Ni**as in Paris

Jay-Z and Kanye West recorded the track during the Watch the Throne sessions at Le Meurice in Paris, with later mixing at The Mercer Hotel in New York. Hit-Boy, Kanye West, Mike Dean, and Anthony Kilhoffer are credited on the original release. It became the breakout single from Watch the Throne and the duo’s signature commercial crossover, reaching the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the U.S. R&B/hip-hop and rap charts. The song helped define the album’s lavish, arena-sized rollout and won Best Rap Performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The track remains one of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s most recognizable songs and has endured as a pop-culture shorthand for excess and victory. Its streaming-era afterlife was reinforced by major certification milestones, including Diamond status in the United States.