Forever (Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem song)

"Forever" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake and American rappers Kanye West, Lil Wayne, & Eminem. Written alongside producer Boi-1da, the song was originally released as the third single from the soundtrack to LeBron James's More than a Game documentary and was placed on the Refill re-release of Eminem's album Relapse. Eminem performed his verse of the song at the American Music Awards of 2009. Drake performed the song with Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Travis Barker at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. A demo version of the song was leaked in mid-2008.

"Forever"
Single by Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem
from the album Music Inspired by More than a Game and Relapse: Refill
ReleasedAugust 27, 2009
RecordedEarly 2008 – 2009
Genre
Length5:57 (album version)
5:22 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Boi-1da
Drake singles chronology
"Money to Blow"
(2009)		 "Forever"
(2009)		 "Fed Up"
(2009)
Kanye West singles chronology
"Run This Town"
(2009)		 "Forever"
(2009)		 "Whatever U Want"
(2009)
Lil Wayne singles chronology
"Down"
(2009)		 "Forever"
(2009)		 "Heard 'em All"
(2009)
Eminem singles chronology
"Beautiful"
(2009)		 "Forever"
(2009)		 "Hell Breaks Loose"
(2009)
Music video
"Forever" on YouTube

Background

The track was produced by Boi-1da and originally used by Kardinal Offishall featuring Rock City in early 2008, as "Bring It Back". Kardinal did not use the song for his album and it was later re-sold to Drake, who released it in late 2008 as "I Want This Forever" featuring Lil Wayne and Kidd Kidd. In an interview, Kardinal stated that his version was a leaked demo which was supposed to appear on his album Not 4 Sale, as well as a soundtrack.[1] The 2009 version of "Forever" features Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. Rapper Jay-Z called it the best posse cut of the decade.[2] The song title is derived from the last line of the chorus; I want this shit forever man.[3]

The song gained a lot of attention from Eminem fans especially due to the story behind the song. According to an interview with Kanye West talking about the song, he said, "When I heard Eminem's verse on the Drake shit, I went back and rewrote my shit for two days. I cancelled appointments to rewrite!" Similarly, Lil Wayne rewrote his verse after hearing Eminem's. In response to this, Eminem told Complex, "Everybody approached the beat different […] For some reason, I felt the beat was a double-time beat, so I rapped faster."[4]

Composition

The song is written in the key of C minor, with a tempo of 80 beats per minute.[5]

Music video

The music video was shot in Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida, in early September 2009.[6] However, Eminem's part in the video was shot in Detroit due to scheduling conflicts and not being able to be in Miami.[7] The music video was shot and directed by Hype Williams. It premiered on September 22, 2009 on BET's music program 106 & Park. LeBron James appears in the opening of the music video in the back seat of a Maybach playing online poker on PokerStars on his customized Beats by Dr. Dre's laptop.[8] Throughout the video, there are clips and pictures from the documentary about James, More than a Game, and of him as a child playing basketball. Also The Alchemist, Trick-Trick, Mr. Porter, Swifty McVay, Kuniva, Bizarre and Slaughterhouse all make cameo appearances in Eminem's verse of the video behind him as he raps his verse. Birdman makes a cameo appearances in the video on Lil Wayne's verse, sitting next to him in the VIP section of the club.[9][10][11] The music video was produced alongside the video for "Money to Blow".[12]

Critical reception

Jason Thurston of Allmusic.com marked the song as one of the standout tracks of the album, writing: "The record hits a high point early on the six-minute epic 'Forever,' a convention of rap's wordsmiths as Kanye West, Drake, Lil Wayne, and Eminem pass the baton over a dark, soulful, slightly mournful beat, separated by an echoing modern R&B Auto-Tune hook."[13] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic.com also highlighted the song, and commented: "['Forever'] is none too coincidentally the one track in the entirety of Eminem's 2009 comeback that feels utterly modern."[14] Entertainment Weekly was positive: "Those who frequent hip-hop blogs will already be acquainted with the strongest material, like Drake's Forever — where the rookie teams with all-stars Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem" and it was also on Download This list.[15]

Chart performance

"Forever" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number fifty-eight on September 3, 2009,[16] peaking at #2. The song became the most downloaded song for the week ending September 15, 2009. On the week of September 24, the song debuted at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Drake's highest debut on the chart at the time as well as his second top-ten single. It also topped the rap songs chart making it Drake's second number one on that chart. It was the tenth consecutive top 40 single for Eminem. The song has sold 3,265,000 digital copies in the US as of April 2013, becoming Drake's first 3 million-seller.[17][18]

"Forever" failed to enter the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, but did manage to peak at number 43 after strong downloads. The song then began to drop out of the UK Singles Chart, but on January 10, 2010, "Forever" climbed 7 places from number 49 to 42, marking its highest peak to date. "Forever" entered the Irish Singles Chart, reaching a current peak of number 41.

Awards and nominations
See also: List of awards and nominations received by Eminem, Lil Wayne, Kanye West & Drake.
Year Ceremony Award Result
2010 BET Awards Best Collaboration Nominated
BET Hip Hop Awards Reese's Perfect Combo Award Nominated

Track listing
Digital download[19]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Forever"
Boi-1da5:57

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[38] 6× Platinum 6,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Kardinal Offishall Exclusive Interview Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Champ Magazine. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  2. Reid, Shaheem (October 8, 2009). "Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Drake Celebrate Their Hottest MCs Rankings - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News". Mtv.com. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  3. Otfinoski, Steve (2013). Drake:: Actor & Hip-Hop Artist. p. 110.
  4. "When Kanye West heard Eminem's verse on "Forever" he went back and took two days to rewrite his". DailyRapFacts. August 20, 2019.
  5. https://musescore.com/user/13846626/scores/8522237
  6. "On-Set Pictures of Drake's 'Forever' Music Video".
  7. "Syndicate". Sohh.com. November 4, 2009. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  8. "LeBron James Plays Online Poker In video with Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Eminem - Pokerati". pokerati.com. September 23, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  9. "Broadcast Yourself". YouTube. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  10. "News: Kanye West, Drake, Lil Wayne & Eminem Shooting "Forever" Music Video". Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
  11. "Eminem In "Forever" Music Video – First Picture". Archived from the original on September 14, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
  12. "Exclusive: Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West & Eminem Shoot 'Forever' Music Video".
  13. Jason Thurston (September 29, 2009). "More Than a Game - Original Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  14. Stephen Thomas Erlewine (December 21, 2009). "Relapse: Refill - Eminem | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  15. Simon Vozick-Levinson (September 25, 2009). "More Than a Game Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  16. Concepcion, Mariel (September 3, 2009). "Three Tracks From Upcoming LeBron James Movie Hit Charts". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  17. Grein, Paul (April 23, 2013). "Week Ending April 21, 2013. Songs: Duo of the Year". Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  18. Grien, Paul (May 31, 2012). "Week Ending May 27, 2012. Songs: Bieber's Transitional Hit". Yahoo. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  19. "iTunes - Music - Forever - Single by Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem". Itunes.apple.com. September 25, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  20. "ARIA Top 100 Singles – Week Commencing 4th January 2009" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Australian Web Archive. January 4, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  21. "Drake Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  22. "Chart Track: Week 3, 2010". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved October 23, 2015, 2015.
  23. "Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem – Forever". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  24. "Drake: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  25. "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  26. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  27. "Drake Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  28. "Drake Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  29. "Drake Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.
  30. "Drake Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  31. "Drake Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard.
  32. "Year End Charts - Year-end songs - The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  33. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  34. "Hot 100 Songs : Sep 09, 2013 - (Chart position) | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  35. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  36. "Rhythmic Songs – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  37. "British single certifications – Drake – Forever". British Phonographic Industry.
  38. "American single certifications – Drake – Forever". Recording Industry Association of America.
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