"Top Down" is a song by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 record 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 recording artist 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...

. Featured as the eighth track on his debut studio album One Man Band Man

One Man Band Man

Sample credits*"It's Me Bitches" – Contains a sample of "Hollywood Babylon" by Crazy Town.*"Bust Ya Gunz" – Embodies portions of "Down Bottom" by Drag-On.*"Take a Picture" – Contains a sample of "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers....

. "Top Down" contains samples

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 of swirls and riotous bursts of 70s-soul horns from "Girl, Come on Home" by Major Lance

Major Lance

Major Lance was an American R&B singer. After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.-Life:Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi...

.

Background

In a interview with 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....

 Swizz Beatz explained the song was initially meant for Nas

Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...

: "The record was originally for Nas. I got Nas' vocals already. But I can't do Nas, and his energy is not right on there. It would be dead weight. No disrespect, but it can't be dead weight if I can't make it feel like reality. I need the shit crazy. I need to shoot a video! It's gotta be another 'It's Me Bitches

It's Me Bitches

"It's Me Bitches", also known censored as "It's Me Snitches", is the first single from Swizz Beatz's debut studio album, One Man Band Man . The song was released February 13, 2007. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 100 and peaked at number 83.An edited version of the song was...

,' but bigger. I could easily pull a Nas card and have people be like, 'Nas is spazzing on the verse.' But it has to be a movie. I got it. It just gotta make sense. I can get Nas, 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...

 and Jadakiss

Jadakiss

Jason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...

 on that. I can do that. It's light work, but it's gotta make sense."

On May 30th, 2009 the song Nas recorded over the beat leaked

Internet leak

An Internet leak occurs when a party's confidential information is released to the public on the Internet. Various types of information and data can be, and have been, "leaked" to the Internet, the most common being personal information, computer software and source code, and artistic works such...

 entitled "Be Worried".

On February 21, 2011 Swizz Beatz officially released the mastered version with Nas for his series of free weekly mp3s titled Monster Mondays."

"Top Down" gained recognition from being featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...

as well as the the 2010 movie The Other Guys

The Other Guys

The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...

.

Music video

The song was featured in the second half of the music video for "Money in the Bank". In it Swizz Beatz is in front of a green screen "riding" a Lamborghini. After the video was released Swizz Beatz released the single on his Myspace.

Single Track Listing

1. Top Down (Dirty)

2. Top Down (Radio)

3. It's Me Snitches

4. It's Me Snitches (Remix)

5. It's Me Snitches (Remix) (Instrumental)

6. It's Me Snitches (Remix) (A Capella)

External links

• Swizz Beatz-Money In The Bank/Top Down Music Video
• Swizz Beatz-Top Down Lyrics