The second single from Watch the Throne, “Otis” has Yeezus flipping a portion of a classic Otis Redding track into an entire instrumental. He formed the track after his mentor No I.D. presented him with a producing challenge.
West incorporates a slowed-down refrain from Redding’s infamous “Try a Little Tenderness” at the beginning of the track, then chops and reworks the piano sample before ushering in the heavy bass line and drums. The production received critical praise for its similarity to his Blueprint and College Dropout-era of soul-sampling production.
“Otis” debuted at #47 on the Billboard “Hot 100” chart after a partial week of sales and airplay. It would peak at #12 on the chart; and as of September 2014 it has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA for over two million single sales.
On July 7, 2011, “Otis” was one of the tracks previewed by Jay at a private album listening session at the Mercer Hotel – the location of the track’s recording in June 2011. The track was publicly premiered by Funkmaster Flex on his Hot 97 radio show on July 20, and was released onto the Internet the day afterward to critical and public acclaim.