"No More Parties in LA" (sometimes called "No More Parties in L.A.") is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016), featuring vocals from fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was produced by West and Madlib, who began the recording in 2010. The beat was originally offered to Freddie Gibbs before being given to West and Lamar by Madlib. The song was released as the third promotional single from the album as part of West's GOOD Fridays series on January 18, 2016.
A hip-hop track, the song heavily samples Walter "Junie" Morrison's "Suzie Thundertussy". It also includes samples of Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "Give Me My Love", Larry Graham's "Stand Up and Shout About Love", and Ghostface Killah's "Mighty Healthy". In the lyrics, West reflects on Hollywood culture and the experience of fame, while Lamar recounts the beginning of a relationship. "No More Parties in LA" received universal acclaim from music critics, many of whom lauded West's verse. They often appreciated his lyricism and others complimented Lamar's verse, while a few reviewers highlighted the song's sampling. Reappraisal towards it in reviews of The Life of Pablo was also positive; critics generally praised the production.
"No More Parties in LA" was ranked as one of the best tracks of 2016 by multiple publications, including HipHopDX and Pitchfork. The song charted at number 3 and 39 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and UK R&B Chart, respectively. It was certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August 2018, and later platinum in May 2022. Yasiin Bey referenced the song with his freestyle "No More Parties in SA" in January 2016. A remix of the song was shared by Freddie Gibbs that same month, while Sporting Life later released his remix in February 2017.
Background and development
From 2013 to 2014, Kendrick Lamar supported West on The Yeezus Tour. He co-wrote West's single "All Day", which was released in March 2015. "No More Parties in LA" marked the first ever collaboration between Lamar and West. On February 16, 2016, shortly after the release of The Life of Pablo, West revealed that they have 40 unreleased songs together. He continued, stating that he and fellow rapper Young Thug also having 40 songs amounted to a "40/40 club!!!"
In 2010, West launched his weekly free music series GOOD Fridays for his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was released that same year. For the album's series, 15 tracks were released. "Real Friends" was released as a promotional single on January 8, 2016, launching the return of West's GOOD Fridays series for his then-upcoming album SWISH. At the end of the song, a snippet of "No More Parties in LA" was included. The track was later released as part of the series.
The song samples American bassist Larry Graham's "Stand Up and Shout About Love", resulting in him, Tina Graham, and Sam Dees receiving writing credits on "No More Parties in LA". By using Larry Graham's recording, West had sampled the music of Canadian rapper Drake's uncle. Drake responded by uploading a photo to his Instagram that showed a vinyl copy of the recording's parent album One in a Million You (1980). In reference to the track, the rapper captioned the photo: "FEW MORE PARTIES IN LA." "No More Parties in LA" also samples American rapper Ghostface Killah's "Mighty Healthy", for which the rapper, Herb Rooney, Mathematics, and Highleigh Crizoe received writing credits. The sample marked the second time that West had sampled the recording, with the first being on his single "New God Flow" in 2012.
Recording
West and American musician Madlib began production on the song in 2010, starting to record it during the sessions for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, then known as Good Ass Job. In 2010, Madlib told LA Weekly he had given five beats to West. As part of a special featurette included on the DVD version of 2014 Stones Throw Records documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton, West rapped lyrics that were later used for "No More Parties in LA". He originally performed the lyrics when working with Madlib, whom West spoke about collaborating with during the featurette. He recalled: "I could paint the scene of how I felt sitting there with Madlib, working on these tracks, and just hearing the textures." After West recounted collaborating with him, he said that he "might have to get some more Madlib beats for the next projects".
Explaining the contributions to the song's production with a tweet, West confirmed he put together the intro while Madlib crafted the main backdrop. West's wife Kim Kardashian revealed via Twitter that he had arrived at the studio in Italy and finished recording the track one day prior to its release, admitting her husband wrote 90 of the lines on the plane there. He worked on the final mix with record producer Noah Goldstein in the studio, who engineered the track. During an interview with the Red Bull Music Academy on May 23, 2016, Madlib revealed that he made the beat to the song on an iPad. Madlib also mentioned that when sampling a recording by a musician, he will look through the entirety of its parent album to find samples. He also admitted West "waited too long" due to various samples being ultimately used for Madlib and rapper Freddie Gibbs' second collaborative studio album Bandana (2019). However, Freddie Gibbs told Peter Rosenberg in July 2019 that the song's beat was originally intended for him but West and Lamar "just got on it before I did", after Madlib sent them the beat. Madlib explained to him that he gave around 100 beats to the two of them and they "rapped over a bunch of stuff", though the song was the only one West and Lamar decided to release.
Composition and lyrics
Musically, "No More Parties in LA" is a hip-hop track, with soul elements. It was described as reminiscent of West's earlier works by numerous music journalists. According to Mojos Bauer Xcel, the song features an abstract beat. The song is heavily based around samples of "Suzie Thundertussy", written and performed by Walter "Junie" Morrison. As well as being sampled in the song's production, the recording is utilized for vocal samples. The recording is combined with samples of the lyrics "Shake that body / Party that body" from an a capella version of "Mighty Healthy", written by Rooney, Mathematics, Crizoe, and its performer Ghostface Killah. For the song's intro, samples are used of "la-dee-da-das" from "Give Me My Love" (1977), written and performed by Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Samples of vocals from "Stand Up and Shout About Love", written by Larry and Tina Graham alongside Dees and performed by Larry Graham, are used for the song's bridge, interrupting West's rapping at the 5:32 mark. West briefly raps alongside Lamar at the start of the song, who performs the first verse and adds to the backdrop. Layers of production drop out after the verse, being followed by West performing the chorus. West raps for the song's remainder, with him contributing a 90-bar verse. The song closes with sound effects of crowd cheers from the basketball video game NBA Jam (2010).
Throughout "No More Parties in LA", West reflects on a variety of aspects of Hollywood culture and experiencing fame. Lamar chronicles the beginning of a relationship; he references American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu in one line, using her for a sexual verb. Meanwhile, West name-drops fellow artists Lauryn Hill, Cam'ron, and André 3000. West mentions a Pablo character in certain lyrics of the song that he claims to "feel like", though does not explicitly state who the character is. With the references to it, West offers an introduction of the Pablo character of The Life of Pablo. Prior to the song's bridge, he calls out his cousin for stealing his laptop, continuing the subject of his theft that the rapper previously mentioned on "Real Friends".
Release and artwork "No More Parties in LA" missed its original scheduled Friday release date of January 15, 2016. Kardashian apologized on West's behalf and explained that this was due to him not finishing the song in time because of a Yeezy Season 3 fitting in Italy. After her explanation, West subsequently announced that the song was to be released "very very extremely soon". "No More Parties in LA" was released via SoundCloud as the second promotional single for SWISHs GOOD Fridays series on Monday January 18, 2016. The song's title was often stylized as "No More Parties in L.A.". West's seventh studio album The Life of Pablo was released on February 14, 2016, including "No More Parties in LA" as the seventeenth track.
Alongside West's announcement of the song's release, he tweeted the song's cover art. Similarly to that of "Real Friends", the artwork displays a younger version of West than him in 2016. On it, West is shown at a social gathering with his family. The artwork was described by Capital Xtra as a "throwback picture".
Critical reception "No More Parties in LA" was met with universal acclaim from music critics, who mostly complimented West's verse. Matthew Ramirez of Pitchfork directed praise towards West's lyrical content, remarking that his "ability to connect to listeners" makes "the problems and lifestyles of the very, very rich" feel relatable. Ramirez continued, analyzing how the song passes "in the blink of an eye" with Lamar's "monster" verse and Madlib's "painterly" beat "reinforces how revitalized Kanye is after a spotty 2015", concluding by noting "an air of the unfiltered rawness of 'old Kanye'". NME author Leonie Cooper expressed a similar sentiment, lauding the song for being "doused with an old school soul vibe" and "vintage class", attributing both to Madlib's production while highlighting the sampling of "Stand Up and Shout About Love". Cooper preferred West's performance to Lamar's, admitting that despite the latter's "strong opening" in which he "eloquently airs some impressively mucky musings", West "shines" and she was not surprised by this due to the song being "his track first and foremost". She specifically appreciated West's smooth delivery and his lyricism, complimenting his storytelling.
David Drake from Rolling Stone commented that in comparison to West's output from the time period of his sixth studio album Yeezus (2013), the song "suggests a return to the more tasteful and on-brand Kanye" of his 2010 GOOD Friday releases, analyzing it as doing so "with its autobiographical narrative and comfort-food soul sample". Comparing West and Lamar's verses, he said "Kanye is the more effective and affecting: Kendrick is abstract" while elaborating by opining that Lamar's performance "could as easily be symbolic as personal" but West's verse "meanwhile, is packed with the kind of simultaneous relatable, everyday arrogance and self-effacement that made his earliest work resonate". Reviewing "No More Parties in LA" for DIY, Tom Connick appreciated the sampling of "Stand Up and Shout About Love", and he observed that as Lamar is "out there taking the boastful crown", West takes happiness in remaining real. In Digital Spy, Lewis Corner stated the song features West and Lamar "spitting lyrical over hard beats and a soulful, hazy backdrop", praising the sampling of "Suzie Thundertussy" in particular. Writing for Billboard, Mitchell Peters viewed the song as demonstrating West's "effortless rap skills over a smooth beat". Spins Kyle McGovern referenced the delayed release by labeling the song "worth the wait", with him branding it as "stunning" and complimenting Lamar's "masterful" verse.