Control (Big Sean song)

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"Control"
Promotional single by Big Sean featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica
ReleasedAugust 14, 2013 (2013-08-14)
Recorded2013
GenreHip hop
Length7:32
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)No I.D.

"Control" is a song by American rapper Big Sean, featuring American rappers Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica. It impacted US mainstream urban radio on August 14, 2013, via GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings, as a promotional single for the former's second studio album Hall of Fame (2013). It was ultimately cut from the album due to sample clearance issues.[1]

Written by all three artists and its producer No I.D., "Control" contains samples such as "Where I'm From" (1997) by Jay-Z, "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido" (1974) by Quilapayún and Sergio Ortega, and an interpolation of "Get Bizy" (2011) by Terrace Martin. Receiving widespread acclaim from music critics, Lamar's performance was lauded as a "wake-up call" for the hip hop industry.[2][1]

Release[edit]

Def Jam Recordings serviced "Control" to American mainstream urban radio on August 14, 2013,[3] while a release to urban contemporary radio followed on August 27.[4] It peaked at number 11 on the United States Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and at number 43 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[5][6]

Reception and impact[edit]

Upon release, "Control" received rave reviews from music critics; much of the acclaim was focused on Lamar's performance. Rob Kenner of Complex, who named the track the tenth-greatest song of 2013, wrote, "No matter which verse you prefer it’s hard to deny that "Control" will go down in history as a milestone in hip-hop, and easily ranks as one of 2013's most important records."[7] The publication also named Lamar's appearance as the best rap verse of the year.[8] Rolling Stone also dubbed Lamar's performance as the best rap verse of the year, and named "Control" the thirteenth best song of 2013.[9] NME ranked the song at number 41 on their list of the 50 best songs of the year,[10] while XXL named it one of the top five hip hop songs of 2013.[11] Pitchfork Media positioned the song at number 73 on their list of the 100 best songs of 2013.[12]

Controversy[edit]

Although Lamar's verse was universally acclaimed, it was also met with persistent media scrutiny. During his performance, he called out 11 rappers by name—J. Cole, Meek Mill, Drake, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, ASAP Rocky, Tyler, the Creator, Mac Miller, Big Sean and Jay Electronica—and exclaims: "I got love for you all but I'm trying to murder you niggas / Trying to make sure your core fans never heard of you niggas / They don't want to hear not one more noun or verb from you niggas."[13] He also proclaims himself as the "King of New York" and "King of the Coast", sparking criticism from several New York-based rappers.[13] Lamar's Twitter account saw a 510% increase in followers in the week following the track's release, while his Wikipedia page garnered 200,000 page views.[14]

According to media outlets, "Control" entered Lamar in feuds between Drake and Big Sean. In an interview with Billboard, Drake was apathetic to Lamar's verse: "I didn’t really have anything to say about it. It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it was. I know good and well that [Lamar]’s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic."[15] He later disapproved "Control" during an interview with Pitchfork.[16] Big Sean initially praised "Control",[17] but later said that it contained "a lot of negativity".[18] While performing at a cypher at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards,[19] Lamar rapped: "Yeah, and nothing's been the same since they dropped 'Control' / And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes."[20] Media outlets have speculated that Lamar, Drake, and Big Sean have been exchanging disses to each other through their music;[21][22] although rumors were repeatedly denied.[23][24]

Response tracks[edit]

Several rappers, regardless if they were mentioned on "Control", released songs responding to Lamar's verse or a diss track in the weeks following the song's release. Many of the responses were labeled as "Kendrick Lamar Response" or "Control Response." According to Lamar, the best responses came from King Los, Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden and Kevin Hart's hip hop pseudonym Chocolate Drop. He found Papoose's response to be the "comical joint".[25] In a retrospective analysis, Rolling Stone dubbed "Control" as the modern Roxanne Wars.[26]

Rappers who released a song based on "Control" or a diss track include:

Charts[edit]

Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[5] 11
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[6] 43

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ex, Kris (August 22, 2013). "The Blast Radius Of Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse". NPR Music. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  2. ^ Shipley, Al; Reeves, Mosi; Lee, Christina (March 11, 2015). "9 Ways Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse Changed the World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "Single – Control feat Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica (Super Clean w/ Intro Radio Edit)". Frequency News. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  4. ^ "Urban/UAC Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Big Sean Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Big Sean Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  7. ^ "Big Sean f/ Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica "Control"". Complex. December 2, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  8. ^ "Kendrick Lamar "Control"". Complex. December 23, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  9. ^ "Big Sean Feat. Kendrick Lamar, "Control"". Rolling Stone. December 4, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  10. ^ "Pictures of NME's 50 Best Tracks Of 2013 - NME.COM". NME.COM. November 26, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  11. ^ "XXL Lists The Best Hip-Hop Songs And Albums Of The Last 40 Years - XXL Issue 152 - Page 4 of 4 - XXL". XXL. January 9, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  12. ^ "The Top 100 Tracks of 2013 - Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 29, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Tardio, Andres (August 13, 2013). "Kendrick Lamar Says He's 'Trying To Murder' Drake, J. Cole, Wale On Big Sean's 'Control'". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  14. ^ Gruger, William (August 22, 2013). "Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Feature Yields 510% Gain in Twitter Followers". Billboard. New York. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  15. ^ "Drake Responds To Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse: "He's Not Murdering Me" [Update: Drake Reveals 3 Song Titles & Producers Off "NWTS"]". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  16. ^ "Drake responds to Kendrick Lamar's "Control" verse, says Kanye West is biggest competition". Consequence of Sound. September 25, 2013. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  17. ^ "Interview: Big Sean Breaks Down 'Control' (Feat. Kendrick Lamar And Jay Electronica)". Vibe. August 14, 2013. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  18. ^ Scott, Damien (February–March 2015). "Big Sean On Stealing A Rolex From His Ex Naya Rivera And The Inspiration Behind "I Don't Fuck WIth You"". Complex. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  19. ^ "Kendrick Lamar Crushes the Competition with BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher". Rap-Up. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  20. ^ "Kendrick Steals the Show at the BET Awards". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  21. ^ "A Timeline of Kendrick Lamar and Drake's Complicated Relationship". Complex. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  22. ^ "Listen to Big Sean's New Song "No More Interviews"". Complex. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  23. ^ "Birdman Denies Drake Was Taking Shots At Kendrick Lamar On "The Language"". XXL. September 26, 2013. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  24. ^ Lavin, Will (February 17, 2020). "Big Sean finally addresses whether he actually had beef with Kendrick Lamar". NME. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d e f "Kendrick Lamar Says King Los Had The Best "Control" Response". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  26. ^ Lee, Christina; Shipley, Al; Reeves, Mosi (March 11, 2015). "9 Ways Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse Changed the World". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  27. ^ Cooper, Roman (August 18, 2013). "A$AP Ferg Disses Kendrick Lamar In Hot 97 Freestyle | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Archived from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  28. ^ "Listen: Big K.R.I.T. disses "Control" with new track "Mt. Olympus"". consequenceofsound. April 29, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  29. ^ "B.o.B, Fred The Godson And Los Respond To Kendrick Lamar - XXL". Xxlmag.com. August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  30. ^ "Cassidy "Control (Freestyle)"". Complex. August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  31. ^ ""David Stones - (I Got This Under) Control Freestyle (Kendrick Lamar Response)"". Insuresuccessforall.net. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  32. ^ "Fabolous Responds To Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse". HipHopDX. November 4, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  33. ^ a b c "Responses To Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' Verse: Lupe Fiasco, Joell Ortiz, More". RapFix. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  34. ^ "J. Cole Fires Shots at Kendrick Lamar on Justin Timberlake's 'TKO' Remix". SPIN. December 2, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  35. ^ "Better Late Than Never: Joey Bada$$ Responds to Kendrick Lamar With "Killuminati Pt. 2"". Complex. August 26, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  36. ^ a b c d "Songs Responding to Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse". BET.com. May 12, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  37. ^ "Mad Rapper Kendrick Lamar "Control"". Complex. August 15, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  38. ^ "Meek Mill Says He Told Kendrick Lamar About His "Control" Response". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  39. ^ Lachlan Kanoniuk (August 16, 2013). "Ur Boy Bangs puts Kendrick Lamar back in his place". FasterLouder. Archived from the original on March 12, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
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