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Through the Wire
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Through the Wire
"Through the Wire" is the debut solo single by American rapper and producer Kanye West, who wrote and recorded the song with his jaw wired shut after a car crash on October 23, 2002. The song prominently samples (and its title is a play on) Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire", and thus, Tom Keane of The Keane Brothers, Cynthia Weil, and David Foster, who wrote "Through the Fire", earn writing credits. The song was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California, and is a hip-hop track with West's then-signature chipmunk soul style. The track is about West's then-recent car accident, with West using the "Through the Fire" sample as a way to reference the impact, specifically his jaw being wired shut.
The song was originally released as "Through the Wire (Still Standing)" on West's debut mixtape Get Well Soon..., released before the single, on December 14, 2002. The mixtape version also features an outro sampled from Elton John's "I'm Still Standing", representing his hope after the accident and partially giving the song its title. As such, when the sample was removed, so was the sample's mention in the title of the track. The song was then most famously released on September 30, 2003, as the lead single and nineteenth track from his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), backed with fellow album track "Two Words". The single was specifically released through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings.
Upon its release, "Through the Wire" received near-universal acclaim from music critics and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the charts for a total of twenty-one weeks. It also charted in the top 10 on three other charts in the United States and one in the United Kingdom, the latter being its highest position, a peak at number 3 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles and Albums Charts. The track was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) respectively, alongside certifying Gold in Denmark. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award, specifically for Best Rap Solo Performance, in 2005, but lost to Roc-A-Fella co-head Jay-Z's "99 Problems". The music video was financed by West, who was inspired by an Adidas advertisement. The video would end up winning Video of the Year at the 2004 Source Hip Hop Awards.
On October 23, 2002, West was in a California recording studio producing music for Beanie Sigel, Peedi Crakk, and The Black Eyed Peas. After leaving the studio at around 3 a.m. in his rented Lexus, he had a near-fatal crash when he had fallen asleep at the wheel. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, mentioned in the song as "the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died", and had his jaw wired to his face in reconstructive surgery. Two weeks after being admitted to the hospital, he recorded the song at the Record Plant Studios with his jaw still wired shut. Consequence recalls that West started rapping the lyrics to the song three days after the crash.
The song's title refers to the wires used to hold his broken jaw together, as well as being a play on the song "Through the Fire", which it samples. When asked about how the incident changed his music, West stated:
Well, the only thing this accident's is saying is, "I am about to hand you the world, just know at any given time I can take it away from you." To nearly lose your life, to nearly lose your mouth, your voice, your whole face, as a rapper...and I had to be on TV! My face looks crazy to me now... But I have to just thank God for the situation that I am in... "Through The Wire" is the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me, and now it's obviously the best thing. Look how it exploded!
The song originally appeared on West's mixtape Get Well Soon... as "Through the Wire (Still Standing)" where his wired jaw was incredibly noticeable, and also including an outro that is sampled from Elton John's hit "I'm Still Standing", before being re-recorded and released as the first single from The College Dropout in late 2003. Although he initially had trouble convincing Roc-A-Fella Records executives to let him make his own album as a rapper, he was able to change their minds after the song's release.
"Through the Wire" was inspired by the 2002 car crash, and West has provided a comedic account of his difficult recovery. West samples a pitch-shifted and sped up version of Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire". Coodie, one of the music video's directors, reported that Khan wouldn't initially allow the sample to be cleared until the video was shown to her son and he told Khan about it, leading to the sample being cleared about two weeks later. Khan later expressed her love for the track, calling West a "sweetheart, truly adorable" and the way he used the sample "so clever". However, in June 2019, Khan criticized West's unorthodox, highly pitchshifted use of the sample, calling it "stupid". Khan did not receive writing credit for the song, which instead went to David Foster, Tom Keane, and Cynthia Weil, who wrote "Through the Fire". IGN described West's rapping as "a Snoop-meets-Hova flow, twisting up his words with the patented 'izz' inflection."
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Through the Wire
"Through the Wire" is the debut solo single by American rapper and producer Kanye West, who wrote and recorded the song with his jaw wired shut after a car crash on October 23, 2002. The song prominently samples (and its title is a play on) Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire", and thus, Tom Keane of The Keane Brothers, Cynthia Weil, and David Foster, who wrote "Through the Fire", earn writing credits. The song was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California, and is a hip-hop track with West's then-signature chipmunk soul style. The track is about West's then-recent car accident, with West using the "Through the Fire" sample as a way to reference the impact, specifically his jaw being wired shut.
The song was originally released as "Through the Wire (Still Standing)" on West's debut mixtape Get Well Soon..., released before the single, on December 14, 2002. The mixtape version also features an outro sampled from Elton John's "I'm Still Standing", representing his hope after the accident and partially giving the song its title. As such, when the sample was removed, so was the sample's mention in the title of the track. The song was then most famously released on September 30, 2003, as the lead single and nineteenth track from his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), backed with fellow album track "Two Words". The single was specifically released through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings.
Upon its release, "Through the Wire" received near-universal acclaim from music critics and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the charts for a total of twenty-one weeks. It also charted in the top 10 on three other charts in the United States and one in the United Kingdom, the latter being its highest position, a peak at number 3 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles and Albums Charts. The track was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) respectively, alongside certifying Gold in Denmark. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award, specifically for Best Rap Solo Performance, in 2005, but lost to Roc-A-Fella co-head Jay-Z's "99 Problems". The music video was financed by West, who was inspired by an Adidas advertisement. The video would end up winning Video of the Year at the 2004 Source Hip Hop Awards.
On October 23, 2002, West was in a California recording studio producing music for Beanie Sigel, Peedi Crakk, and The Black Eyed Peas. After leaving the studio at around 3 a.m. in his rented Lexus, he had a near-fatal crash when he had fallen asleep at the wheel. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, mentioned in the song as "the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died", and had his jaw wired to his face in reconstructive surgery. Two weeks after being admitted to the hospital, he recorded the song at the Record Plant Studios with his jaw still wired shut. Consequence recalls that West started rapping the lyrics to the song three days after the crash.
The song's title refers to the wires used to hold his broken jaw together, as well as being a play on the song "Through the Fire", which it samples. When asked about how the incident changed his music, West stated:
Well, the only thing this accident's is saying is, "I am about to hand you the world, just know at any given time I can take it away from you." To nearly lose your life, to nearly lose your mouth, your voice, your whole face, as a rapper...and I had to be on TV! My face looks crazy to me now... But I have to just thank God for the situation that I am in... "Through The Wire" is the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me, and now it's obviously the best thing. Look how it exploded!
The song originally appeared on West's mixtape Get Well Soon... as "Through the Wire (Still Standing)" where his wired jaw was incredibly noticeable, and also including an outro that is sampled from Elton John's hit "I'm Still Standing", before being re-recorded and released as the first single from The College Dropout in late 2003. Although he initially had trouble convincing Roc-A-Fella Records executives to let him make his own album as a rapper, he was able to change their minds after the song's release.
"Through the Wire" was inspired by the 2002 car crash, and West has provided a comedic account of his difficult recovery. West samples a pitch-shifted and sped up version of Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire". Coodie, one of the music video's directors, reported that Khan wouldn't initially allow the sample to be cleared until the video was shown to her son and he told Khan about it, leading to the sample being cleared about two weeks later. Khan later expressed her love for the track, calling West a "sweetheart, truly adorable" and the way he used the sample "so clever". However, in June 2019, Khan criticized West's unorthodox, highly pitchshifted use of the sample, calling it "stupid". Khan did not receive writing credit for the song, which instead went to David Foster, Tom Keane, and Cynthia Weil, who wrote "Through the Fire". IGN described West's rapping as "a Snoop-meets-Hova flow, twisting up his words with the patented 'izz' inflection."