Carnival (¥$ song)

"Carnival" is a song by American hip hop superduo ¥$, composed of rapper Kanye West and singer Ty Dolla Sign featuring American rapper Rich the Kid and American rapper Playboi Carti. It was released through a single pack on streaming services on February 15, 2024, as the third single from the superduo's collaborative album Vultures 1. The pack also includes "the Hooligan Version", where only the choir from the Inter Milan ultras are present, and an "a cappella" version. The digital single cover consists of a still shot from a promo short clip for the album, made by Jon Rafman, which was later released in its entirety as the music video for the song.

Produced by the superduo alongside Ojivolta, TheLabCook and The Legendary Traxster, the track was previewed during listening events in Chicago and New York shortly before its official release. The original song contained a sample of a live performance version of "Iron Man", however, upon Ozzy Osbourne's refusal to grant permission, it was replaced with one of "Hell of a Life" by West, which itself contained a legally cleared interpolation of "Iron Man".

Following its release, "Carnival" attracted scrutiny for West's mentioning of Taylor Swift, as well as comparing himself to controversial public figures such as R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, Puff Daddy and others. It was nonetheless commended as one of the best songs from Vultures 1, with praise for its production and the performances of its collaborators.

"Carnival" reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming West's first chart-topper in 13 years after featuring on "E.T." by Katy Perry in 2011. Additionally, it became his first number-one as a lead artist since "Stronger" in 2007. It also became the first number-one song for Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, as well as the second number-one for Ty Dolla Sign after featuring on "Psycho" by Post Malone in 2018. Aside from the United States, "Carnival" reached number one in Greece, Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania, and the top-10 in 14 other territories as well as the Billboard Global 200.

Background and release
West contributed production to Playboi Carti's second album Whole Lotta Red, released on Christmas day in 2020. Playboi Carti subsequently discussed their collaboration to fellow rapper Kid Cudi, hailing West's history and that he "opened my eyes to some shit". The rapper explained working together brought realization of his heavy appreciation for West, feeling this for how he introduced him to his team too that largely understood what he was saying. Playboi Carti also commented on the team's energy that resulted in him not feeling lonely, saying West "is on this king vamp shit". The rapper later appeared on West's single "Off the Grid" for his 2021 album Donda, while he also contributed to the demo album Donda 2. West and Ty Dolla Sign featured him on the Vultures 1 tracks "Carnival" and "Fuk Sumn", with the former also including an appearance from Rich the Kid. Playboi Carti also appeared at a listening party for the album and he is set to be featured on Vultures 2. Leaked versions of "Carnival" circulated online prior to its official release. The song was previewed at a Vultures listening party held at the United Center in Chicago on February 8. This version of "Carnival" used a sample of a 1983 live performance of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. The band's lead singer, Ozzy Osbourne, stated that he did not approve of this sample. In a social media post, he wrote that West "was refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many". Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, told TMZ that they were considering legal action against West; the Osbournes also sent West a cease and desist.

Another listening party event was held on February 10 at the UBS Arena on Long Island. "Carnival" played as the event started, with this version seeing a sample of West's own "Hell of a Life" (from his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) play in place of the "Iron Man" sample. This effectively maintained the presence of "Iron Man", as "Hell of a Life" interpolates the song.

Composition and lyrics
The song opens with a chant that is "punctuated by 'ooohhh' crowd vocals" and features "clap-inducing percussion throughout". The chant was performed by Italian football club Inter Milan's ultras named "Curva Nord Milano", and drew comparisons to the melody of "Mo Bamba" (2017) by Sheck Wes. Sonically, the song gives the impression of "dark energy" according to Vibe's Marc Griffin; when it was made available for streaming, "a dirge-like lick that evoked Black Sabbath without using Osbourne's recording was in the ["Iron Man"] sample's place". Indeed, the album version of the track has the "Hell of a Life" sample, maintaining the presence of an "Iron Man" interpolation. Billboard's Michael Saponara wrote that the substitute sample helps "bring the grunginess" to "Carnival".

In its lyrics, the song makes several references to other public figures and fellow musicians. Ye is given the third verse, where he raps, "This that Game of Thrones, Yeezy, not the clones / Elon, where my rocketship? It's time to go home / They served us the porn since the day we was born / Anybody pissed off, gotta make 'em drink the urine / Now I'm Ye-Kelly, bitch, now, I'm Bill Cosby, bitch / Now, I'm Puff Daddy rich, that's '#MeToo me' rich". He additionally raps "I'm the new Jesus, bitch, I turn water to Cris / This for what they did to Chris, they can't do shit with this". West explained his mention of Chris Brown on the track during a 2024 interview, where he theorized that truly great artists have had a harder time breaking through due to the machinations of "middle men." In West's estimation, Brown is one of the aforementioned "greats" that deserves to thrive. "Chris is a god," he asserted. At the end of his verse, Ye also raps "Got my kids in a fake school, we ain't—" before ending his part abruptly and returning to the chorus proper. His line would criticize his ex-wife Kim Kardashian taking the kids she had with him like North West to the Sierra Canyon School instead of another school like his own Donda Academy, which ironically would shut down either during the same year it was first created in 2022 or a year later in 2023 due to multiple controversies involving Ye and have a label by some individuals as a fake school itself.

In the chorus, a woman is encouraged and praised for her abilities at fellatio and the woman-on-top position. The former skill is compared to making honor roll, while the latter skill is made into a simile with carnival.

Various media outlets made particular note of the song's reference to Taylor Swift, who West has had a longstanding feud with. West raps "I mean since Taylor Swift, since I had the Rollie on the wrist".

Reception
Media writers noted that general listeners were critical of West's reference to Swift, with some fans cited as calling these lyrics "objectifying". Joey Ech of XXL wrote that West's lyrics in which he "aligned himself with" the likes of R. Kelly and Bill Cosby was included in "perhaps one of his most eyebrow-raising verses to date".

Praising the production and Ye's and Ty Dolla Sign's lyrics as some of their best on the album, Michael Saponara of Billboard ranked "Carnival" as the best song on Vultures 1, opining that it is "the perfect example of why people put up with all of the controversies, album delays, and madness that come with being a Ye fan because nobody in rap creates generational moments like this". Saponara also wrote positively of Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti's appearances on the song, stating that Ye brought out the best of his collaborators.

Writing on Vultures, Eric Skelton of Complex wrote that "more than anything, it feels like [West] wants a hit. More specifically, he's grasping for the kind of expansive record that could be chanted by tens of thousands of people in a soccer stadium", and pointed to "Carnival" as the "most obvious example" of this goal.

Commercial performance
Upon the release of Vultures 1, "Carnival" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number three. It fell to number four on the chart a week later, then rebounded to the second position. The song reached the top position of the Hot 100 the following week, with 33.7 million streams, 3.9 million radio airplay audience impressions, and 3,000 downloads. It stood as West's fifth chart-topper, Ty Dolla Sign's second, and the first for Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, ending the former's break of 12 years and 10 months between number ones that was the longest gap since Brenda Lee's 63 years up to 2023. This also made West the oldest rapper to reach the summit and marked his fastest time at four weeks, beating the seven-week period for his previous number-one from his feature on Katy Perry's "E.T." in 2011. The rapper achieved a number one in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, becoming one of the four artists to do this and the only rapper to top the Hot 100 across any three decades. The achievement placed West as the artist with the 10th longest span of number-ones, having gone 20 years and one month since his first with "Slow Jamz" in 2004.

The song topped the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart the same week it went number two on the Hot 100, experiencing an increase of 31% in streams and 258% in airplay audience from the previous week. "Carnival" marked West's ninth chart-topper and set the same timespan for number-ones that he achieved on the Hot 100, while it was Ty Dolla Sign's second number-one yet first as a lead artist, and the first for Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti. The song also topped the US Hot Rap Songs chart, becoming West's 11th number-one, Ty Dolla Sign's third, and the first for the featured artists on the chart. It debuted at number 36 on the US Rhythmic chart from the gain in airplay, later peaking at number 11 on April 20, 2024.

"Carnival" reached number two on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming West's 12th top-10 single in Canada. In Europe, the song initially reached number two on the Digital Singles chart for Greece, then fell one position and climbed to number one in its third week. After six weeks on the chart, the song was certified gold by IFPI Greece for reaching 1,000,000 streaming units in the region. The song further topped the charts of Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania, reaching the top position in the first country after six weeks. It entered the Slovakia Singles Digitál Top 100 at number three, rising to the second position the next week. The song reached number three in the Czech Republic and Luxembourg, marking West's most successful release and second single to chart in the latter territory. "Carnival" debuted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, standing as the highest of the three entries from Vultures 1 in the United Kingdom. The song gradually rose on the chart, peaking at number five in its fourth week. In total, "Carnival" spent 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. On April 12, 2024, the song was certified silver for shelving 200,000 units in the UK. The song performed similarly in Ireland, entering the Irish Singles Chart at number 18 as the highest of the album's three entries. It later climbed to number six on the chart after four weeks. The song also attained top 10 positions in Switzerland, Norway, Romania, and Austria.

Elsewhere, the track debuted at number 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart in Australia. The track ranked lower in the top 15 for the next two weeks on the chart, then rebounded to number five in its fourth week. "Carnival" debuted and peaked at number seven on the NZ Singles Chart of New Zealand, where it was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for amassing 15,000 units after 9 weeks on the chart. The track achieved the same position in South Africa, becoming West's most successful release and fourth single to chart in the country. It charted at number two on the Billboard Global 200, while peaking at number five on the IFPI's MENA Chart for Middle Eastern and North African countries.