Dead and Gone

"Dead and Gone"
Single by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake
from the album Paper Trail
Released	January 13, 2009[1]
Format	CD single digital download
Recorded	2008
Genre	Hip hop conscious hip hop
Length	4:59 (Album/Main Version) 3:52 (Radio Edit)
Label	Grand Hustle Atlantic
Writer(s)	Clifford Harris, Jr. Justin Timberlake Robin Tadross
Producer(s)	Justin Timberlake Rob Knox
T.I. singles chronology
"Ain't I" (2008) "Dead and Gone" (2009) "Day Dreaming" (2009)
Justin Timberlake singles chronology "Rehab" (2008) "Dead and Gone" (2009) "Love Sex Magic" (2009)

"Dead and Gone" is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., featuring American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake. It was released as the eighth single from T.I.'s sixth studio album Paper Trail (2008). Due to high digital downloads upon the album's release, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, before its official single release. The song marked the second collaboration between T.I. and Justin Timberlake, the first being hit single, "My Love", from Timberlake's second album FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006).^[2] T.I. and Timberlake performed this song at the 51st Grammy Awards. The song was later nominated twice at the 52nd Grammy Awards, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song. It was the 10th best selling digital single of 2009 in the United States.^[3] As of 2012, it has sold 3.1 million copies in the country.^[4]

Background

Justin Timberlake is featured in "Dead and Gone."

Rob Knox (not to be confused with the murdered actor), one of the song's producers, expressed his feelings into creating the song: ^[5]

We were like, this guy's going through a lot with his whole court case situation and his best friend dyin', and everything in the world kind of crumbling in front of him in a way. We [agreed that] it would be real cool and unexpected to give people something a little more heartfelt - not the club, party, typical record that everybody wanted. We even had a feeling that T.I. was gonna mention that, but we already had a plan for him.

In the song, T.I. deals with the death of his best friend and former bodyguard, Philant Johnson, who was killed on May 3, 2006, when T.I.'s crew was caught up in a shooting after a show in Cincinnati that left three injured and Johnson killed. The lyrics include lines such as: "Who ever thought I'd never see Philant no more," and "Big Phil this is for you." Johnson's tombstone is shown in the video.

Critic response

Sputnikmusic was extremely positive in its review: "You can't help but not skip the track. "Dead and Gone", yet another Timberlake / T.I. track is bolstered by its impressive Timbaland beat [although he is not the producer of the song] and the fact that it ends the album on a very, very strong note."^[6]

Composition and lyrics

There are two radio edits. One with the intro and outro cut off, and the explicit words being censored. Another edit, had cut the intro, the first chorus from Justin Timberlake, and the outro of the song, as well as replaced explicit words with less-offensive words.

"Dead And Gone" is set in common time with a tempo of 84 beats per minute and is set in the key of A-minor, with a chord sequence of Am-C-G-F-E.

Release

The song was first confirmed as the next single by co-producer Rob Knox.^[5] T.I. later confirmed the release of the single himself.^[7] It was sent to US rhythmic and contemporary hit radio on January 12, 2009.^[8][9]

Chart performance

Before the single was announced, the track debuted at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 due to high downloads. Following its official release as a single, the song made a re-entry on the chart at number 99 and was able to reach #2, though it was not able to succeed Flo Rida's hit single "Right Round" from the top spot for five consecutive weeks. After reaching its peak, the following week it fell to the number four position and then to number 6. It is T.I.'s fourth consecutive top 5 hit on the Hot 100 from Paper Trail, and seventh of his career as a lead artist. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard sub-chart it also reached #2. The song did reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks and the Hot 100 Airplay chart on the week of March 14, 2009. It also peaked at #9 on the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay chart and #3 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. It was the 10th best-selling digital single of 2009 in the United States.^[3] As of August 2011, the song has sold over 3,000,000 digital downloads in the US alone.^[10] In the United Kingdom, the song made a strong debut at #30 on the UK Singles Chart, and the following week climbed to #17 and peaked at #4. In Canada it debuted at #59 on the Canadian Hot 100 the same week it did as in the U.S., and after its physical release it made a re-entry at #70 and has now peaked at #3.

Music video

The video was directed by Chris Robinson and was filmed in the first week of February in Los Angeles, California.^[11][12] The video surfaced on the internet a few hours before the official release date on February 17.^[13] In it, T.I. is filmed driving throughout a desert landscape, interspersed with shots of Justin Timberlake standing alone in the desert or playing a piano. T.I. eventually drives up in a '67 Camaro SS and meets with Timberlake and they continue the song together as the camera circles around them. Shortly before the final rendition of the chorus, there is a break in the music and a brief montage of images, with the words "good", "evil", and "redemption", appears. As the song draws to a close, T.I. is seen returning to his car and driving off, leaving Timberlake standing alone once again in the dark, with his piano set ablaze in the background. The very end of the video shows T.I. getting out of the car and entering the prison with the gates closing behind him. This is a cliffhanger that is revealed in "Remember Me".

The video ranked at #34 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.

Track listing

Digital single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Dead and Gone" (feat. Justin Timberlake)	Clifford Harris, Justin Timberlake, Robin Tadross	Rob Knox, Justin Timberlake	4:59

Covers and parodies

• "Dead And Gone" - Travis Garland - This version was produced in January 2009 by Nicholas "RAS" Furlong, and written and performed by boy band NLT member Travis Garland. It was released in March 2009.
• "Dead and Gone" - Metro Station
• "Dead and Gone" - Cute Is What We Aim For - Released on Punk Goes Pop 3.
• "Things Gotta Change" - Avery Storm
• "I Don't Like White People" - Rucka Rucka Ali - This version was produced in 2009 and released for purchase in September 2010, this version was released on Rucka Rucka Ali's album I'm Black, You're White & These Are Clearly Parodies.

Release history

Region	Date
United States	October 5, 2008
United Kingdom	March 14, 2009

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart[14]	4
Austrian Singles Chart[15]	11
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	28
Canadian Hot 100[14]	3
Danish Singles Chart[16]	11
Dutch Top 40[14]	22
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	9
Finnish Singles Chart[17]	12
German Singles Chart[18]	7
Irish Singles Chart[14]	3
New Zealand RMNZ Singles Chart[14]	2
Norwegian Singles Chart[14]	8
Romanian Singles Chart[19]	7
Swedish Singles Chart[14]	20
Swiss Singles Chart[20]	18
Turkey Top 20 Chart[21]	3
UK Singles Chart[14]	4
UK R&B Chart[14]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22]	2
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[22]	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks[22]	1
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40[22]	4
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[22]	1

Year-end charts

End of year chart (2009)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	36[23]
Canadian Hot 100	25[24]
New Zealand Singles Chart[25]	21
UK Singles Chart[26]	47
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	12[27]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Australia	Platinum[28]	70,000+
United States	3× Platinum[29]	3,120,000[4]

See also

• List of number-one R&B hits of 2009 (UK)

References

1. "®R&R :: Going For Adds™ :: CHR/Top 40". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
2. Justin Timberlake Featuring T.I. - My Love, Hot 100 chart. Billboard.
3. Grein, Paul (December 16, 2009). "Chart Watch Extra: Down To The Wire". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
4. Paul Grein (July 18, 2012). "Week Ending July 15, 2012. Songs: Blow Me (One More Hit)". Chart Watch. Yahoo Music. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
5. T.I. Producer Rob Knox Explains "Dead and Gone". Hiphopdx.com. Accessed December 5, 2008.
6. "T.I. - Paper Trail (album review 2) - Sputnikmusic". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
7. T.I. Looks Back On His 'Outstanding' 2008, Despite Legal Woes. MTV.com. Accessed December 9, 2008.
8. "®R&R :: Going For Adds™ :: Rhythmic". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
9. "®R&R :: Going For Adds™ :: CHR/Top 40". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
10. Grein, Paul (2011-08-24). "Week Ending Aug. 21, 2011: Rolling To A Record | Chart Watch - Archives - Yahoo! Music". Music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
11. Robinson to Direct T.I. and Timberlake Video. Rap-Up. Accessed January 22, 2009.
12. "Video: T.I. f/ Justin Timberlake - 'Dead and Gone'". Rap-Up. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
13. Youtube Music Video T.I. Ft. Justin Timberlake - Dead And Gone Official Music Video
14. "T.I. and Justin Timberlake - Dead And Gone - Music Charts". αCharts. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
15. Archived April 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
16. http://danishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=T.I.+feat%2E+Justin%24Timberlake&titel=Dead+And+Gone&cat=s
17. Suomen virallinen lista
18. "VIVA.tv". VIVA.tv. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
19. (Romanian) Uniunea producatorilor de fonograme din Romania.
20. Steffen Hung. "Swiss Charts - Singles Top 75 12.02.2012". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
21. Turkey Top 20 Chart Retrieved on 2009-03-30
22. "Artist Chart History - T.I. - Singles". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
23. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2009". ARIA. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
24. "Canadian Hot 100 Year-End 2009". Billboard. 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
25. "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Rianz.org.nz. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
26. "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
27. "Year End Charts - Year-end songs - The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
28. "Top 40 Urban Albums & Singles Chart - Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
29. "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Retrieved 2012-12-16.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics