We Made It (song)
Encyclopedia
"We Made It" is a promo single by rapper Busta Rhymes
' featuring the rock
band Linkin Park
. The song was to be on Busta Rhymes's eighth studio album Back on My B.S., but was then cancelled off the tracklist because the album was released on a different label as "We Made It" was Busta Rhymes's last song on Interscope. The song was produced by Cool & Dre
, with additional production by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda
and Brad Delson
. The song was released on April 29, 2008. It was Busta Rhymes's final release on Aftermath Entertainment
. The track debuted and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100
charts at #65. The song was used by TNT
as the theme song for its coverage of the 2008 NBA Western Conference Finals
and a song on the soundtrack on Madden NFL 09
.
Linkin Park (Single Version)
Promo CD
originally sang the hook, until Busta Rhymes
listened to the beat and Linkin Park kept "popping up in his head".
The song was first performed on May 2, 2008 during Busta's concert at Club Index in Germany. However, he was more or less introducing the song to them, as the studio version was played and Busta occasionally sang over the song, or lip synced to it while holding his microphone down. The first performance with Linkin Park was at their rehearsal studio Third Encore on May 25, 2008, to an audience of 14 members of the Linkin Park fan club who were brought there by surprise. During the Projekt Revolution
2008 tour the song's performance featured Adam Monroe of Ashes Divide
on the keyboard and Spliff Star
on backing vocals and was played during Linkin Park's set. During Busta Rhymes' concerts, where Linkin Park isn't present, the studio instrumental is played and Busta usually tells the audience to move their arms up and down during Mike Shinoda
's verse.
The song appears on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 09
and it is used as the theme song for its coverage of the 2008 NBA Western Conference Finals
. This marked the second time a Shinoda song was used during the NBA play-offs, the first being "Remember the Name
" by Fort Minor
. The song was also used in the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies
home World Series game before the team took the field in Games 3, 4, and 5 and as part of a video reel of highlights for the team leading up to the World Series, with a road in the background as the team took their playoff run "on the road".
Upon watching Barack Obama
's 2008 Presidential election
victory, Busta began cheering and singing the chorus of "We Made It".
Chamillionaire
created his own version of the song called The Real Thang with a similar theme. The song is available on his Mixtape Messiah 4
.
on Tuesday, April 29, the same day as the video for its first single, "Don't Touch Me (Throw da Water on 'em)." The video also premiered for 24 hours only on Yahoo! Music at 7:30pm EST on Tuesday, April 29. That same day, "We Made It" went to radio stations worldwide. The video also features cameo appearances from Styles of Beyond
, Bishop Lamont
and Lamar Odom
. Chris Robinson
directed the video. * The warehouse in which the parts of the music video was filmed is the same location at which Linkin Park's Meteora
album artwork and album cover were done. The video starts with the credits saying Busta Rhymes
and Linkin Park
and then the titles We Made It appear on the screen. Then you see Linkin Park walking through the warehouse and Busta Rhymes in a New York
flat. Then it cuts to scenes of people walking through the streets and people running a race through the rain.
This video also marks one of, if not the first, appearances of the Beats audio headphones.
after the BET awards.
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
' featuring the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
. The song was to be on Busta Rhymes's eighth studio album Back on My B.S., but was then cancelled off the tracklist because the album was released on a different label as "We Made It" was Busta Rhymes's last song on Interscope. The song was produced by Cool & Dre
Cool & Dre
Cool & Dre are a team of hip hop producers from Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon.-Epidemic Records:...
, with additional production by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda
Mike Shinoda
Michael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...
and Brad Delson
Brad Delson
Bradford Phillip "Brad" Delson is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the Grammy Award winning rock band Linkin Park. He is also the A&R Representative for Machine Shop Recordings....
. The song was released on April 29, 2008. It was Busta Rhymes's final release on Aftermath Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Universal Music Group's Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent and Slim da Mobster, with former acts including Busta Rhymes, Game, Raekwon,...
. The track debuted and peaked 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...
charts at #65. The song was used by TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
as the theme song for its coverage of the 2008 NBA Western Conference Finals
NBA Conference Finals
The National Basketball Association Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Championship series of the National Basketball Association , a major professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America...
and a song on the soundtrack on Madden NFL 09
Madden NFL 09
Madden NFL 09 is an American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 20th annual installment in the Madden NFL video game franchise. This game is known for its realistic graphics and big hits...
.
Song style
The music for this song has a choir/hip-hop background sound with hard rock effects mixed in.Track listing
Busta Rhymes (Single Version)- "We Made It" (Clean) - 3:56
- "We Made It" (Dirty) - 3:56
- "We Made It" (Instrumental) - 3:56
Linkin Park (Single Version)
- "We Made It" (Album Version) - 3:58
- "We Made It" (A Cappella) [Edit] - 3:00
- "We Made It" (Instrumental) - 3:56
- "We Made It" (Video) - 4:31
Promo CD
- "We Made It" (Album Version)
- "We Made It" (Instrumental Version)
- "Don't Touch Me" (Clean Version)
Song information
DreCool & Dre
Cool & Dre are a team of hip hop producers from Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon.-Epidemic Records:...
originally sang the hook, until Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
listened to the beat and Linkin Park kept "popping up in his head".
The song was first performed on May 2, 2008 during Busta's concert at Club Index in Germany. However, he was more or less introducing the song to them, as the studio version was played and Busta occasionally sang over the song, or lip synced to it while holding his microphone down. The first performance with Linkin Park was at their rehearsal studio Third Encore on May 25, 2008, to an audience of 14 members of the Linkin Park fan club who were brought there by surprise. During the Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...
2008 tour the song's performance featured Adam Monroe of Ashes Divide
Ashes Divide
Ashes Divide is an American rock band formed by guitarist Billy Howerdel, who had also formed A Perfect Circle. Howerdel is the primary songwriter, musician, producer, and vocalist for the band....
on the keyboard and Spliff Star
Spliff Star
William A. Lewis Raised in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, he is of Trinidadian descent, better known as Spliff Star, first appeared alongside Busta Rhymes as the Flipmode Squad in 1996 on his album The Coming....
on backing vocals and was played during Linkin Park's set. During Busta Rhymes' concerts, where Linkin Park isn't present, the studio instrumental is played and Busta usually tells the audience to move their arms up and down during Mike Shinoda
Mike Shinoda
Michael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...
's verse.
The song appears on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 09
Madden NFL 09
Madden NFL 09 is an American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 20th annual installment in the Madden NFL video game franchise. This game is known for its realistic graphics and big hits...
and it is used as the theme song for its coverage of the 2008 NBA Western Conference Finals
NBA Conference Finals
The National Basketball Association Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Championship series of the National Basketball Association , a major professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America...
. This marked the second time a Shinoda song was used during the NBA play-offs, the first being "Remember the Name
Remember the Name
"Remember the Name" is a rap by American hip hop artist Fort Minor, the side project of rock band Linkin Park's co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda. It is the second single from his 2005 album The Rising Tied, released on October 5, 2005. It was released alongside the album's first single, "Petrified"....
" by Fort Minor
Fort Minor
Fort Minor is a hip hop side-project of Mike Shinoda, who is better known as being a member of the American rock band Linkin Park. Shinoda's debut solo album as Fort Minor, The Rising Tied was released November 22, 2005.-History:...
. The song was also used in the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
home World Series game before the team took the field in Games 3, 4, and 5 and as part of a video reel of highlights for the team leading up to the World Series, with a road in the background as the team took their playoff run "on the road".
Upon watching Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's 2008 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
victory, Busta began cheering and singing the chorus of "We Made It".
Chamillionaire
Chamillionaire
Hakeem Seriki , better known by his stage name Chamillionaire, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Chamillitary Entertainment. Chamillionaire is also the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click...
created his own version of the song called The Real Thang with a similar theme. The song is available on his Mixtape Messiah 4
Mixtape Messiah 4
Mixtape Messiah 4 is a 2008 mixtape by Chamillionaire, the fourth in his Mixtape Messiah series. It is a two-disc set that was released on 27 August 2008....
.
Music video
The music video premiered all day on BETBlack 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...
on Tuesday, April 29, the same day as the video for its first single, "Don't Touch Me (Throw da Water on 'em)." The video also premiered for 24 hours only on Yahoo! Music at 7:30pm EST on Tuesday, April 29. That same day, "We Made It" went to radio stations worldwide. The video also features cameo appearances from Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond is an underground rap group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn and Takbir Bashir , Colton Raisin Fisher , and producer Jason Rabinowitz . They have released two LPs, one mixtape and were heavily featured on Mike...
, Bishop Lamont
Bishop Lamont
Philip Martin , better known as Bishop Lamont is an American rapper from Carson, California. He was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label but left in 2010.-Biography:...
and Lamar Odom
Lamar Odom
Lamar Joseph Odom is an American professional basketball forward with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.-Early life:...
. Chris Robinson
Chris Robinson (director)
Chris Robinson is an American film director working mostly with music videos and commercials. He has directed commercials for brands such as iPod, Coca Cola and Verizon and music videos for songs like "Fallin'" and "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys, "Roc Boys" by Jay-Z, the grammy nominated...
directed the video. * The warehouse in which the parts of the music video was filmed is the same location at which Linkin Park's Meteora
Meteora (album)
Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on debut studio album Hybrid Theory...
album artwork and album cover were done. The video starts with the credits saying Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
and Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
and then the titles We Made It appear on the screen. Then you see Linkin Park walking through the warehouse and Busta Rhymes in a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
flat. Then it cuts to scenes of people walking through the streets and people running a race through the rain.
This video also marks one of, if not the first, appearances of the Beats audio headphones.
Inspiration for the song
Rhymes says that the inspiration for this song was from what happened to T.I.T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
after the BET awards.
Charts
The song debuted at #14 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his 12th and the bands 10th top 20 hit in the United Kingdom. The single peaked at number 10 and remained there after the physical release. The single also had significant success in Germany peaking at #11 on the German Single Charts.| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
37 |
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
40 |
| U.S. 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... |
65 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
47 |
| 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... |
12 |
| 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 ... |
10 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart 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... |
13 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
24 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
11 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
11 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2008) | Rank |
|---|---|
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
91 |