"Otis" is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative studio album, Watch the Throne (2011). The song samples late soul singer Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness". The production was covered solely by West. Redding is credited as a featured artist and the namesake of the song on streaming platforms due to his work being sampled. The track was premiered by Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and was released onto the Internet the day afterward. Lyrically, the song has the two rappers sharing lines discussing wealth, decadence and fame. The track received widespread critical acclaim from music critics who lauded the trading off of verses by the two rappers and the Redding-sampled beat, which was compared to the style heard on West's The College Dropout. Several publications placed the song amongst the best of the year.
The track was released as the second single from Watch the Throne on July 20, 2011. The song peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached position 2 on both the Billboard Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The song has since been certified 3× platinum for sales exceeding 3,000,000. The song received a music video directed by Spike Jonze in August 2011. The video primarily shows West and Jay-Z modifying a Maybach luxury car and then driving around in it with no doors or windows. After its release, the video was met with positive reception. The cover art was designed by Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci.
Jay and West performed the song at all the stops on their 2011 Watch the Throne Tour. It was also performed at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards and at the 2012 Radio 1's Big Weekend musical festival. At the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012, "Otis" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance.
Background and release On July 7, 2011, "Otis" was previewed along with the other songs from Watch the Throne by Jay-Z at a private listening session at the Mercer Hotel in New York City. A select group of reporters, music journalists, and contest winners were present at the listening session. After the listening session, it was confirmed that a song called "Otis", would appear on the album. It was reported that the song would sample soul music singer Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness". On July 20, "Otis" was premiered on Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show. It took 22 minutes to get through as Flex restarted the song 25 times, or roughly every 53 seconds. Flex said, as he promoted the song:
The track was subsequently released for download to the Internet as a way to promote the upcoming album.As a tribute to his iconic moment, Flex later referenced the iconic event as part of his last 7pm show on Hot97, on September 1st 2025. On July 22, the song was released to the iTunes Store and was a free download for those who pre-ordered the album. It was sent by The Island Def Jam Music Group to rhythmic contemporary and urban contemporary radio on August 9. The cover art for "Otis" was designed by Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci, who had previously designed the artwork for the "H•A•M" single cover and the Watch the Throne album cover. It features the American flag, both artist's names and the name of the song and the album. The artwork was released onto the internet following the song's release and could be downloaded along with the song.
Bu Thiam, Def Jam vice-president of A&R, was with West and Jay-Z throughout the recording process and saw how the duo came up with several of the Watch the Throne tracks. He recalled the story of the song "Otis": "[Kanye] was late for his flight, we were in the studio working all day and he was late for his flight. As we were leaving he was like, 'Yo hold on for a second.' So he drops his bags and goes to the MPC (beat machine) and his assistant is rushing him and he's just f----ing with [the beat]. What's so crazy is the whole time he's doing that Jay is writing his verses in his head. But Jay is watching the NBA playoffs, I think it was the championship; Miami Heat & Dallas Mavericks. So Jay is watching the playoffs. I'm not even thinking Jay is paying attention to what 'Ye is doing and by the time he is finished it's like 'I invented swag ...' And I'm like, 'What the f--- just happened?'"
On September 1st 2025, during his last 7pm show, Funkmaster Flex referenced his iconic moment in which he replayed “Otis” 23 times by playing snippets of the clip throughout the show.
Composition
"Otis" is two minutes and fifty-eight seconds long and is a mid-tempo hip-hop song. The song, which was produced by West, is built upon a sample of "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding. Jay-Z and West rap over the sample in a style reminiscent of past Kanye productions. Pitchfork's Tom Breihan summarized the composition, writing: ... here's Jay-Z on the "Otis" intro: "It sounds so soulful! Don't you agree?" Well, yeah. If you're willing to plunk down enough money to sample "Try a Little Tenderness", that'll happen. But even if the sample works as a sort of audio money-flaunt, it's also a tough and hard chop from Kanye—Otis Redding's magnificent voice mostly limited to a couple of hellfire grunts, the song itself held to a sharp guitar stab." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian stated: The single Otis boldly samples Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness", an idea that veers wildly from inspired – at one point the ballad is manipulated into a propulsive sweaty grunt-a-thon – to a clubfooted mess. The song ends with sampled screaming.
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the song, Roc Nation executive Lenny Santiago took to Instagram to share how Kanye created the beat within 20 minutes. Lenny recalls: Five years ago today, the song "Otis" was released. It's one of my favorite songs, tracks and Lyrics from the classic album, Watch The Throne by Jay Z & Kanye West. This record stands out to me cause I vividly remember the day of its inception. We were in the Mercer Hotel, NYC, where a lot of the album was made. The day or rather session for that day was coming to an end. Kanye had to catch a flight if I'm not mistaken. We were almost towards the end of the album and he was telling everyone in the room that as soon as he returns, he wanted to fuck with this Otis Redding sample idea he had. As he was being reminded that he had to leave to catch his flight, he sort of brushed that off and was like, fuck it, let me just play y'all a piece of the song so you could see how dope it is. He then approached the MPC and Keyboard and played it. Everyone in the room does the ugly face like when you hear some dope shit or see the sickest slam dunk at a contest. Lol. He then begins to chop the sample lil by lil (But fast) and actually starts creating the track. Ye being one of my favorite producers, I'm literally hype as Fuck and in awe. I begin to snap the Canon cam like an Uzi. Lol. This is 1 of the pictures captured here of course. 15 or 20min later before he runs off to catch his flight, he creates the phenomenal track known to us as "OTIS".
Critical reception The song was met with widespread critical acclaim from critics with the style being compared to that of West's The College Dropout album. Pitchfork Media's Tom Breiham praised the song, saying "Jay and Kanye trade off verses and never pause for a chorus, each one building on whatever the last one said-- an old-school rap-collab style you almost never hear anymore. And since these guys are working loose and casual, it gives them chances to show how funny and clever they are without telegraphing their own importance. Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone gave the song a four star rating out of five and wrote that "West twists a few seconds of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" into a Blueprint-style barrage, setting the stage for some slick collar-popping from Jay-Z ("Photo shoot fresh, looking like wealth / I'm about to call the paparazzi on myself"). Jay's performance, in turn, inspires Ye to step up his wordplay ("Luxury rap, the Hermès of verses / Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive"); the younger star sounds like he pulled an all-nighter trying to outdo his mentor's rhymes." Frank Berg of NME gave the song a mostly positive review, stating that "What we have here are two titans of black music duetting with another from beyond the grave. For that reason, it's unquestionably An Event", though feeling "In all honesty, if this winds up being the highlight of Watch the Throne we'll all be a bit disappointed."
Seattle Weekly's Joe Williams enjoyed the song, writing "even with the slow, bubbling beat and energetic keyboards, topped with top-notch delivery by Jay and Kay, it's Redding in the background that gives the single its true life and flair." Josiah Hughes of Exclaim! magazine commented that "if the over-the-top aggression of "H•A•M" had you worried that this would be a Waka Flocka ripoff, fear not, as "Otis" makes the most of its Otis Redding sample with some soulful feel-good boom-bap." Sam Gould The Independent remarked "having seen oddball rap collective Odd Future become the talking point of the blogosphere, Eminem and old partner-in-crime Royce da 5'9" start work on their own bruising collaborative effort, and hazy vibe rappers Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y take steps in the same direction, Jay and Ye have recognized the throne is far from unchallenged, and have come together in the most remarkable dual alliance since André 3000 and Big Boi became Outkast." The New York Observer writer Foster Kamer mused, "remember early Kanye? These guys finally do. 'Otis' is the perfect anti-single for this album, because it's a reminder that what we always loved about these two collaborating is still very much there. Not only do they not need hooks, neither of them need to remind us that they don't. There was that first line of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 'I fantasized 'bout this back in Chicago,' and then, the relief after it, where you didn't have to worry about the rest of that album", and Billboard claimed, "Otis gets better with each play".
However, Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot was less enthusiastic about the track, musing that "the references to luxury cars and private jets quickly lose their escapist luster, grossly out of step with a summer in which joblessness and foreclosure are becoming all too common for many Americans" and that "just as disappointing is that the Redding sample – a thrilling burst of agitated vocals, classic Memphis horns, organ and drums – never goes anywhere." In an interview with Redding's widow, Zelma Redding, Us Weekly reported that Mrs. Redding approved the song, saying "We are proud that Otis' legacy continues to inspire some of today's popular artists. We like 'Otis' and thank Kanye and Jay-Z for honoring our Otis through their music."
Pitchfork Media named the song the 42nd best song of 2011. XXL named the song the fifth best of the year, and Spin named the song the 17th. Times Claire Suddath placed the song at number four on her best of the year list, writing "the lead single off Watch the Throne mixes and loops Otis Redding's passionate shouts and screams from "Try a Little Tenderness," paying homage to his soulful style while mixing it up by adding heavy beats and chopping up the original track's piano tune." Complex named the song the 100th best Jay-Z song of all time. HotNewHipHop named "Otis" one of the 15 greatest sample flips in hip-hop history.
Remixes