Numb/Encore is a song by the nu metal band Linkin Park and rapper Jay-Z from their 2004 mash-up album Collision Course. It was the most successful single from the album, going on to reach #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 1, 2005.
Description[]
Numb/Encore was also released as a single that year, combining the Jay-Z song "Encore" (taken from his 2003 album The Black Album) and the Linkin Park song "Numb" (taken from their 2003 album Meteora). This version still contains John Legend's background vocals from "Encore", and Kanye West can be heard briefly at the beginning singing the line "Now can I get an encore / Do you want more".
In the UK Singles Chart, the single achieved the record for the longest stay in the top 20 without ever reaching the top 10. The song only peaked at 14 but managed to spend 53 weeks in the chart
The video for the mash-up was nominated for the MTV VMA Viewer's Choice award in late July 2005. "Numb/Encore" won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the Grammy Awards of 2006. The show featured a performance of the song, during which Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance and came onto the stage to perform a duet with Chester Bennington of The Beatles' song "Yesterday," which McCartney wrote. "Yesterday" replaced "Numb" after the first rap verse of the mash-up. Also, a remix was released with more artists: Dr. Dre, Eminem, & 50 Cent.
Background[]
Mike Shinoda revealed that, prior to the production of the Collision Course album, Jay-Z asked the band to collaborate with him. After both agreed to collaborate, Shinoda immediately started the production of various mashups between Jay-Z and Linkin Park songs, starting with Numb and Encore. They sent the demos to him and "he loved it".
Music video[]
LinKin ParK feat. JaY-Z - Numb Encore
The music video for Numb/Encore
A music video directed by Kimo Proudfoot , shot in October 2004. was made featuring a mix of their performance of the song at The Roxy and behind the scenes footage which was in black and white. The performance and most of the scenes can be found on the Collision Course DVD, however the music video in its entirety is not available on the DVD itself.
Lyrics[]
Trivia[]
- This song was featured on the movie Miami Vice.
- Dr. Dre made his own version on his Dretox mixtape combining the song "Encore" from the Eminem album with the same name, with this version of Numb/Encore
- The phrase "I came, I saw, I conquered." repeated throughout the track is a famous Latin phrase ("Veni, vidi, vici.") spoken by Julius Caesar in 47 BC following his decisive defeat of Pharnaces II of Pontus.
