"Kings Never Die" | ||||
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Single by Eminem featuring Gwen Stefani | ||||
from the album Southpaw (Music from and Inspired By the Motion Picture) | ||||
Released | July 10, 2015 | |||
Genre | Rap rock | |||
Length | 4:56 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | ||||
Eminem singles chronology | ||||
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Gwen Stefani singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Kings Never Die (Lyrics)" on YouTube |
"Kings Never Die" is a song by American rapper Eminem, from the soundtrack album Southpaw (Music from and Inspired By the Motion Picture), released on July 10, 2015. It features the American-recording artist, Gwen Stefani. This is Eminem and Stefani's first collaboration. The song is the second single released from the soundtrack, after Eminem's "Phenomenal" which was released a month earlier. "Kings Never Die" marks Stefani's first featured single since 2005's "Can I Have It Like That" with Pharrell Williams. The song was co-written and produced by the New Royales.
Shady Records and Eminem were approached by Kurt Sutter and asked to executively produce a soundtrack for the 2015 film, Southpaw.[1] Eminem has four songs on the soundtrack, including two from his collaborative effort – Bad Meets Evil. The other single from the soundtrack, "Phenomenal", is also from Eminem. The song was officially released on July 10, when the audio track was uploaded to YouTube.[2] On July 29, the lyric video was uploaded to YouTube.[3] This song talks about him (Eminem) being a king of rap and many people urging him to retire. Eminem says that he won't retire and will stay a king.
On July 3, 2015, the full song leaked onto the internet, followed by a positive response from critics. Lars Brandle from Billboard Magazine stated that the song "is a muscular effort with a classic angry vibe, [but] it's hardly a knockout [and] absolutely worth a spin."[4] Rap-Up Magazine thought that the song was a "triumphant rap-rock hybrid with rapid-fire rhymes.[5]
"Kings Never Die" was the highest-ranking debut for the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated August 1, 2015, entering the chart at number 80.[6] Its chart debut was supported by first-week digital download sales of 35,000 copies, along with 1.2 million domestic streams.[7]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Kings Never Die" (featuring Gwen Stefani) | 4:56 |
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA)[8] | 62 |
Australia Urban Singles (ARIA)[9] | 9 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[10] | 51 |
France (SNEP)[11] | 184 |
Scotland (OCC)[12] | 54 |
South Korean International Downloads (Gaon)[13] | 30 |
UK Singles (OCC)[14] | 82 |
UK R&B (OCC)[15] | 22 |
US Billboard Hot 100[16] | 80 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[17] | 23 |
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[18] | 19 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom | — | 132,000[19] |
United States (RIAA)[20] | Gold | 500,000![]() |
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