Made You Look

"Made You Look"
Single by Nas
from the album God's Son
Released	September 10, 2002
Format	CD single
Recorded	2002
Genre	Hip hop
Length	Album Version 3:23 Single Mix 3:21
Label	Ill Will, Columbia
Producer(s)	Salaam "The Chameleon" Remi
Nas singles chronology
"One Mic" (2002) "Made You Look" (2002) "I Can" (2003)

"Made You Look" is the first single from Nas' 2002 album, God's Son. Built around several samples lifted from the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache", the single was important in establishing Nas' direction following his battle with Jay-Z and the Stillmatic album in its reliance on intricate lyricism and an old-school aesthetic. The song reached much commercial success, on the level of "I Can", and it was a sizeable hit among urban audiences and remains one of the more popular tracks on the God's Son album. It is his third highest charting single to date.

Lyrically, "Made You Look" is similar to much of the material Nas was releasing in the early 2000s (decade) with its loose, complex, free-associative rhymes conveying obscure, wide-ranging themes: partying, boasting, hyping Nas and his legacy.

"Made You Look" is featured in the 2009 video game, Skate 2, after being featured in Paul Rodriguez's part in Girl "Yeah Right", along with "Get Down". The song was also featured in the 2015 video game NBA 2K16.^[1]

The beat for "Made You Look" was also used on the song "In My Bed" by British singer Amy Winehouse. Both songs were produced by Salaam Remi.

Remix

A remix surfaced a few weeks after the initial release of the song. The remix featured Yonkers native Jadakiss and Atlanta's Ludacris. The song also featured a new verse from Nas. This track, however, stayed in the mixtape circuit and did not make it onto the album.

Tha Dogg Pound member Kurupt has used the beat for "Made You Look" on a mixtape track called "Take Off".

Ja Rule used the beat on his mixtape, Loose Change, which aimed insults towards 50 Cent and the entire Aftermath/Shady camp in 2003. During the song, Ja Rule rhymes in a similar pattern to the original song.

La Coka Nostra used the beat for a track, with the same title, on their 2009 mixtape The Audacity Of Coke Mixtape; featuring two verses by Ill Bill and Slaine.

Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss and his group D-Block used the beat as well.

Diggy Simmons, son of Run-DMC's Rev Run, released a freestyle to the beat, resulting in him being signed to Atlantic Records.

Acclaim

• In 2005 Blender ranked "Made You Look" as the 175th best song from the 1980s through the 2000s (decade).^[2] They also named it the 16th best single of 2003.^[3]
• Pitchfork Media ranked it as the 47th best single of 2002.^[2]
• Q ranked it as the 903rd best song ever in 2003.^[4]

Track listing

A-side

1. "Made You Look" (Explicit Version) (3:22)
2. "Made You Look" (Instrumental with Guns) (3:14)

B-side

1. "The Cross" (Explicit Version) (3:47)
   • Produced by Eminem
2. "The Cross" (Instrumental) (3:47)

Charts

Chart (2002–03)	Peak position
scope="row"	UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[5]	27
scope="row"	US Billboard Hot 100[6]	32
scope="row"	US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[7]	12
scope="row"	US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[8]	9
scope="row"	US Rhythmic (Billboard)[9]	32

References

1. Nunneley, Stephany (July 24, 2015). "Get your groove on with the official NBA 2K16 soundtrack". VG247. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
2. Acclaimed Music - Made You Look
3. Acclaimed Music - Blender lists
4. Q - 1001 best songs ever (2003)
5. "Archive Chart: 2003-01-25" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
6. "Nas – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Nas. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
7. "Nas – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Nas. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
8. "Nas – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rap Songs for Nas. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
9. "Nas – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Nas. Retrieved January 3, 2015.

External links

• Music video on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics