"Testify" is the fourth single from

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

album '' Be''. Clocking in at just above two and a half minutes, it is the second shortest track on ''Be'' (after the album's intro). It is produced by

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 ...

, whose beat heavily utilizes vocal samples from "Innocent Til Proven Guilty" by

Honey Cone Honey Cone was an American R&B and soul girl group formed by lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) with Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark in 1968. They are best remembered for their number-one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single, " Want A ...

. Spence D. of

IGN.com ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game 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 distri ...

comments on this saying: "'Testify' ..features an intricate layering of vocals which provide such an hypnotic backdrop that you almost forget to listen to Common's compelling storytelling." The song's story is about a woman who manipulates a judge and jury to find her partner guilty of a crime ''she'' committed. After the case is settled, she starts laughing that she is the criminal. Sean Malcolm of AllHipHop.com considers Common to have "paint dpictures of extravagant court trials" on "Testify." The song was a critical hit garnering a nomination for

Best Rap Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously, a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. In 2003, this award was split into separate aw ...

at the

48th Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 we ...

. A remix featuring

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

singer Darien Brockington and a different beat was recorded.

Music video

The single received a type of promotional video known as a "mini-movie"; a term coined by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

to describe a music video with a complex plot and a suitably long running time, often with intermissions between the song's parts. The video features acting parts from

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

Bill Duke William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor and film director. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. Frequently ...

Steve Harris Steve Harris may refer to: * Steve Harris (musician) (born 1956), founder member and bassist of the band Iron Maiden * Steve Harris (actor) (born 1965), American film and TV actor * Steve Harris (basketball) (1963–2016), American basketball playe ...

and

Wood Harris Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He has portrayed the drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama ''The Wire'', cocaine dealer Ace in '' Paid in Full'' and high school football player Julius Camp ...

and is directed by

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on si ...

. It was played mostly on specialist channels such as

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programmin ...

. It was nominated as the Video of the Year at the 2006

BET Hip Hop Awards The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006; it was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, a ...

. A shorter video featuring only the musical parts of the mini-movie was also released. The finale of the music video is heavily influenced by the ending of ''

The Usual Suspects ''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 neo-noir mystery thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, ...

''.

Track listing

A-side

# "Testify (Radio Edit)" (2:50) # "Testify (Instrumental)" (2:50)

B-side

# "Testify (LP)" (2:50) # "Testify (Instrumental)" (2:50)

Personnel

*Produced by

*Recorded by Andrew Dawson at Sony Studios and Encore Studios, Burbank *Assistant Recording Engineers: Taylor Dow and Ric McRae *Mixed by

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career ...

at Larrabee North Studio,

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

*Assistant Mix Engineer: Jared Robbins

Chart positions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Testify (Common Song) 2005 singles Common (rapper) songs Music videos directed by Anthony Mandler GOOD Music singles Songs written by Common (rapper) Songs written by Kanye West Song recordings produced by Kanye West Songs written by General Johnson (musician)