[Kanye West Heard Em Say Piano Sheet Music Pdf
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"Heard 'Em Say" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his second studio album, Late Registration (2005). The song features a guest appearance from Adam Levine. It was produced by West with Jon Brion, the former of which served as a songwriter alongside Levine, while Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin also received credit due to the sample of "Someone That I Used to Love". When West played Levine an early version of the song during a flight to Rome in 2004, the singer felt he had a chorus written that would work perfectly. West lacked certainty about collaborating with Levine before hearing him in rehearsal at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards, after which the two recorded the song quickly with assistance from Brion. It marked the first song recorded for the album and originally, West sang the chorus.
On October 24, 2005, "Heard 'Em Say" was released on a 12" vinyl as the third single from Late Registration by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. A hip hop ballad, it relies on excerpts of Natalie Cole's "Someone That I Used to Love" and features a subdued instrumentation, which includes keyboards and piano chords. The song contains a lullaby tone, as well as an R&B chorus and elements of art rock. Lyrically, West laments the socioeconomical issues facing African-Americans while reminding listeners to appreciate the present, taking the perspective of a struggling citizen confused by the world.
"Heard 'Em Say" received widespread acclaim from music critics, who generally appreciated the musical style. Some praised Levine's vocal performance, while numerous critics appreciated West's lyrical talent. The song garnered a nomination for Best Hip-Hop Song Collaboration at the 2006 Groovevolt Music and Fashion Awards. In the United States, it debuted at the last position of the Billboard Hot 100 while West's single "Gold Digger" was at number one, making him the seventh artist to bookend the chart. The former marked a crossover success for West and Levine, and peaked at number 26 on the Hot 100. The song also reached the top 40 in Australia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It has been certified platinum in the US and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively.
The song's first music video was directed by Joe DeMaio and Michel Gondry, who took two years to be persuaded by West to collaborate; it was filmed in October 2005 and aired in December. The visual was shot live-action, depicting West keeping watch of his children inside the Macy's Herald Square store as they play around. After West felt dissatisfied with the visual, he commissioned Bill Plympton to shoot an alternate video, which premiered in November 2005. The music video features extensive use of pencil-sketch animation and casts West as a taxicab driver picking up passengers in a fictional city, until a lit cigarette match starts a fire that kills him. The first video won Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2006 Music Video Production Awards, while the second one was very well-received by critics. West performed "Heard 'Em Say" at the Coachella and Global Gathering festivals in 2006 and 2008, respectively. A cover version of the song was performed for BBC Radio 1Xtra in March 2016 by G-Eazy, who censored certain lyrics.
West enlisted pop rock band Maroon 5's frontman Adam Levine to sing the chorus of "Heard 'Em Say".[1] He and Levine had first collaborated when Maroon 5 commissioned West to remix their 2004 single "This Love", spending time recording it in the studio together.[2][3] Later on, the two developed a friendship when sitting together on a flight to Rome for the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards.[3] While playing songs from Late Registration on his iPod for Levine, West previewed an undeveloped version of "Heard 'Em Say", the very first track recorded for the album.[3][4] As Levine recalled, "He was rhyming over [the track], and I had just written a hook that was so perfect for it. It was one of those natural collaborations where you're so excited because it's all very pure and very easy."[3] West himself initially went back and forth on collaborating with Levine, feeling that the singer may be too popular for him while being appreciative of his vocal talent. He explained that Levine's popularity "takes away from the illness of having him", yet ultimately decided to work with him because his voice sounds "so ill" that it resembles "a fucking instrument".[5] Levine would later appropriate "Heard 'Em Say" for the Maroon 5 song "Nothing Lasts Forever" in 2007.[6]
For Late Registration, West collaborated with film score composer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion.[7] Through layered arrangements and a meticulous attention to songwriting, Brion's involvement is evident on "Heard 'Em Say" and throughout the album, for which him and West managed to craft sophisticated, baroque hip hop.[7][8][9] West's sonic reference points ranged outside the realm of mainstream hip hop artists, drawing from British trip hop band Portishead, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Pink Floyd.[1] He recruited Brion to dress the record with lush, orchestral arrangements that fit his widening musical vision.[10][1] Brion's orchestral arrangements and progressive rock flourishes filled the song with a high sense of drama, while channeling vulnerability across the record.[10][11] The tone of "Heard 'Em Say" and other songs from Late Registration would lay out the foundation for West's maximalist approach to music. This style became a trademark of the rapper's subsequent works, most prominently his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and the GOOD Music compilation album Cruel Summer (2012).[12]
The song was written by West alongside Levine, with additional songwriting credits for Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin due to them having written the sampled work "Someone That I Used to Love" (1977) by American singer Natalie Cole. West co-produced the track with Brion.[13] Although "Heard 'Em Say" is the first full song on Late Registration, it is preceded by an intro entitled "Wake Up Mr. West" that features a reprisal of West's sociable inner voice.[13][14] The intro is a skit that continues where West's debut studio album The College Dropout finished, spoken by comedian DeRay Davis, who plays a school administrator still unsatisfied with West's classroom performance.[8][15] The college teacher exclaims, "I knew I was gon' see you again!" in an impersonation of comedian Bernie Mac and questions, "Where your goddamn book bag at?"[16] As the piano instrumental rises in the background, West falls asleep in class, until a yell of the "Wake up Mr. West!" refrain wakes him from his stupor.[16] This setting ends with the refrain echoing, fading into the beginning of "Heard 'Em Say".[8][15] The phrase and its accompanying piano melody purposefully bleeds into the album's full opening track.[15][16]
Similarly to West exploring a new style with The College Dropout, he opted to take rap lyricism in a different direction on Late Registration by experimenting with ideas beyond the dominant gangsta lifestyle and attitude of mainstream hip hop.[17] While some of Late Registration is celebratory, "Heard 'Em Say" stands among the songs that follow a contemplative political path.[5][18] "Heard 'Em Say" is one of many pop-oriented songs from the album that represent a wide scope of human experience, which contain political dissatisfaction and the personal trauma that caused it.[18] Atop a spare, compulsive backing track, West delivers lyrics which take a dissective view of American life, taking on the perspective of a downtrodden citizen and depicting an anxious youth.[12][16]
"Heard 'Em Say" was the very first track that West recorded for Late Registration.[4] The song went through several revisions to prior to release.[19] Its recording sessions took place at Sony Music Studios in New York City (NYC) and Grandmaster Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, and were hosted by Andrew Dawson and Tom Biller, respectively.[13][20] The track's mixing was then done at the Chalice Recording Studios in Hollywood by Mike Dean, who had assistance from Taylor Dow, Nate Connelly, and Mike Mo.[13] For the track, West employs poignant excerpts taken from Cole's "Someone That I Used To Love".[13][21][22] He combines hip hop beats with a piano melody, alongside restrained electronics.[16] West's understated record production is driven by the piano line, which uses tumbling delayed beats throughout that are laced with a synthesized bassline, in addition to subtle interjections of acoustic guitar.[18][22] The soul production style that characterized The College Dropout was furthered on Late Registration by the rapper, who incorporated a much broader array of instrumentation. West opted in favor of a more symphonic orchestration to serve as a backdrop for his evolving lyricism.[17][23][24] While elements of his trademark looped samples remained present, the album marked a shift for West towards a heavier reliance on keyboards, string sections, and boisterous yet at times haunting horns.[23][24] Additionally, elongated and vibrant outros were integrated into most tracks, providing them with more time to breathe and settle into listener's ears.[23]
On Late Registration, West progressively moves past his previous musical limitations in terms of contextualization and deployment.[12][24] The song's elongated outro was arranged by Brion,[8] who produced several of the album's tracks alongside West.[5] Best known for his quirky, baroque pop film soundtracks like the ones for I Heart Huckabees (2004) and Punch-Drunk Love (2002), as well as his musical collaborations with singer-songwriter Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann, Brion added his melancholy touch to "Heard 'Em Say".[25] West was exposed to Brion's work while watching the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for which Brion had composed music. He had also been listening to songs Brion produced for When the Pawn... (1999), the second studio album by Fiona Apple, who was another one of the rapper's favorite artists and sources of musical inspiration for Late Registration.[26][27] West was introduced to Brion via record producer Rick Rubin, a mutual friend of theirs.[28] At the time, Brion had no background in hip hop music nor any prior experience in creating those records. Nevertheless, he and West soon found that they could productively work together after their first afternoon in the studio, discovering that neither confined his musical knowledge and vision to a specific genre.[29]
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