The 50 Best Kanye West Songs Ever

45. Lift Off

Release Date: August 23, 2011

Album: Watch the Throne

Writer(s): Kanye West, Shawn Carter, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, Peter Hernandez, Seal Samuel

Producer(s): West, Bhasker, Dean, Bruno Mars

Notable Lyric:

“Lift off, lift off, takin’ my coat off

Showing my tattoos, I’m such a show off, huh

I feel the pain and then roll off

I got the whole city, they about to go off”

Kanye and Jay-Z’s collaborative album Watch the Throne felt like a prolonged celebration. Gone were the meticulously produced meditations on fame and celebrity of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy; they were replaced with all the bombast of someone who knows that he is finally living up to his own standards — and perhaps even exceeding them.

Because “No Church in the Wild” begins the album on something of a sober note, “Lift Off” feels like the real beginning of the Watch the Throne. Complete with backing vocals from none other than Beyonce, it perfectly sets the tone for the ten tracks that follow.

All that being said, lyrically, “Lift Off” is really nothing more than a pep rally. Kanye and Jay are reaching for the moon and beyond, and we are here to witness it.

Next: 44. Drive Slow