Rihanna Returns and Kanye West Shines on Jay-Z's "Run This Town"

Jay-Z promised he'd release another single before his Blueprint 3 hit stores, and this morning Jigga delivered: New single "Run This Town" hit hip-hop radio stations at 9:11 a.m. — fitting as Blueprint 3 is out on September 11th. The real headline here, however, is the return of Rihanna, the "Umbrella" singer making her first musical appearance on a song since her February 8th incident with Chris Brown. Rihanna sounds like she never stepped out of the spotlight, providing the hook of "The only thing that's on my mind is who's gonna run this town tonight?" Kanye West is also featured on the track, which you can hear on Jay-Z's MySpace page, or pretty much anywhere during the remainder of the summer.

Details about the track are still scarce, but it sounds like a classic Kanye production with its military procession beat and menacing guitar riff. "Run This Town" is being touted as first proper single off Blueprint 3, and while we loved "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," radio and fans will more likely embrace this song than the space-jazz of the previous leak. Plus, Kanye unleashes the catchphrase of the summer: "This is a fast life, we are on a crash course, what do you think I rap for, to push a fucking RAV4?"

"This is Roc Nation, pledge of allegiance," Jay-Z raps in the front verse, name-checking his joint venture with Live Nation. Blueprint 3 itself will be released on Atlantic Records, but Jigga's Roc Nation output will be distributed through Epic. As Rock Daily reported yesterday, Jay-Z was announced as the Beastie Boys' replacement at next week's All Points West festival in New Jersey, and fans can probably expect to hear "Run This Town" — and hopefully his reported collaboration with MGMT — at APW.

Related Stories:
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• Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3" To Feature Rihanna, Drake, MGMT
• Jay-Z Talks Ditching Def Jam, New Deals: "I'm an Entrepreneur"

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

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