Lights Please
"Lights Please" | |
---|---|
Single by J. Cole | |
from the album The Warm Up and Cole World: The Sideline Story | |
Released | November 24, 2009 |
Recorded | 2008 |
Genre | Hip hop |
Length | 3:28 (Album version) 4:27 (Mixtape version) |
Label |
|
Songwriter(s) | Jermaine Cole |
Producer(s) | J. Cole |
"Lights Please" is a song by American rapper J. Cole, released on June 15, 2009 from his second mixtape, The Warm Up. The song was later released as a single on November 24, 2009 and appeared on his debut studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011).[1][2]
Background
"Lights Please" was the first song that was heard by his manager Mark Pitts, who later played it for Jay-Z. Pitts said in a 2011 interview, "I went to Jay's house and said, 'I'm going to play you one thing,' and I played him "Lights Please." Prior to Jay-Z reaction to the song, he called Cole and set up a meeting the next morning. The meeting lead to signing the rapper to Roc Nation, an achievement Cole had been striving for since attending college.[3]
Although the song appeared on The Warm Up, Cole initially planned for it to be on his debut album. "I was performing the song in front of most of these people [who] didn't really know me they might have heard [of me]. I was like, 'I'm about to do this song. I wanna do something for y'all it's called "Lights Please." Even if I drop my album in 2012 this gonna be on the album." I said that not really knowing that my album would really almost drop in 2012. I said it just as a joke, but I was serious."[4] Cole also said in interview, "when history is told 10, 15 years from now, 20, 30, 40 years from now, it's important that they know that song was a big part of my career. I wanted to do that song justice, it deserved more than [a mixtape track]."[5]
Recording and composition
The song is produced by J. Cole and samples Dexter Wansel's "Theme From the Planets". It was recorded in 2008 and Cole has expressed how he wanted it to appear on his debut album saying, "I had a show over 2 years ago [...] and I told the crowd, 'this is still gonna be on my album.' I always felt like that because it really represents my style."[6] Cole considers the song as a personal classic of his, saying, "'Lights Please' is a J. Cole classic. Meaning that all my fans or true fans that's really been there for a minute are gonna recognize that song because it was on a mixtape I got called The Warm Up."[7] The song is a story about a hook-up, in which Cole interrupts a conversation with a woman to discuss the state of the world: "I told her all about how we been livin' a lie / And that they love to see us all go to prison or die."[8]
Music video
On June 16, 2014, J. Cole premiered the music video for the song on MTV for the five year anniversary of The Warm Up. The video was shot in August of 2008, the same day he shot the music videos for "Simba" and "Lost Ones". However, Cole ended up not being completely satisfied with the way the final product turned out.[9][10]
References
- ^ "REVIEW: J. Cole, The Warm Up". XXL. Harris Publications. June 23, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "J. Cole - Lights Please". AllMusic.
- ^ NGUYEN, HAO. "Hip-Hop Gem: Jay-Z Signed J. Cole Because Of "Lights Please"". Stop the Breaks.
- ^ "J.COLE SAYS "LIGHTS PLEASE" SECURED HIS MEETING WITH JAY-Z, REFERS TO THE SONG AS A "J. COLE CLASSIC"". HipHopDX.
- ^ Ahmed, Insanul. "The Making of J. Cole's "Cole World: The Sideline Story"". Complex.
- ^ Lipshutz, Jason. "J. Cole Talks 'Cole World': Video Track-By-Track". Billboard.
- ^ Harling, Danielle. "J.Cole Says "Lights Please" Secured His Meeting With Jay-Z, Refers To The Song As A "J. Cole Classic"". HipHopDX.
- ^ "Looking Back At J. Cole's "Lights Please"". Genius.
- ^ Robertson, Iyana. "Watch: J. Cole Premieres The 'Lights Please' Video, 5 Years Later". Vibe.
- ^ Brown, Robert. "After five years J. Cole releases the video to 'Lights Please'". Acclaim Mag.
- v
- t
- e
- Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)
- Born Sinner (2013)
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014)
- 4 Your Eyez Only (2016)
- KOD (2018)
- The Off-Season (2021)
- Forest Hills Drive: Live (2016)
- Revenge of the Dreamers (2014)
- Revenge of the Dreamers II (2015)
- Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019)
- D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape (2022)
- Creed III: The Soundtrack
- Truly Yours (2013)
- Truly Yours 2 (2013)
- Lewis Street (2020)
- The Come Up (2007)
- The Warm Up (2009)
- Friday Night Lights (2010)
- Might Delete Later (2024)
- "Lights Please"
- "Who Dat"
- "Work Out"
- "Can't Get Enough"
- "Nobody's Perfect"
- "Miss America"
- "Power Trip"
- "Crooked Smile"
- "Forbidden Fruit"
- "She Knows"
- "Apparently"
- "Wet Dreamz"
- "No Role Modelz"
- "Love Yourz"
- "Everybody Dies"
- "False Prophets"
- "Deja Vu"
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- "Album of the Year (Freestyle)"
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- "Shea Butter Baby"
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- "Your Heart"
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- "On the Street"
- "The Secret Recipe"
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- "1985"
- "Under the Sun"
- "Sacrifices"
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- "Stick"
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- "Pricey"
- "Crocodile Tearz"
- "Ready '24"
- "Huntin' Wabbitz"
- "7 Minute Drill"
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- Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming
- Eyez
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- Applying Pressure: The Off-Season Documentary