King's Dead Explained

"King's Dead" is a song by American rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Future with English singer James Blake, from the soundtrack album of the Marvel Studios superhero film Black Panther and Jay Rock's third studio album Redemption.

It was released by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records on January 11, 2018, as both the soundtrack's second single and as the lead single from Redemption.^{[1] [2]} The song is Jay Rock's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] The song, along with "Bubblin" by Anderson .Paak, won Best Rap Performance, and was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

Reception

Briana Younger of Pitchfork gave the song a positive review, calling the song "fun and swaggering".^[4]

Music video

The music video for the song was released to Rock's Vevo channel on YouTube on February 15, 2018. It was directed by Dave Free and Jack Begert.^[5]

Remixes

On March 8, 2018, American rappers Joey Badass and XXXTentacion released a remix of the song.^[6]

Personnel

Credits adapted from digital booklet.^[7]

Performers

• Jay Rock – vocals
• Kendrick Lamar – vocals
• Future – vocals
• James Blake – vocals

Technical

• Matt Schaeffer – record engineering, mix engineering
• Mike Bozzi – master engineering
• Eric Manco – record engineering

Production

• Kendrick Lamar – production
• Teddy Walton – production
• Sounwave – additional production
• 30 Roc – uncredited co-production
• – uncredited co-production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[8]	58
Greece (IFPI Greece)[9]	28
Netherlands (Single Tip)[10]	6
New Zealand Heatseekers (Recorded Music NZ)[11]	4
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[12]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2018)	Position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[13]	97
US Billboard Hot 100[14]	79
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[15]	41

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label(s)
Various	January 11, 2018			[16]
United States	January 30, 2018	Rhythmic contemporary		[17]

Notes

• signifies an uncredited co-producer

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake Debut 'King's Dead'. NPR. February 2, 2018. January 12, 2018.
2. Web site: Jay Rock shares new song "King's Dead," featuring Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake. Puckett. Lily. The Fader. February 3, 2018. January 11, 2018.
3. Zellner. Xander. Jay Rock Scores First Hot 100 Entry With Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake Collab 'King's Dead'. Billboard. February 2, 2018. January 24, 2018.
4. Web site: Younger. Briana. "King's Dead" [ft. Kendrick Lamar, Future, & James Blake] by Jay Rock Review]. Pitchfork. January 12, 2018. February 16, 2018.
5. Web site: William Cowen. Trace. Here's the Video for Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake's "King's Dead". Complex. February 16, 2018. February 16, 2018.
6. Web site: Joey Bada$$ and XXXTentacion link for "Kings Dead" remix. Elevatormag.com. March 8, 2018. March 8, 2018.
7. Web site: Various Artists – Black Panther: The Album [Booklet]]. Genius. February 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180209182432/https://genius.com/Various-artists-black-panther-the-album-booklet-lyrics. 2018-02-09. dead.
8. Web site: Australian Charts: Drake 'God's Plan' Stays At No 1. Noise11. Ryan. Gavin. February 24, 2018. February 24, 2018.
9. Web site: Greece Official IFPI Charts Digital Singles Chart: Feb 5, 2018. IFPI Charts. March 8, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180206131608/https://www.ifpi.gr/digital_el.html. 2018-02-06. dead.
10. Web site: Dutchcharts.nl – Dutch Single Tip – 24/02/2018. nl. MegaCharts. May 24, 2018.
11. Web site: NZ Top 40 Singles Chart. Recorded Music NZ. January 22, 2018. February 2, 2018.
12. Web site: Veckolista Heatseeker – Vecka 7, 16 februari 2018. Sverigetopplistan. February 17, 2018.
13. Canadian Hot 100 – Year-End 2018. Billboard. December 5, 2018.
14. Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2018. Billboard. December 4, 2018.
15. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2018. Billboard. August 28, 2019.
16. Web site: King's Dead. iTunes. February 2, 2018.
17. Web site: Top 40/R Future Releases. January 24, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180124203954/https://www.allaccess.com/top40-rhythmic/future-releases. January 24, 2018.