Victory (Puff Daddy song)

"Victory"
Single by Puff Daddy featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes
from the album No Way Out
Released March 17, 1998
Format
Recorded 1997
Genre Hip hop
Length 4:55
Label
Writer(s)
  • Christopher Wallace
  • Jason Phillips
  • Steven Jordan
  • Trevor Smith
  • Bill Conti
  • Sean Combs
Producer(s)
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Puff Daddy singles chronology
"Been Around the World"
(1997)
"Victory"
(1998)
"Come with Me"
(1998)
Busta Rhymes singles chronology
"Turn It Up (Remix)/Fire It Up"
(1998)
"Victory"
(1998)
"Gimme Some More"
(1998)
The Notorious B.I.G. singles chronology
"It's All About the Benjamins"
(1997)
"Victory"
(1998)
"Notorious B.I.G."
(1999)

"Victory" is a song recorded by American hip hop recording artist Puff Daddy. The song was originally written by Christopher Wallace, Trevor Smith, Jason Phillips and Steven Jordan for his debut studio album No Way Out (1997). It features heavy use of mafioso-style lyrics, as was popular at the time. It features The Notorious B.I.G., who raps two verses, and Busta Rhymes, who raps the song's chorus. The song also heavily sampled the Bill Conti song "Going the Distance", which featured on the soundtrack to the movie Rocky making it a darker start to a rap album that featured many (at the time) club-standard singles. The song was released as a single in 1998, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song featured the very last verses recorded by The Notorious B.I.G. before his 1997 death.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Nispel on March 31, 1998 (although he was supposed to remain anonymous at the time of premiere) and is an homage to The Running Man. The almost eight-minute-long video featured cameos from Dennis Hopper as a New World Order dictator ("President Victor Castiglione") and Danny DeVito as a live action reporter. Tamara Beckwith was also in the video. Hopper and Devito reportedly appeared in the video pro bono as a favor to Combs.

Sean Combs' character (known as "Contestant #5" or codename "PD") runs through the dark streets of the year 3002 AD, chased by armed gestapo-esque forces of Chase TV. At one point, Contestant #5 is cornered on a rooftop, where he decides to leap off instead of submitting to the armed troops.

Footage from Biggie's "One More Chance" video was used in "ghost" images, representing a flashback for Sean Comb's character. Busta Rhymes, dressed in black feathers, raps atop a statue representing Victoria, the goddess of victory. The Victoria statue overlooks the chase scenes. Biggie did not appear in the video due to his death a year earlier.

The production costs ran upwards of $2,700,000.[1] It is listed as one of the most expensive music videos ever made.

Remixes

Track listing

Victory (Remixes)
  1. Victory (Album Version) (4:58)
  2. Victory (Nine Inch Nails Remix) (5:33)
  1. Victory (Drama Mix) (4:58)
  • Vocals - Ron Grant, Terri Hawkins
  1. Bad Boy's "Been Around The World" (Remix) (5:30)
  • Co-remix - Jay Garfield Additional Production By: Jesse WIlson
  • Featuring - Mase
  • Producer - Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence
  • Remix - Nashiem Myrick
  • Vocals - Carl Thomas

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1998) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[2] 19

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[3] Gold 700,000[4]

References

  1. Soyouwanna.com - Ten most expensive music videos
  2. "Billboard Top 100 - 1998". Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  3. "American single certifications – Diddy, P. and the Family – Victory". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  4. "Best-Selling Records of 1998". Billboard. BPI Communications Inc. 111 (5): 75. January 30, 1999. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
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