International Players Anthem (I Choose You)
| "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)" | |||||||||||
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| Single by UGK featuring OutKast | |||||||||||
| from the album Underground Kingz | |||||||||||
| Released | June 6, 2007 | ||||||||||
| Format | CD | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 2006 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Southern hip hop | ||||||||||
| Length | 4:25 | ||||||||||
| Label | Jive | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Bernard Freeman, Chad Butler, Andre Benjamin, Antwan Patton | ||||||||||
| Producer(s) | DJ Paul, Juicy J | ||||||||||
| UGK singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)" is the second single by UGK on their album Underground Kingz, featuring OutKast.
Background
The beat was produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, and utilizes a sample of "I Choose You" by Willie Hutch. A similar sample of "I Choose You" has been used in various other songs, including Project Pat's "Choose U," "Rap's a Hustle" by Cormega, "Pimpin, Part 2" by 50 Cent, and "Pimpology 101" by Wu Tang Clan affiliate DJ Mathematics.
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
This song was #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[1]
The song hit #70 on the Billboard Hot 100,[2] making it their only song to chart there.
Pitchfork Media's "Top 500 songs of the 2000s" listed the song at #43.
Music video
The music video is centered around the fictional wedding of Andre 3000, progressing through the men's waiting room before the ceremony, the wedding itself, the reception, and the afterparty dance. The video Premiered on MTV Jams on June 4, 2007.
Before the wedding ceremony, Bun B and friends ridicule Andre for supposedly rushing into getting married, and poke fun at him for wearing a red kilt ("I've got Scottish in my family," Andre calmly states). DJ Paul humorously says that it makes him look like Roddy Piper of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Andre defends his decision to get married, saying that he is ready to take the next step in life, and in turn berates his friends for not looking to get into commitments themselves.
During the wedding, Andre talks about text messaging past flings and telling them that he has found love and will be giving up his life as a player. Interestingly, the audience remains seated as the bride (played by actress Salina Soto (CSI:NY, Forbidden) marches to the altar, a boy plays with an oversize toy spaceship, and one of Andre's past flings makes a side remark to him (the verse that is being rapped), to the dismay of her date, Fonzworth Bentley. A choir and its director, T-Pain, sing the "I Choose You" vocals as the wedding progresses, while the groomsmen and other friends implore Andre to "keep your heart, 3 stacks!"
Later at the afterparty, two of Andre's past flings get into an argument while attempting to catch the bride's bouquet, which escalates into a full-blown fist fight that destroys the wedding cake and much of the buffet. The male onlookers are pleasantly shocked, the bride is almost reduced to tears, but the rest of the main characters (including the bride) all smile at the end, apparently having a good time.
At the BET Hip Hop Awards in October, "International Player's Anthem" was nominated for top Hip Hop Video and won Best Collaboration.
The video features cameos by Bishop Don "Magic" Juan, DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, Chamillionaire, T-Pain, Fonzworth Bentley, David Banner, Kardinal Offishall, Katt Williams, Big Gipp, Alex Thomas, Deray Davis, along with actor Lukas Haas.[3] This became the last video appearance of Pimp C before his death on December 4, 2007.
At the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards, Kanye West won the Best Hip Hop Video award but felt this video deserved it more. He called Big Boi during his acceptance speech, who felt Kanye deserved it. During both the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards and 2008 BET Awards, only Bun B and Big Boi were there to accept the award.
Remix
The official remix is a bonus track on the album, and features Three 6 Mafia.
Chamillionaire recently used the instrumental for the track for a freestyle titled "Ima Playa Fasho" from his mixtape Mixtape Messiah 3. Crooked I also used this beat on week 13 in his "Hip-Hop Weekly" series. The song is also used as the first and last sample on Girl Talk's 2008 album, Feed the Animals.
The song was sampled in On Top of the Cover by Mike Jones.
References
- ↑ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
- ↑ Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
