"Numb/Encore"
Single by Jay-Z and Linkin Park
from the EP Collision Course
B-side"Numb/Encore" (Instrumental)
ReleasedDecember 13, 2004
RecordedJuly 2004
Genre
Length3:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mike Shinoda
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Breaking the Habit"
(2004) 		"Numb/Encore"
(2004) 		"What I've Done"
(2007)
Jay-Z singles chronology
"Don't Let Me Die"
(2004) 		"Numb/Encore"
(2004) 		"Dear Summer"
(2005)
Alternative cover
Digital cover
Music video
"Numb/Encore" on YouTube

"Numb/Encore" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and rock band Linkin Park from their EP Collision Course (2004). It was released as a single on December 13, 2004, by Warner Bros., Machine Shop, Def Jam, and Roc-A-Fella Records. The song is a mash-up that fuses rock and hip hop, combining lyrics from "Numb" by Linkin Park and "Encore" by Jay-Z, both released in 2003.

The only single released from the album, the track went on to reach number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard also placed the single at number 93 on their Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2005 chart. Outside the United States, the single peaked at number 14 in the United Kingdom, number five in France and the Netherlands and spent three weeks at number one in Ireland.

Background

Before Mike Shinoda formed Linkin Park in 1996, he was an experimental musician who enjoyed combining songs by Jay-Z with tracks recorded by The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, and others.[1] A couple of years later, Jay-Z had a similar idea after hearing similar mash-ups by Danger Mouse and Cheap Cologne. He contacted Shinoda's new band, Linkin Park, and suggested that they work on some material together. Linkin Park's first two albums – Hybrid Theory and Meteora – had both been worldwide successes, and Jay-Z felt he could work with the band. Shinoda produced three mash-ups based on Jay-Z's The Black Album before responding by email.[1]

Shinoda and Jay-Z continued to correspond by email but eventually met in person to discuss plans. Initially the idea was to create several mash-ups for a new show premiering on MTV called MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups in 2004. However, instead of simply reconfiguring the tracks, the two artists decided to enter the studio and re-record the raps on top of Shinoda's songs. Some of the musical elements were also altered to create an alternative sound. Both Linkin Park and Jay-Z found the session so rewarding that they believed the international audience deserved to hear the results.[1] The songs were performed at Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood in July 2004.[2]

"Numb/Encore" was released as a single in November that year. The song – one of six collaborations on the album – combined the Jay-Z song "Encore" (taken from his 2003 album The Black Album) and the Linkin Park song "Numb" (taken from their 2003 album Meteora). The released version also contained background vocals from Kanye West that were recorded for the original release.

The official music video was directed by Kimo Proudfoot. It features a mix of Linkin Park and Jay-Z's performance of the song at The Roxy and behind the scenes footage, which was in black and white. The performance and most of the scenes can be found on the Collision Course DVD. However, the music video is not entirely available on the DVD.

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Numb/Encore" peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, where "Numb" had charted higher at number 11. However, "Numb/Encore" did not manage to have much airplay on modern rock stations, barely hitting the chart at number 40. As of June 2014, the song has sold 2.078 million copies in the US.[3]

In the United Kingdom, "Numb/Encore" achieved the record for the longest stay in the top 20 without ever reaching the top 10. Despite only peaking at number 14[4] – the same peak that "Numb" had achieved 15 months earlier[5] – the song has managed to spend 45[note 1][4] weeks in the top 100, 13 of them in the top 20.[4]The former record has been beaten by Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours", which spent 60 weeks in the top 100.[6] It has since sold over 1,800,000 copies and been certified 3× platinum.

"Numb/Encore" won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the Grammy Awards of 2006. The show featured a performance of the song, during which Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance and came onto the stage to perform a duet with Chester Bennington of the Beatles' song "Yesterday". "Yesterday" replaced "Numb" after the first rap verse of the mash-up.

Track listing

CD single
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Numb/Encore" (Explicit)
3:27
2."Numb/Encore" (Instrumental)
  • Brad Delson
  • Mike Shinoda
3:26
MTV Ultimate Mashups Presents: Numb / Encore – iTunes EP
No.TitleLength
1."Numb/Encore" (Explicit)3:25
2."Numb/Encore" (Clean)3:25
3."Numb/Encore" (Instrumental)3:27
4."Numb/Encore" (Explicit Acapella)3:19
5."Numb/Encore" (Clean Acapella)3:19
6."Numb/Encore" (Bonus Beat)1:42

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[52] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[53] Gold 15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[54] Gold 10,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[55] Platinum 90,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[56] 2× Platinum 600,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[57] Platinum 50,000‡
Japan (RIAJ)[58]
Full-length ringtone 		Gold 100,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[59] Gold 30,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[60] Gold 10,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[61] 3× Platinum 1,800,000‡
United States (RIAA)[62] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[63] Gold 1,300,000†

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
† Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ^ The Official Charts Company states that the single has spent 45 weeks in the top 75.

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiederhorn, John (October 28, 2004). "Jay-Z and Linkin Park show Danger Mouse how it's done". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Jones, Steve (November 4, 2004). "The show goes on for Jay-Z". USA Today. Gannet Co. Inc. Retrieved October 9, 2004.
  3. ^ Trust, Gary (June 24, 2014). "Ask Billboard: With Nico & Vinz, Norway Continues U.S. Chart Invasion". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
  4. ^ a b c "numb/encore - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  5. ^ "numb - full Official Chart History". Official Charts.
  6. ^ "i'm yours | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  8. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  9. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  10. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  11. ^ "R&R Canada CHR/Pop Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1593. February 11, 2005. p. 32. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  12. ^ "Oficiální Česká Hitparáda - Pro týden 4/2005" (in Czech). IFPI ČR. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  13. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore". Tracklisten.
  14. ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 7. February 12, 2005. p. 49. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
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  21. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore". VG-lista.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
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  25. ^ "Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore". Swiss Singles Chart.
  26. ^ "Linkin Park: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  27. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  28. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  29. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  30. ^ "Jay-Z Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  31. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  32. ^ "PORTUGAL SINGLES TOP 50". Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. July 30, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  33. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  34. ^ "UK Year-End Chart 2004" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  35. ^ "2005 Annual ARIA Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  36. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2005". austriancharts.at. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  37. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2005". Ultratop. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
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  39. ^ "Top de l'année Top Singles 2005" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
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  44. ^ "Romanian Top 100: Top of the Year 2005" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on April 10, 2006. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  45. ^ "Årslista Singlar – År 2005" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  46. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2005 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  47. ^ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2005". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
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  50. ^ "UK Year-End Charts 2007" (PDF). Official Charts Company. ChartsPlus. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  51. ^ "2008 Year-End UK Charts" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  52. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  53. ^ "Austrian single certifications – JayZ/Linkin Park – Numb" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  54. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb/Encore". Music Canada.
  55. ^ "Danish single certifications – Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb/Encore". IFPI Danmark.
  56. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Linkin 'Park / Jay-Z; 'Numb / Encore')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  57. ^ "Italian single certifications – Jay Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 26, 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Numb / Encore" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  58. ^ "Japanese ringtone certifications – Jay-Z / Linkin Park – Numb / Encore" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 4, 2021. Select 2007年7月 on the drop-down menu
  59. ^ "Linkin Park & Jay-Z - Numb/Encore". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  60. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2008" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17.
  61. ^ "British single certifications – Jay-Z & Linkin Park – Numb/Encore". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  62. ^ "American single certifications – Jay-Z & Linkin Park – Numb/Encore". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  63. ^ "Danish single certifications – Linkin Park / Jay-Z – Numb / Encore (Streaming)". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved November 3, 2020.

External links

Jay-Z songs
Linkin Park songs
Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance
Authority control databases
Categories