Run This Town
Encyclopedia
"Run This Town" is a 2009 song performed by American rappers Jay-Z
and Kanye West
. The song features Rihanna
. The track was produced by Kanye West
alongside No I.D.
It is released as the second single of Jay-Z's eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3. After the song was released to iTunes
on August 11, 2009, it jumped to the third position and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100
, making it his highest peak as a lead artist to date until "Empire State of Mind
", which peaked at #1. It is also Jay-Z's first Top 5 rap song
since 2006's "Show Me What You Got
". Jay-Z, Rihanna and West performed "Run This Town" on the series premiere of The Jay Leno Show
on September 14, 2009. It is Jay-Z's first number one single in the United Kingdom
as lead artist. It was also featured in the trailer for the film Brooklyn's Finest
, the 24 Season 8 promo
, the 2010 Super Bowl
, the trailer for the film The Fighter and in the commercial for UFC 124
featuring Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck
. In January 2010, the song won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Music Collaboration. The song also served as an introduction for Super Bowl XLIV
. The song also won two Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song
and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration making this Jay-Z's tenth, Kanye West's fourteenth, and Rihanna's third Grammy Award overall (her second award in the latter category).
but has since been changed to "Run This Town" with Rihanna
and Kanye West
, as confirmed by Jay-Z
in an interview with Tim Westwood
, "We basically run this town. It's myself, Rihanna and Kanye. It's pretty much it." The song made its radio debut on July 24 at 9:11 a.m to coincide with the album's release date, September 11, 2009. The official single was released on iTunes on August 11, 2009. It was officially released to urban radio the week of August 9, 2009. Its UK release followed on August 31, 2009. Rihanna's contribution was her first musical appearance following her February 8 altercation with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. It should be noted that the Album Version of the song has a slightly faster tempo than the Single Version.
On July 20, 2010, the orchestrated version of “Run This Town” created by E.S. Posthumus
was officially released to US iTunes
under the Roc Nation
imprint, in its studio format. In November 2010 a cover by metalcore band Miss May I
appeared on the album Punk Goes Pop 3
.
felt that Jay-Z lacked presence, writing, "It looks like someone finally got tired of being bullied by 'Big Brother
'. Roc Nation dropped the ball on the song credit though; it was supposed to read ‘Kanye West Featuring Rihanna,’ because ‘Ye murdered Jay on his own track. But that's not saying much because Jay was running this race on one foot. In other words, Kanye didn’t win, Jay lost".
Pitchfork Media
however, praised the song: "There's something for everybody: Jay sounds engaged in a way he rarely has since unretiring, Rihanna
coos those "ay ay"s the radio loves, and Kanye West, as you may have read, once again upstages the guy he's producing. Rihanna's hook may not be Auto-Tune'd, but it's definitely autopilot."
Digital Spy
was in the middle saying:
and was filmed on August 6, 2009, at Fort Totten Park in New York City. The video was leaked on August 19, 2009, by MTV Germany. It involves people in masks, holding torches whilst walking. Rihanna takes a bandana from covering her mouth and starts to sing the intro in a park while explosions are going off around her. Then Jay-Z sings the second verse whilst in a temple-like area. Throughout the video, the trio are on a stage-like platform with the mob surrounding them. Kanye West sings his verse in a cave-like area holding a torch and having a bandana cover his face like Jay-Z and Rihanna.
The video premiered on August 20 on MTV
, as well other MTV channels across the world, and the internet. Anthony Mandler the director of the music video had this to say: "There's a tone and feeling to the song, there's a militia, a march and a kind of rambunctious energy to it that, for me, I immediately wanted to tap into. I showed [Jay] some references from the classic rebellious zones of the world. We live in very orderly society in America, but when you get into Brazil, you get into the Middle East, you get into Africa, you get into Eastern Europe, when you get into places like that, there's a different sort of 'we run this town' [going on]. There's less order and more chaos. So we looked at a lot of those references, new photos and historical photos, to capture that kind of falling-apart feeling."
"We wanted you to feel uneasy throughout the piece," he said. "We wanted there to be a constant layer of tension through the piece. Even in the way I shot — where the camera comes by Jay, it doesn't stop on him, it goes to Rihanna — there's kind of this chaos of revealing and covering and concealing. And things happen offscreen that you don't see. I think people are really gonna flip on this". The video was released to iTunes on August 25, 2009.
It ranked at #11 on BET
's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.
after debuting at number 88 and climbing to number 66 in week two. The song peaked at number 2. It is Jay-Z's second-highest charting song of his career as a lead artist. The song had sold 1,437,573 copies in the US by November 2009, and as of May 2010 had sold over 2 million copies, becoming Kanye West's seventh song to do so (a record).
It also debuted at number 16 on the Irish Singles Chart
, based on downloads alone, and peaked at number four the following week. The song was released digitally on August 30 in UK. According to the UK Midweek Chart, "Get Sexy
" by Sugababes
was set to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart but "Run This Town" outsold it and went to number one. On September 6, "Run This Town" entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, giving Jay-Z his first UK number one as a lead artist and fourth overall. He had already topped the chart once with Rihanna for his very first collaboration with her in 2007 (following "Umbrella
") which had a ten week stand at number 1 and with his wife Beyoncé Knowles
twice with "Crazy In Love" and "Déjà Vu". It was the third number one each for and Kanye West, who had previously topped the charts for a total of six weeks with "Stronger
" and "American Boy" (with Estelle
). It was Rihanna's seventh top two single as both a lead and featured artist. The song sold 62,000 copies in its first week,
On the issue dated September 14, 2009, the song debuted at number 66 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. On its second week it jumped to #25 and has currently peaked at #10.
"Run This Town" has so far appeared on charts in 15 countries plus the European Hot 100 Singles chart, reaching the top ten on eleven of them. In the UK, it reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart
and R&B Chart
, while it has done the same in the US on the Rap Songs and Rhythmic Airplay Chart
s.
|-
|-
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...
and Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
. The song features Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
. The track was produced by Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
alongside No I.D.
No I.D.
No I.D., officially known as Immenslope and also known as Ernest Wilson , is a hip hop and R&B record producer, also the vice-president of Def Jam Recordings, best known for his early work with Chicago rapper Common and is known as "The Godfather of Chicago hip hop".. The nickname No I.D...
It is released as the second single of Jay-Z's eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3. After the song was released to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on August 11, 2009, it jumped to the third position and peaked at number two on the 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...
, making it his highest peak as a lead artist to date until "Empire State of Mind
Empire State of Mind
"Empire State of Mind" is a song by American rapper and hip hop artist Jay-Z, featuring vocals and a chorus from R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys. It was released as the third single from Jay-Z's 11th studio album The Blueprint 3 by his Roc Nation label in October 2009...
", which peaked at #1. It is also Jay-Z's first Top 5 rap song
Hot Rap Tracks
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
since 2006's "Show Me What You Got
Show Me What You Got
For the song by Powerman 5000, see Show Me What You Got "Show Me What You Got" is a single by rap artist Jay-Z from his album Kingdom Come.-Song information:...
". Jay-Z, Rihanna and West performed "Run This Town" on the series premiere of The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
on September 14, 2009. It is Jay-Z's first number one 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...
as lead artist. It was also featured in the trailer for the film Brooklyn's Finest
Brooklyn's Finest
Brooklyn's Finest is a 2009 American crime film starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes in his first theatrical film since 2004's Blade: Trinity. The film also stars Will Patton, Ellen Barkin and Vincent D'Onofrio. It is directed by Antoine Fuqua, and written by Michael...
, the 24 Season 8 promo
24 (season 8)
Season Eight, also known as Day 8, is the final season of the American serial television series 24. Filming for the season began on May 27, 2009, and it premiered on January 17, 2010 with a four-hour two-day premiere...
, the 2010 Super Bowl
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
, the trailer for the film The Fighter and in the commercial for UFC 124
UFC 124
UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 11, 2010 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec...
featuring Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck
Josh Koscheck
Josh D. Koscheck is an American mixed martial artist from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, a former collegiate wrestling champion and is currently fighting at welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He made his debut with the organization on the first season of the reality television show,...
. In January 2010, the song won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Music Collaboration. The song also served as an introduction for Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
. The song also won two Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song
Grammy Award for Best Rap Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Song was first awarded in 2004. It is a songwriting award given to all who wrote the lyrics and music of the song. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year...
and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration making this Jay-Z's tenth, Kanye West's fourteenth, and Rihanna's third Grammy Award overall (her second award in the latter category).
Background
"Run This Town" samples 1970s Greek band The 4 Levels of Existence's song "Someday in Athens" based in Ilion city in Athens. The second official single was originally planned as "Off That" featuring DrakeDrake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
but has since been changed to "Run This Town" with Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
and Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, as confirmed by 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...
in an interview with Tim Westwood
Tim Westwood
Timothy Westwood is an English DJ and presenter of radio and television. He also presents the UK version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride...
, "We basically run this town. It's myself, Rihanna and Kanye. It's pretty much it." The song made its radio debut on July 24 at 9:11 a.m to coincide with the album's release date, September 11, 2009. The official single was released on iTunes on August 11, 2009. It was officially released to urban radio the week of August 9, 2009. Its UK release followed on August 31, 2009. Rihanna's contribution was her first musical appearance following her February 8 altercation with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. It should be noted that the Album Version of the song has a slightly faster tempo than the Single Version.
On July 20, 2010, the orchestrated version of “Run This Town” created by E.S. Posthumus
E.S. Posthumus
Unearthed, the first album composed by E.S. Posthumus, was originally made available for purchase online through the CD Baby website in January 2001. It became the third-biggest selling album in CDBaby's history...
was officially released to US iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
under the 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...
imprint, in its studio format. In November 2010 a cover by metalcore band Miss May I
Miss May I
Miss May I is an American metalcore band from Troy, Ohio. On December 6, 2008, Miss May I announced that they had been signed to Rise Records. The band's debut album, Apologies Are for the Weak, reached #29 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers, and #66 on Top Independent Albums. Their song, "Forgive and...
appeared on the album Punk Goes Pop 3
Punk Goes Pop 3
Punk Goes Pop 3 is the tenth compilation album released from the Punk Goes... series created by Fearless Records to feature covers by various artists of pop songs, and is the tenth album in the series overall...
.
Critical reception
"Run This Town" received mixed reviews. About.comAbout.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
felt that Jay-Z lacked presence, writing, "It looks like someone finally got tired of being bullied by 'Big Brother
Big Brother (Kanye West song)
"Big Brother" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West.-Writing and inspiration:"Big Brother" was written by Kanye West while the music was produced by Atlanta producer DJ Toomp. It stands as the sole track on the entire third album not to feature production by West...
'. Roc Nation dropped the ball on the song credit though; it was supposed to read ‘Kanye West Featuring Rihanna,’ because ‘Ye murdered Jay on his own track. But that's not saying much because Jay was running this race on one foot. In other words, Kanye didn’t win, Jay lost".
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
however, praised the song: "There's something for everybody: Jay sounds engaged in a way he rarely has since unretiring, Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
coos those "ay ay"s the radio loves, and Kanye West, as you may have read, once again upstages the guy he's producing. Rihanna's hook may not be Auto-Tune'd, but it's definitely autopilot."
Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
was in the middle saying:
"Boasting three of the biggest stars from the worlds of hip-hop and R&B, 'Run This Town' was never going to be a flop, but neither is it a roaring success. Kanye's slick rapping ("Reebok baby, you need to try some new things, have you ever had shoes without shoestrings?") and Rihanna's "hey-hey" chorus hook make Jay-Z seem surplus to requirements, which surely can't have been the aim. The chaotic military march beats are impressive - and hats off to Jigga for snubbing Auto-Tune - but this track still doesn't seem fitting of an artist considered a groundbreaking rap legend.
Music video
The video was directed by Anthony MandlerAnthony Mandler
Anthony Mandler is a commercial and music video director, who has written and directed music videos for several artists. His most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna...
and was filmed on August 6, 2009, at Fort Totten Park in New York City. The video was leaked on August 19, 2009, by MTV Germany. It involves people in masks, holding torches whilst walking. Rihanna takes a bandana from covering her mouth and starts to sing the intro in a park while explosions are going off around her. Then Jay-Z sings the second verse whilst in a temple-like area. Throughout the video, the trio are on a stage-like platform with the mob surrounding them. Kanye West sings his verse in a cave-like area holding a torch and having a bandana cover his face like Jay-Z and Rihanna.
The video premiered on August 20 on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, as well other MTV channels across the world, and the internet. Anthony Mandler the director of the music video had this to say: "There's a tone and feeling to the song, there's a militia, a march and a kind of rambunctious energy to it that, for me, I immediately wanted to tap into. I showed [Jay] some references from the classic rebellious zones of the world. We live in very orderly society in America, but when you get into Brazil, you get into the Middle East, you get into Africa, you get into Eastern Europe, when you get into places like that, there's a different sort of 'we run this town' [going on]. There's less order and more chaos. So we looked at a lot of those references, new photos and historical photos, to capture that kind of falling-apart feeling."
"We wanted you to feel uneasy throughout the piece," he said. "We wanted there to be a constant layer of tension through the piece. Even in the way I shot — where the camera comes by Jay, it doesn't stop on him, it goes to Rihanna — there's kind of this chaos of revealing and covering and concealing. And things happen offscreen that you don't see. I think people are really gonna flip on this". The video was released to iTunes on August 25, 2009.
It ranked at #11 on BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.
Track listing
- US/UK CD Single & Digital Download
- "Run This Town" (featuring. RihannaRihannaRobyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
& Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
) - 4:34
- iTunes Digital 45
- "Run This Town" (featuring. RihannaRihannaRobyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
& Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
) - 4:27 - "Run This Town" (Live from Madison Square GardenMadison Square GardenMadison 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...
) (feat. RihannaRihannaRobyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
& Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
) - 6:24
- Best Buy
- "Run This Town" (featuring. RihannaRihannaRobyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
& Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
) - 4:27 - "D.O.A. -
Chart performance
"Run This Town" climbed to number three during its third week on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard 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...
after debuting at number 88 and climbing to number 66 in week two. The song peaked at number 2. It is Jay-Z's second-highest charting song of his career as a lead artist. The song had sold 1,437,573 copies in the US by November 2009, and as of May 2010 had sold over 2 million copies, becoming Kanye West's seventh song to do so (a record).
It also debuted at number 16 on the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
, based on downloads alone, and peaked at number four the following week. The song was released digitally on August 30 in UK. According to the UK Midweek Chart, "Get Sexy
Get Sexy
"Get Sexy" is an electropop song performed by English girl group Sugababes. It was released on 31 August, 2009 as the lead single for the group's seventh studio album, Sweet 7. It is the last single to feature founding member Keisha Buchanan; during the single release interval between the release...
" by Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
was set to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart but "Run This Town" outsold it and went to number one. On September 6, "Run This Town" entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, giving Jay-Z his first UK number one as a lead artist and fourth overall. He had already topped the chart once with Rihanna for his very first collaboration with her in 2007 (following "Umbrella
Umbrella (song)
"Umbrella" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, featuring a rap verse by Jay-Z. The song was written by The-Dream, Christopher Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z, and was produced by Stewart and The-Dream for Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad...
") which had a ten week stand at number 1 and with his wife Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
twice with "Crazy In Love" and "Déjà Vu". It was the third number one each for and Kanye West, who had previously topped the charts for a total of six weeks with "Stronger
Stronger (Kanye West song)
"Stronger" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released as the second single from his third studio album Graduation. It was produced by West and contains an extended outro co-produced with Mike Dean...
" and "American Boy" (with Estelle
Estelle (musician)
Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...
). It was Rihanna's seventh top two single as both a lead and featured artist. The song sold 62,000 copies in its first week,
On the issue dated September 14, 2009, the song debuted at number 66 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. On its second week it jumped to #25 and has currently peaked at #10.
"Run This Town" has so far appeared on charts in 15 countries plus the European Hot 100 Singles chart, reaching the top ten on eleven of them. In the UK, it reached number one on both the 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 ...
and 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...
, while it has done the same in the US on the Rap Songs and Rhythmic Airplay Chart
Rhythmic Airplay Chart
The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks...
s.
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Germany | 18 |
| US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (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... ) |
3 |
| US Rap Songs (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... ) |
1 |
| US Pop Songs (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... ) |
8 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
Year-end charts
| End of year chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 60 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart | 126 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 84 |
| 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 ... |
60 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
Platinum |
| New Zealand Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Gold |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
2× Platinum |
External links
- "Run This Town" Music video at MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
|-
|-