"Deathcamp" is a song by American rapper Tyler, the Creator featuring American guitarist Cole Alexander, and serves as the opening track from the former's fourth album Cherry Bomb (2015). It was released alongside "Fucking Young / Perfect" as the album's lead single on April 9, 2015. The song was written and produced by Tyler, the Creator, with Herman Weems receiving additional writing credits for the sampling of his 1971 song "Why Can't There Be Love", sung by Dee Edwards.
| "Deathcamp" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Tyler, the Creator featuring Cole Alexander | ||||
| from the album Cherry Bomb | ||||
| Released | April 9, 2015 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:09 (album version)
| |||
| Label | Odd Future | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Tyler, the Creator | |||
| Tyler, the Creator singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Tyler, the Creator - Fucking Young" on YouTube | ||||
Background and release
editOn April 9, 2015, Tyler, the Creator formally announced Cherry Bomb on Twitter would be releasing April 13, the next week, and released the songs "Deathcamp" alongside "Fucking Young / Perfect" as the lead singles from the album on the iTunes Store.[2][3]
Composition and lyrics
edit"Deathcamp" features a sample of "Why Can’t There Be Love" sung by Dee Edwards and written by Herman Weems. The song's instrumental is very aggressive,[4] even being compared to metal songs.[5] Like many of his earlier songs, he conveys the topic in an intentionally aggressive and offensive way.[6] Tyler also quotes La Di Da Di by Slick Rick.[7] The song was allegedly inspired by The Stooges as well as N.E.R.D.[8]
Critical reception
edit"Deathcamp" has been compared to N.E.R.D.'s debut album In Search of... (2001), particularly the song "Lapdance". Tyler specifically mentions the album in the song with the lines "In Search of... did more for me than Illmatic".[9] Andrew Unterberger of Spin also compared "Deathcamp" to In Search of... and also pointed out its four-count intro commonly used in Pharrell-produced songs.[10] Matthew Ramirez of Pitchfork likened "Deathcamp" to the Stooges, Glassjaw, Trash Talk (who Tyler and Odd Future signed), Lil Wayne's seventh studio album Rebirth as well as N.E.R.D.[11] It has also been compared to experimental hip hop group Death Grips.[12]
Music video
editA small visual for "Deathcamp" is included in the music video for Cherry Bomb's other lead single, "Fucking Young".[13] The video was released on the same day the singles were released.[14]
The "Deathcamp" portion of the video features Tyler riding through the desert on a go-kart, and the skateboard stunts at the beginning of the video have been compared to Jackass.[15] It features guest cameos from members of Odd Future as well as Charlie Wilson, Chaz Bundick and Cole Alexander.[14]
Copyright infringment lawsuit
editOn March 23, 2018, Tyler was accused of copyright infringement and sued for $750,000 in damages by Lela Weems. She alleged that the song illegally sampled the 1971 song, "Why Can’t There Be Love" composed by the late Herman Weems and sung by Dee Edwards. Following Herman's death, Lela became the sole owner of the song's copyright. Weems alleged that "Deathcamp" used the beat of Edwards' song.[16]
On May 22, 2018, the case was settled, and in all subsequent releases, Herman Weems is listed as a co-songwriter on "Deathcamp".[17][18] In the Cherry Bomb Documentary from 2015, Tyler stated that the sample was rejected shortly before the release of the album, and so he had Cole Alexander re-record the guitar.[19]
The court documents are available for viewing as of 2024.[17]
Personnel
editCredits adapted from the vinyl liner notes of Cherry Bomb,[20] with video credits adapted from the song's music video.[14]
Musicians
edit- Tyler, the Creator – vocals, songwriting, recording
- Cole Alexander – additional vocals and guitar
- Mike Einziger - additional production
Video
edit- Wolf Haley - video director
- Luis Ponch Perez - director of photography
- Tara Razavi - executive production
Technical
edit- Vic Wainstein – recording
- Syd Bennett – recording
- Mick Guzauski – mixing
- Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
- Jack DeBoe – additional engineering
Charts
edit| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (Billboard)[21] | 7 |
| US Rap Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[22] | 31 |
References
edit- ^ Chinapen, Mark (June 23, 2021). "Revisiting Tyler, The Creator's Cherry Bomb". Medium.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ "Tyler, The Creator Announces New Album 'Cherry Bomb' and Releases New Tracks, "DEATHCAMP" and "F*CKING YOUNG/PERFECT"". HypeBeast.com. April 9, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ DeVille, Chris (April 9, 2015). "Tyler, The Creator – "Deathcamp" + "Fucking Young/Perfect"". Stereogum. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ C.M., Emmanuel (April 9, 2015). "Tyler, The Creator Is Dropping His New Album Next Week - XXL". XXLmag.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Paradise, Calvin (April 12, 2015). "BEST NEW VIDEOS: TYLER, THE CREATOR - f**king YOUNG". wearetheguard.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Paradise, Calvin (April 17, 2015). "BEST NEW SONGS: TYLER, THE CREATOR "DEATHCAMP"". wearetheguard.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Lyons, Patrick (April 9, 2015). "DEATHCAMP Here's the first of two songs Tyler, The Creator just released, "DEATHCAMP."". HotNewHipHop.com.
- ^ Ramirez, Matthew (April 17, 2015). "ALBUMS Cherry Bomb Tyler, the Creator 2015". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Elliot, James. "Tyler, The Creator Announces New Album Set To Drop Next Week". Complex. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ^ Unterberger, Andrew (April 16, 2015). "Review: Tyler, the Creator, Working Hard and Hardly Working on 'Cherry Bomb'". Spin.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Ramirez, Matthew (April 17, 2015). "ALBUMS Cherry Bomb Tyler, the Creator 2015". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Prevost, Dinorah (April 29, 2015). "Review: Tyler, the Creator chills out in new album with songs of love". TampaBay.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (April 9, 2015). "Tyler, the Creator Details New Album 'Cherry Bomb'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Tyler, The Creator - Fucking Young". YouTube.com. April 9, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Brandle, Lars (April 10, 2010). "Watch Tyler, the Creator's New Video for 'F—ing Young' and 'Deathcamp'". Billboard.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ A., Aron (March 26, 2018). "Tyler, The Creator & Odd Future Reportedly Sued For $750K Over "Deathcamp"". HotNewHipHop.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ a b "Lela Weems v. Tyler the Creator ("Deathcamp") settled". musicinfringement.art. May 22, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ "Deathcamp Tyler, The Creator". AllMusic.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ Wicks, Amamda (May 30, 2017). "Watch Tyler, The Creator's Cherry Bomb Documentary in Full". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ^ Cherry Bomb (Vinyl liner notes). Tyler, the Creator. Columbia Records. 2020. 19439735721.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Tyler, the Creator Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
- ^ "Rap Digital Song Sales". Billboard.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.