One of the most highlighted posse cuts of 2010, Kanye, Rick Ross, JAY-Z, and Nicki Minaj boast on how they’re a “Monster” on the mic. Fittingly, the song comes with a couple of horror movie references.
In a September 2010 MTV News interview, Rick Ross explained the origin behind the song:
I was actually in the studio with Kanye in Hawaii when he played the concept for me. I was blown away. I had the opportunity to sit in the studio while Nicki wrote her verse just off the record.
The song was originally released as a G.O.O.D. Friday track on August 27, 2010 before Ye replaced it with the “Runaway Love (Remix)” with himself, Justin Bieber and Raekwon. He, then, re-released “Monster” on October 23, 2010 as the third single from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and it peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song’s official music video, directed by Jake Nava, features dark, horror related imagery, with references with several horror movies, such as American Psycho and Saw. It became widely controversial on release, with medias labeling it as graphic, racist and sexist. As a result, it was banned on MTV and removed from Kanye’s YouTube account.