# All of the Lights
**All of the Lights** is a song by the American rapper [Kanye West](https://www.edgepedia.org/kanye-west) from his fifth album *My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy* (2010), produced by West with co-producer [Jeff Bhasker](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-bhasker) and featuring a hook sung by Rihanna alongside background vocals from more than a dozen other artists. It was released as a single on January 18, 2011, and became one of the album's most commercially durable tracks, later winning two Grammy Awards for Kid Cudi's work on it and drawing a Song of the Year nomination.[1](https://musicallysingled.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/kanye-west-ft-rihanna-et-alall-of-the-lights/) • [2](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/01/31/grammys-awards-northeast-ohio-nine-inch-nails)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Album placement | Track 5 on *My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy* (2010), preceded by the 1:02 "All of the Lights (Interlude)"[3](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/5913-all-of-the-lights/109/) |
| Single release | January 18, 2011; Billboard #31, UK #46 at the time of one early review[1](https://musicallysingled.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/kanye-west-ft-rihanna-et-alall-of-the-lights/) |
| UK chart performance | Peak 15 on the Official Singles Chart over 26 weeks; peak 14 on the Downloads Chart; peak 5 on the Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/24467/kanye-west-ft-drake-and-rihanna/) |
| Music video | Directed by Hype Williams, released February 2011, styled after Gaspar Noé's *Enter the Void*[5](https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/video-review-kanye-wests-all-of-the-lights/) |
| Awards | Two Grammy wins for Kid Cudi in 2012; Song of the Year nomination credited to West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, and Fergie[2](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/01/31/grammys-awards-northeast-ohio-nine-inch-nails) • [6](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/92/85/00069/12-2011.pdf) |
## Recording and credits
The song began under the working title "Ghetto University".
Fourteen artists lent their voices to the track. A Pitchfork report on the song's premiere, citing MTV, listed Rihanna, Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, La Roux's Elly Jackson, and piano from [Elton John](https://www.edgepedia.org/elton-john) among the contributors.[7](https://pitchfork.com/news/40607-hear-kanye-wests-all-star-jam-all-of-the-lights/) Time later described the credits as a genre- and generation-spanning lineup, noting that Fergie's part was cut from the video version.[8](https://time.com/4215303/best-kanye-west-collaborations/) [Kid Cudi](https://www.edgepedia.org/kid-cudi) recalled in a 2018 GQ interview that so many people were in the studio when he recorded his vocals that he had no clue he would be used on the final song.[9](https://www.gq.com/video/watch/kid-cudi-breaks-down-his-iconic-tracks)
## Music and lyrics
The track is built on a blaring [French horn](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-horn) intro and dense layered production. Reviewers have described buzzing synths, massed soulful vocals, and a trebly programmed snare, with enough instrumental texture to invite comparison to a 1970s prog rock suite.[10](https://americannoise.com/kanye-west-ft-rihanna-all-of-the-lights/) The blog No Trivia identified the beat's root in Baltimore club music, calling the song a grab for "the least refined, most un-classy urban sound imaginable" beneath the maximalist arrangement.[11](https://no-trivia.com/2010/12/kanye-west-week-all-of-the-lights/) Unlike much of the album, the song does not feature samples.[12](https://mixdownmag.com.au/features/my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy-a-sonic-analysis-of-kanye-wests-magnum-opus/)
The album places a 1:02 interlude before the song, a piece of piano and cello free of samples and drums that No Trivia called the least hip-hop thing West had composed; it separates "Power" from the guest-heavy run of "All of the Lights", "Monster", and "So Appalled".[11](https://no-trivia.com/2010/12/kanye-west-week-all-of-the-lights/)
Lyrically, West inhabits the role of an abusive deadbeat trying to make good on broken promises rather than delivering the boasts the horns might suggest. The first verse follows a narrator returning home from prison to find he has been replaced, and the second continues the story; Fergie's verse adopts the voice of a jobless woman facing eviction.[13](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14880-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy/) • [11](https://no-trivia.com/2010/12/kanye-west-week-all-of-the-lights/) The song also carries a memoriam to [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson), "MJ gone, our nigga dead", part of West's long-running engagement with the singer; it soundtracks the parade sequence, complete with a giant Michael Jackson effigy, in West's 35-minute film *Runaway*.[13](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14880-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy/)
## Music video
The video, directed by [Hype Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/hype-williams), opens in vérité black and white, following a young child down snowy streets under somber piano and strings, before strobe effects, flashing titles, and West dancing on a police car take over. Slant Magazine's review identified the video's visual model as [Gaspar Noé](https://www.edgepedia.org/gaspar-noe)'s *Enter the Void*, in its epileptic titles, colorful strobing, and first-person memory fragments, and judged the imitation effective when literal but weaker once the first-person conceit is dropped midway.[5](https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/video-review-kanye-wests-all-of-the-lights/) The clip drew nearly three million YouTube views in its first weekend after release in February 2011.[14](https://soulbounce.com/2011/02/is_kanyes_all_of_the_lights_all_that/) It was nominated at the 2011 [MTV Video Music Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/mtv-video-music-awards), with credits listing director Hype Williams, label Hip Hop Since 1978/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, and production company Naaila Entertainment.[15](https://www.superadrianme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/MTV-Video-Music-Awards-2011-Nominees.pdf)
## Chart performance and reception
On the UK Official Singles Chart the song peaked at number 15 and spent 26 weeks on the chart; it reached number 14 on the Downloads Chart with 33 weeks, number 5 on the Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart with 31 weeks, and appeared at number 87 on the 2011 End of Year Singles Chart.[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/24467/kanye-west-ft-drake-and-rihanna/) An early single review logged Billboard at number 31.[1](https://musicallysingled.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/kanye-west-ft-rihanna-et-alall-of-the-lights/)
At the 54th [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards), the song, credited to West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, and Fergie, received a Song of the Year nomination, competing against [Mumford & Sons](https://www.edgepedia.org/mumford-and-sons)' "The Cave", Bruno Mars' "Grenade", [Bon Iver](https://www.edgepedia.org/bon-iver)'s "Holocene", and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep".[6](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/92/85/00069/12-2011.pdf) Kid Cudi won two Grammys in 2012 for his work on the song.[2](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/01/31/grammys-awards-northeast-ohio-nine-inch-nails)
Audience ratings have remained strong long after release: the track holds a user score of 87 on Album of the Year from nearly 5,900 ratings, and a Bayesian average of 89.3/100 on Best Ever Albums, placing it in the top 1 percent of tracks rated on that site.[3](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/5913-all-of-the-lights/109/) • [16](https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?t=125060) Time ranked the collaboration with Rihanna among West's most inspired, calling it the embodiment of his "everything but the kitchen sink" approach.[8](https://time.com/4215303/best-kanye-west-collaborations/)
## References
1. [Kanye West ft. Rihanna et al – All of the Lights, JK's Single Reviews](https://musicallysingled.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/kanye-west-ft-rihanna-et-alall-of-the-lights/)
2. [Northeast Ohio artists hope to add to rich Grammys history, Axios Cleveland](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/01/31/grammys-awards-northeast-ohio-nine-inch-nails)
3. [All of the Lights, Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/5913-all-of-the-lights/109/)
4. [Kanye West ft Drake & Rihanna, full Official Chart history, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/24467/kanye-west-ft-drake-and-rihanna/)
5. [Video Review: Kanye West's "All of the Lights", Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/video-review-kanye-wests-all-of-the-lights/)
6. [Grammy nominations coverage, Florida Digital Newspaper Library](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/92/85/00069/12-2011.pdf)
7. [Hear Kanye West's All-Star Jam "All of the Lights", Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/40607-hear-kanye-wests-all-star-jam-all-of-the-lights/)
8. [Here Are 10 of Kanye West's Most Inspired Collaborations, Time](https://time.com/4215303/best-kanye-west-collaborations/)
9. [Kid Cudi Breaks Down His Iconic Tracks, GQ](https://www.gq.com/video/watch/kid-cudi-breaks-down-his-iconic-tracks)
10. [Kanye West ft. Rihanna – "All Of The Lights", American Noise](https://americannoise.com/kanye-west-ft-rihanna-all-of-the-lights/)
11. [Kanye West Week: "All Of The Lights", No Trivia](https://no-trivia.com/2010/12/kanye-west-week-all-of-the-lights/)
12. [My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: a sample-based analysis, Mixdown](https://mixdownmag.com.au/features/my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy-a-sonic-analysis-of-kanye-wests-magnum-opus/)
13. [Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14880-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy/)
14. [So What Do We Think Of Kanye's 'All Of The Lights'?, SoulBounce](https://soulbounce.com/2011/02/is_kanyes_all_of_the_lights_all_that/)
15. [MTV Video Music Awards 2011 Nominees](https://www.superadrianme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/MTV-Video-Music-Awards-2011-Nominees.pdf)
16. [All Of The Lights (track), Best Ever Albums](https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?t=125060)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Discographies and musical catalogues › Production and songwriter credit lists › Songs recorded by lists › Songs recorded by hip-hop and electronic performers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license