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Blue Magic (song)

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"Blue Magic"
Single by Jay-Z featuring Pharrell Williams
from the album American Gangster
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2007
Recorded2007
GenreEast Coast hip hop
Length4:10
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Shawn Carter
  • Pharrell Williams
  • Thomas McElroy
  • Denzil Foster
Producer(s)The Neptunes
Jay-Z singles chronology
"Umbrella"
(2007) 		"Blue Magic"
(2007) 		"Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..."
(2007)
Pharrell singles chronology
"Give It Up"
(2007) 		"Blue Magic"
(2007) 		"I Know"
(2008)

"Blue Magic" is the first single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster.[1] The song was released as a single on September 20, 2007. In the chorus, Pharrell sings an interpretation of the song "Hold On" by the R&B girl group En Vogue, who are also featured in the song. The name "Blue Magic" is a reference to a potent form of heroin sold by Frank Lucas at the height of his drug trade in Harlem, New York. An official remix features Pharrell and Trey Songz.

The lyrics in the first verse refer to Eric B. & Rakim's song "My Melody". Most of the song itself is a reference to the 1980s. Jay-Z brings up his time as an early age drug dealer with links to the Iran-Contra scandal and CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the US that rocked the 1980s and the Reagan Presidency.[2]

Blame Reagan for making me into a monster
Blame Oliver North and Iran-Contra
I ran contraband that they sponsored
Before this rhyming stuff we was in concert

Blue Magic also samples the 1931 horror film, Frankenstein.

Chamillionaire released a freestyle of this song for his Mixtape Messiah 4 called "What the Business Is". Royce Da 5'9" released a freestyle of this song called "Blue Magic". It was a "diss" track on Mistah F.A.B..

Music video

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The music video was directed by Hype Williams with costumes designed by June Ambrose. It was first shown on BET's 106 & Park on October 11, 2007. The video shows the recording artist and dancer Teyana Taylor, dancing and popping throughout the video.[3] The video appeared at the bottom of BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2007 on December 31, 2007. The video[4] was noted for prominently featuring wads and a suitcase full of 500 Euro notes, and it was noted that the video gave the euro media attention at a time when the U.S. dollar had sharply lost in value against most major world currencies such as the euro, pound Sterling and Canadian dollar.[5]

Charts

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Chart (2007) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6] 69
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 55
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[8] 31
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[9] 17
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[10] 52

References

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  1. ^ Shake (September 20, 2007). Jay-Z to Release 'American Gangster' Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine. HipHopDX. Accessed September 27, 2007
  2. ^ "Mixtape Maestro | Blue Magic". Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  3. ^ "TEYANA TAYLOR DROPS HER DEBUT ALBUM, 'FROM A PLANET CALLED HARLEM' IN MAY". Skope. Skope Entertainment Inc. March 31, 2008. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Jay-Z – Blue Magic on YouTube, universalmusicgroup, official Universal Music Group YouTube channel
  5. ^ David Usborne, "Rappers join models in insisting on euros as greenbacks fall further out of fashion", The Independent, November 17, 2007. Accessed February 9, 2017
  6. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  7. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  8. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  9. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  10. ^ "Jay-Z – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 6, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
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