West's album ''Late Registration'' which found West "inviting his friend

Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...

to impart slices of film scoring to the odds and ends of his tracks". He commented that much like every song on ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'', the song "contains an underscore as ambitious as the beats upfront", concluding that tracks " Hell of a Life" and "So Appalled" alone "carry enough auditory sugar to make listening to this album on any regular sort of listening device almost a fool's errand."Amidon, David (2010-11-20)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
.

Retrieved on 2010-11-12 Jayson Rodriguez of ''

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 ...

'' praised the song, reporting "this all-star cipher is a backpackers dream as Ye's GOOD Music soldiers fire away with resolve. But the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

icon,

, steals the show with an edgy verse dismissing his critics with a 16 that's as pushy as a New Yorker during rush hour. Please, Hammer, stop replying." ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

''s Cole Mathews thought that the song returned West to his hard rap origins, commenting "with the posse cuts '

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

' and 'So Appalled', Kanye kicks out the two hardest rap tracks of his career." Becky Bain of ''Idolater'' described the song as a "dramatic, gloomy epic of a tune that has each artist taking turns at the mic." He expressed that trying to find Kanye's verse was "virtually a musical

Where's Waldo ''Where's Wally?'' (called ''Where's Waldo?'' in North America) is a series of children's puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens ...

". It was noted for its impressive roster of features and was described as "another Kanye West-helmed all-star collabo" by MTV's Hawuse Ziegbe. He noted that Cyhi managed to hold his own against several much more regarded rappers. Embling of ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' described the song as a super-sized cypher, stating that the track was packed with plenty of "shitalking" from the group of rappers.Embling (2010–11)
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
.

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

. Retrieved on 2011-04-30. ''Pitchfork''s Tom Breihan criticized Cyhi's lyrical contributions to the song, stating "On the otherwise amazing Kanye track 'So Appalled', CyHi offers a black hole of a verse. His most memorable line ('If God had a iPod, I'd be on his playlist') mostly just raises questions. Like: Why does God's iPod only have one playlist?"

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

's Chad Grischow described the song as a star-studded banger, and cited Jay-Z's verse as the most notable.Grischow, Chad (2010-11-23)
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Review – Music Review at IGN
.

. Retrieved on 2011-04-30. In addition, Grischow stated that the song was unfocused. Chris Martins 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 ...

'' reported that much like the track "Monster", the guest appearances on the song had the potential to be toned down.Martins, Chris (2010-11-11)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
. ''

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-11. ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' writer cited the line "praise due to the most high, Allah / Praise due to the most fly, Prada" as an example of genius songwriting on West's part. (2010-11-21)
Review: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''
. ''

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-21. The song charted at 14 on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart as reported by ''Billboard'', however it only spent one week on the chart. The song also appeared on the South Korean Gaon Chart at number 95.

Reaction from M.C. Hammer

M.C. Hammer promised to release a track on October 31, 2010, in response to

's "So Appalled" lyrics which he felt attacked him. Jay-Z raps a verse targeting Hammer about his financial

dilemma A dilemma () is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The possibilities are termed the ''horns'' of the dilemma, a clichéd usage, but distinguishing the dilemma from other kinds of p ...

in the 1990s. Within it Jay says: 'Hammer went broke so you know I'm more focused / I lost 30 mil' so I spent another 30 / 'Cause unlike Hammer 30 million can't hurt me'. Hammer addressed his displeasure about the diss on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, claiming he would react to Jay-Z on

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

. Hammer released a sample of his "

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

" with Jay-Z (a.k.a. 'Hell Boy' according to Hammer) in a brief teaser trailer called " Better Run Run" by 'King Hammer'. At one point, it was uncertain if his reaction would be a film video, a

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 ...

or a combination of both. Regardless, he claimed he would show evidence that 'Jigga worships the devil'. It's possible that Jay-Z was offended by an

analogy Analogy is a comparison or correspondence between two things (or two groups of things) because of a third element that they are considered to share. In logic, it is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as oppose ...

Hammer was conveying in an earlier interview in response to " D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" on

AllHipHop ''AllHipHop'' is a hip-hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artist ...

. On November 1, Hammer's song and video titled " Better Run Run!" hit the

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

in retaliation to Jay-Z's September 2010 diss towards him. M.C. accuses Jay-Z of being in league (and in the studio) with

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

— and then Hammer defeats the devil and forces Jay to be baptized. Speaking on the video, Jacob O'Gara of ''

Ethos Magazine ''Ethos Magazine'' is a student publication produced at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Originally ''Korean Ducks'' magazine (after the school sports team name), which focused on Korean culture, it has since developed ...

'' wrote: "What's more likely is that this feud is the last chapter in the tragic cautionary tale of M.C. Hammer, a tale that serves as a warning to all present and future kings of hip-hop. Keep your balance on the pedestal and wear the crown strong or you'll have the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

to pay." In an interview with

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's DJ Semtex, Jay said he didn't mean the verses as a personal attack. "I didn't know that ammer's financial statuswasn't on the table for discussion!" he said. "I didn't know I was the first person ever to say that..." He continued, "When I say things, I think people believe me so much that they take it a different way — it's, like, not rap anymore at that point. I say some great things about him in the book I have coming out 'Decoded''— that's wasn't a cheap plug," he laughed. "He's gonna be embarrassed, I said some really great things about him and people's perception of him. But it is what it is, he took it that wrong way, and I didn't know I said anything wrong!"

Marketing

The track was nightly performed by West and Jay-Z during their Watch the Throne Tour. Pusha T performs the song live during his own live sets.Pump, Joe Lay (2011-12-15)
PWatch Pusha T Perform “So Appalled” and More in Fort Lauderdale
. PushaT.com Retrieved on 2010-11-30. The song was one of the few songs on ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' not to be featured on '' Runaway'', a 35-minute music video directed by West set to music from the album.

Personnel

*Produced by Kanye West and No I.D. *Co-produced by Mike Dean *Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer and Mike Dean at the Avex Recording Studio,

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

and Noah Goldstein & Pete Bischoff at Electric Lady Studios, NYC *Engineered by Ken Lewis and Brent Kolatalo *Mixed by Mike Dean at Electric Lady Studios, NYC *Assistant Mix Engineers: Gaylord Holomalia, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff *Keyboards: Mike Dean & Jeff Bhasker *Cello arrangement: Mike Dean

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* (34:33) {{good article 2010 songs Jay-Z songs Kanye West songs Pusha T songs RZA songs Song recordings produced by Kanye West Song recordings produced by No I.D. Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Swizz Beatz Swizz Beatz songs Songs written by Pusha T Songs written by Cyhi the Prynce Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by RZA Songs written by No I.D. Songs about Donald Trump Posse cuts