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The track was produced by Boi-1da, and was first used by Kardinal Offishall in early 2008 on the unreleased song "Bring It Back", featuring R. City. Kardinal did not use the song for his album and it was later re-sold to Drake. This original version leaked in late 2008, as "I Want This Forever" featuring Lil Wayne and Kidd Kidd. In an interview, Kardinal stated that his version was a leaked demo which was supposed to appear on his album Not 4 Sale, as well as a soundtrack.
The officially released version of "Forever" features Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. Rapper Jay-Z has called it "the best posse cut of the decade". The song title is derived from the last line of the chorus; I want this shit forever man.
According to an interview with West, he said, "When I heard Eminem's verse on the Drake shit, I went back and rewrote my shit for two days. I cancelled appointments to rewrite!" Similarly, Lil Wayne rewrote his verse after hearing Eminem's. In response to this, Eminem told Complex, "Everybody approached the beat different For some reason, I felt the beat was a double-time beat, so I rapped faster."
The music video was shot in Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida, in early September 2009. However, Eminem's part in the video was shot in Detroit due to scheduling conflicts and not being able to be in Miami. The music video was shot and directed by Hype Williams. It premiered on September 22, 2009, on BET's music program 106 & Park. LeBron James appears in the opening of the music video in the back seat of a Maybach playing online poker on PokerStars on his customized Beats by Dr. Dre's laptop. Throughout the video, there are clips and pictures from the documentary about James, More than a Game, and of him as a child playing basketball. Also The Alchemist, Trick-Trick, Mr. Porter, Swifty McVay, Kuniva, Bizarre and Slaughterhouse all make cameo appearances in Eminem's verse of the video behind him as he raps his verse. Birdman makes a cameo appearances in the video on Lil Wayne's verse, sitting next to him in the VIP section of the club. The music video was produced alongside the video for "Money to Blow".
Critical reception
Jason Thurston of Allmusic.com marked the song as one of the standout tracks of the album, writing: "The record hits a high point early on the six-minute epic 'Forever,' a convention of rap's wordsmiths as Kanye West, Drake, Lil Wayne, and Eminem pass the baton over a dark, soulful, slightly mournful beat, separated by an echoing modern R&B Auto-Tune hook." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic.com also highlighted the song, and commented: " is none too coincidentally the one track in the entirety of Eminem's 2009 comeback that feels utterly modern." Entertainment Weekly was positive: "Those who frequent hip-hop blogs will already be acquainted with the strongest material, like Drake's Forever — where the rookie teams with all-stars Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem" and it was also on Download This list.
Chart performance
"Forever" entered the U.S. BillboardHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number fifty-eight on September 3, 2009, peaking at No. 2. The song became the most downloaded song for the week ending September 15, 2009. On the week of September 24, the song debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Drake's highest debut on the chart at the time as well as his second top-ten single. It also topped the Rap Songs chart making it Drake's second number one on that chart. It was the tenth consecutive top 40 single for Eminem. The song had sold 3,265,000 digital copies in the US as of April 2013, becoming Drake's first 3 million-seller.
"Forever" failed to enter the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, but did manage to peak at number 43 after strong downloads. The song then began to drop out of the UK Singles Chart, but on January 10, 2010, "Forever" climbed 7 places from number 49 to 42, marking its highest peak to date. "Forever" entered the Irish Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number 41.
Simon Vozick-Levinson (September 25, 2009). "More Than a Game Review". EW.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
