Jay-Z/Kanye West's 'Otis': The Duo Drops Their Much-Anticipated Track

Jay-Z and Kanye West's homage to Otis Redding, fittingly titled "Otis," finally hit the web today after much anticipation. The track, which samples Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness," begins with Redding crooning about squeezing his girl, to which Jay-Z responds, "Sounds so soulful don’t you agree?"

From there, the tenderness ends, and the swagger begins.

"I’m never going to jail," Jay-Z raps, prompting Kanye to take it up a notch with his rhyme, "I made Jesus walk so I'm never going to hell."

The duo's collaborative album, Watch the Throne, will be released in August. If this track is any indicator, we've got a lot to look forward to.

Otis feat. Otis Redding by watchthethrone

Comments

[LittleRummerBoy]

11:27 AM on 08/02/2011

independently, two great pieces. together sounds awful. they should have left this song alone and sampled something else. i like Jay-Z. i love Otis Redding. they just don't work together here. two great things, but they're competing way too much in this song. and yet again, Kanye isn't in key. that held note at the 2 minute mark just makes me cringe.

[kooosh]

07:54 AM on 07/29/2011

Like.

[Benjamin Clay]

04:19 PM on 07/25/2011

I'm feeling this...

[Ryan Schmidt]

01:19 AM on 07/25/2011

When did you first hear about “Otis”?

We first heard about the song in early July, end of June. Concord Music Group has the masters and Bill Belmont and Michele Smith from Concord brought it to us. There was a back and forth about whether the name of the song would be “Otis” or “Otis Redding.” And we just wanted to make sure lyrics and references in the song worked with the legacy of my father. To have two current, legendary artists use the legendary music of Otis Redding-we were quite honored.

Late June to now — that’s a pretty quick turnaround, isn’t it?
It was pretty fast and all came together really quick. With these talented musicians they have so many songs. It’s not until it comes time to pull together a project and they know what songs are going to be on the album that they look to get all the clearances before the song leaks. They brought it to us first and we really appreciate that respect.

http://rapradar.com/2011/07/24/otis-reddings-daughter-onotis/

[ZenSufi]

08:15 AM on 07/24/2011

Hammer don't hurt'em.

[rakimfan]

01:28 AM on 07/24/2011

"I get it custom, you a customer, you ain't accustomed going through customs you going nowhere huh."

[NextYearLions]

11:15 AM on 07/23/2011

Pretty meh sampling. Hope the rest of the album is better.

[Ryan Schmidt]

01:55 AM on 07/24/2011

The sampling isn't Kanye's best but the lyrics on this track are pretty solid.. Definitely looking forward to this album..

[laborgrunt]

08:58 PM on 07/22/2011

Que all the morons with their tired hate on hip hop comments on here.

[camillejohnson1]

06:58 AM on 07/22/2011

The beauty of music is in the ear of the listener, & I'm glad my appreciation has expanded from just 1 genre! Of course I'm a singer/ songwriter so music has been my life & I'm forever listening to new(or old) & unusual! But my point is, it all comes down to opinions! Good to hear from y'all tonite, have a good 1!! http://bit.ly/n8Q0D4

[Ryan Schmidt]

02:07 AM on 07/22/2011

Why so many comments by people on here, 1, that don't listen to rap, and 2, have no idea what rap entails?

[mamapower]

05:36 AM on 07/22/2011

Because they're ignorant and don't have a life.

[Ryan Schmidt]

03:24 AM on 07/23/2011

I guess so..

[Verosimil]

12:01 AM on 07/22/2011

I feel it to be a bit unfinished, as if they needed to take it a bit further, maybe cutting it more. They made their vocals fit very nicely, very smooth, but they could have done a bit more with the Otis sampling.

If the parting point was H.A.M, with the over the top approach and the play on beautiful things coming off as ugly, then to me this track felt too simple.

I still like it though.

[Madampotential]

11:59 PM on 07/21/2011

I like Otis.... i like Kanye....... and I like Hov....... but this song is not good..... c'mon Kanye..... you've done much better......I like Hove but why does he talk about the same thing in every song.......... Ye should have done this with Nas instead...... at least Nas is substantive..... not buying this one.

[Dan Slander]

09:45 PM on 07/21/2011

Otis Redding in his short life and brief career left us with at least a dozen memorable soul and R&B covers. Walk around a decade from now and hum and warble this garbage by West and Z without grabbing your crotch. Oh yeah, you be cool. These talentless posers couldn't shine Otis Redding's shoes.

[fakescience]

02:15 AM on 07/22/2011

"Oh yeah, you be cool." So, is being old sad?

[thewirah]

10:04 AM on 08/02/2011

I like Kanye and Jay-Z. I am also a huge Otis Redding fan. It's always tricky to sample from an artist like this because it can easily make you want to listen to the original instead. It's like the art of cover song. It's a difficult exercise.

[king of hartz]

09:22 PM on 07/21/2011

Huffpost stop posting rap music on your site. MOST of your readers don't like it. why try to slander hip hop culture?.. Just stop it please. some of us who read this site and love hip hop will get the news elsewhere. Please, you dont have to post it

[ecurbwl]

06:54 PM on 07/21/2011

What a waste of lighting and audio equipment. There is no talent required for rap music. A rapper doesn't even have to know how to read music or carry a note. NASTY and TRASHY----------------

[incorrigible]

09:03 PM on 07/21/2011

true and true. but i love kanye and jay-z. they make beats that are well-produced -at least severals levels above their competition- make me smile and tap my foot, few artists these days can do that.

also, if its nasty and trashy, then dont listen to it

[king of hartz]

09:22 PM on 07/21/2011

you see what I am talking about? Lawd, why did they post this music here.......