"On to the Next One" is a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by American hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 rapper Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

, released as the fourth single from his studio album The Blueprint 3 on his Roc Nation

Roc Nation

Roc Nation is an American management, music publishing and entertainment company founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter.-History:In April 2008, Live Nation partnered with Jay-Z to create Roc Nation...

 label, also released as the fourth single in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 after "Young Forever". It features guest vocals from producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 and rapper Swizz Beatz

Swizz Beatz

Kasseem Dean , better known by his stage name, Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper and painter. At the age of 17, he gained attention in the hip-hop world through his friendship with rapper DMX. Grady Spivey and rapper Cassidy helped launch his label Full Surface Records...

.
The song has been frequently used for freestyles, notably by Crooked I

Crooked I

Dominick Wickliffe, better known by his stage name Crooked I, is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is a member of the hip hop group, Slaughterhouse with other members Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9. Slaughterhouse is currently signed to Shady Records / Interscope Records....

, Bun B

Bun B

Bernard Freeman better known by his stage name Bun B, is an American rapper and was one half of the southern hip hop duo UGK . He is also a guest lecturer at Rice University located in Houston, Texas...

, and Red Cafe

Red Cafe

Jermaine Denny , better known as his stage name Red Café, is an American rapper. He was born to Afro-Guyanese parents and is signed to Akon's Konvict Muzik, Diddy's Bad Boy Records and DJ Clue's Desert Storm label.-Biography:...

. The song contains a vocal sample of the words "under the spotlight" from the official Justice

Justice (French band)

Justice is a French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay . The duo is one of the most successful groups on Ed Banger Records and is managed by the label's head, Pedro Winter...

 remix of "D.A.N.C.E.

D.A.N.C.E.

"D.A.N.C.E." is the second single by Justice, and the first from their album †. It includes an edit and extended versions of "D.A.N.C.E", a rougher mix in the style of their earlier releases, "B.E.A.T", and the track "Phantom" which was previously issued in limited quantities twice on 12" vinyl...

". The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was awarded between 1991 and 2011, alongside the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance....

 at the 53rd Grammy Awards

53rd Grammy Awards

The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...

, making this, in total Jay-Z's 13th Grammy Award overall, and Swizz Beatz's first Grammy Award win. In addition, Jay-Z is the first artist to have all four singles from one album win six Grammy Awards in their respective category.

Promotion

The song was first performed at Jay-Z's "Answer the Call" benefit concert in Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

 on September 11, 2009. It was also performed in the UK on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...

on February 19, 2010.

Critical reception

Devin Chanda from Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine gave the song a positive review:

"More than any of its predecessors, 'On to the Next One' best accomplishes what Jay-Z set out to do with 'The Blueprint 3': stay the course of trendsetter. The veteran rapper explains why all should continue to follow his lead with lines like, 'Used to rock a throwback, ballin' on the corner/Now I rock a tailored suit, lookin' like an owner,' equating aging with improvement. That point is not lost on producer Swizz Beatz, who trades in his usual arsenal for fresh sounds more native to Ibiza than Jay's native Brooklyn. Unleashing sputtering drums over a sample from Justice's "D.A.N.C.E.," Beatz packs the song with a hypnotic electro-bounce. Its thundering bassline is nothing new-in fact, it's been Beatz' calling card for years-but it's still convincing as ever, much like Jay-Z and his forward-looking work."

Music video

The music video was directed by Sam Brown and was filmed in November 2009. The video premiered on January 1, 2010 on New Year's Eve with Carson Daly

Carson Daly

Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...

. Although it was uploaded on YouTube on December 31, 2009, it has been called the very first music video of the decade, though it's New Year's Eve upload date contradicts that title.

The video is highly surreal

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

. It appears in black and white, and the people, symbols, and characters in the video seem to be wearing black and white colors to coincide with the video. There are split second scenes while there are somewhat of an abundance of biblical references in it. Throughout the video, there are crucifixes, angelic symbols, a skull reminiscent of Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst

Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...

's famous sculpture For the Love of God

For the Love of God

For the Love of God is a sculpture by artist Damien Hirst produced in 2007. It consists of a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead...

and often Baphomet

Baphomet

Baphomet is an imagined pagan deity , revived in the 19th century as a figure of occultism and Satanism. It appeared as a term for a pagan idol in trial transcripts of the Inquisition of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century...

. During part of the music video,the music stops, and the audience sees producer Swizz Beatz with his back to them as he seemingly makes the symbol with his coat by raising his hands. There is a cameo appearance by Colin Bailey, better known as Drums of Death

Drums of Death (musician)

Colin Bailey, better known by his stage name Drums of Death, is a London-based electronic musician, originally from Scotland. His music is a blend of techno, old school house, punk rock and electro...

, who is known for his skull face paint. In the video, Bailey appears to be perplexed, confused, and/or mad. At approximately three minutes and thirty nine seconds into the video, there are two bullets on either side of a crucifix. Rapper Young Jeezy

Young Jeezy

Jay Wayne Jenkins , better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is the member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America and a former member of BMF...

  also makes a cameo in the video.

Chart performance

"On to the Next One" first debuted on the UK Singles Chart on 28 March 2010 at #98. The following week, the single climbed 15 places to #83. On 11 April 2010, the single climbed a further 20 places to its current peak of #63. The single has also managed to climb the UK R&B Chart

UK R&B Chart

The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week...

 to its current peak of #24, on the 18th April the single has climbed into the UK Top 40 at number 38, marking Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

's fourth consecutive Top 40 hit from The Blueprint 3.

Chart (2010)	Peak Position
Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...	58
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	38
UK R&B Chart UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week...	13
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	37
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	9
U.S. Billboard Rap Songs	5