Dead Presidents (song)
"Dead Presidents" is a 1996 song by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released as the first promotional single for Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt, though it did not directly appear on the album: a different version of the song with the same backing track and chorus but with different lyrics called "Dead Presidents II" appeared on Reasonable Doubt. "Dead Presidents II" was voted number 16 in About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs and number 42 in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Jay-Z Songs.
| "Dead Presidents" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jay-Z | ||||
| from the album Reasonable Doubt | ||||
| Released | February 20, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Studio | D&D Studios (New York City) | |||
| Genre | Mafioso rap | |||
| Length | 3:28 (Original) 4:27 (Dead Presidents II) | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Ski | |||
| Jay-Z singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Dead Presidents" on YouTube | ||||
The title is slang for money because portraits of dead United States presidents appear on most Federal Reserve Notes.
The song was produced by Ski. "Dead Presidents" samples multiple artists including Lonnie Liston Smith's "A Garden of Peace" for the track's melody and A Tribe Called Quest's "Oh My God (remix)" for its percussion; the chorus is a sample of Nas rapping "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me", from his 1994 song "The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)".