Gold Digger

As an artist, Charles topped the Hot 100 three times in the 1960s, but always with other writers' songs.
. By reaching number-one, "Gold Digger" gave Charles his first Hot 100 chart-topper as a songwriter, credited as a result of the "I Got a Woman" sample. The Dior firm – successively led by designers Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, and John Galliano – continued to be a fashion leader and was associated with a much wider range of merchandise, including menswear and household linens. On the Pop 100, "Gold Digger" also broke a record by jumping from number 94 to number-two, giving West the record for the biggest ever jump on that chart. At the time of his death, Dior salons had been opened in 24 countries. "Gold Digger" also became West's first Top 10 single on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, peaking at number-two. Although his death was the big story in the French press it was quickly forgotten, overshadowed by the launching of the first Soviet sputnik three days later.

The song spent ten weeks at the top of the Hot 100 until rising Hip-Hop/R&B star Chris Brown's hit "Run It!" shot up to the pole position for the week of November 19. "Alexis: The Memoirs of the Baron de Redé", the 2005 memoirs of Paris socialite Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé, however, suggests that the fashion designer actually died of a heart attack after a too strenuous evening spent with two young men. The jump ended the fourteen-week run of Carey's "We Belong Together" at number-one, and kept Carey's "Shake It Off" from replacing "We Belong Together" as the number-one single. The plump Dior, who suffered from heart trouble, reportedly died of a heart attack while undergoing a weight-loss cure at the spa in Montecatini, Italy, in an effort to make himself more desirable to his young North African lover, singer Jacques Benita; the death reportedly occurred in the lobby of the Hotel Pace after an after-dinner canasta game. The high digital download sales helped propel the song from number-nineteen to number-one in one week, the fifth highest jump ever to that position on the Hot 100. Normally under French inheritance law, having no children or parents, Raymond should have been Christian's successor but the rift provoked by Françoise caused Christian to disinherit his close family totally. "Gold Digger" has sold over 1,000,000 downloads during its seven weeks of release. For once Raymond agreed with his rebel daughter, while discounting the Jewish plot theory.

The song broke the record for the most digital downloads sold in one week, and the record for the fastest selling digital single of all time, both previously held by Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". She openly blamed Christian's Jewish manageress who procured his medications, along with a collection of young men, of being part of a Jewish plot forcing him towards his death. Approximately 80,000 digital downloads of "Gold Digger" were sold through on legal music services such as iTunes and Napster in that first week, making it the most successful digital sales debut ever. His niece, Françoise Dior, who had once been his favourite (at her marriage with Count Robert-Henri de Caumont la Force it was Christian who gave the bride away at the ceremony while Raymond sat drinking in a local bar) but she held Nazi sympathies. When Late Registration was released, the album version of "Gold Digger" was first made available for download. Towards the end of his life Christian's life was a hectic round of injections to wake up in the morning, injections for his appetite, and further injections to sleep. Their concerns were unfounded as "Gold Digger" became a success, hitting number one on the Hot 100, Pop 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and the Hot Rap Tracks charts. On the rare occasions when they found themselves together it usually ended in dispute with Raymond calling his brother "filthy queer" while Christian replied with "impotent drunk.".

Following the chart performance of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", which failed to crack the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, West's label became concerned with how a follow up single would perform. However, when Jean Cocteau bought the small château at Milly-la-Forêt (Essonne) and Christian Dior shortly afterwards bought a disused water-mill in the same village, he persuaded his brother Raymond to buy a fermette in the village of Noisy sur Ecole (Seine et Marne) only 4km away. Foxx is also present, lip-synching both his own parts and the Ray Charles vocal sample. Dior refused to set foot in the town of Granville for the rest of his life. The titles of the magazines the women appear on the cover of reflect the correlating verses in the song. Once Christian had made his fortune he attempted to repurchase the house where he was born but the new owner (Granville town council) rejected his offers. Shot in a CinemaScope letterbox format, using stylized art direction with few props, the video features performances shots of West intercut with footage of Williams' trademark female video models depicted as "pin-up" cover models from fictional vintage magazines. One of Christian's earliest memories was of Raymond locking him in the dark cellar of the house in Granville whenever he had the opportunity, then search the garden for live animals or insects to push under the door.

The song's music video was directed by Hype Williams, who also directed West's previous video, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". Dior was continually feuding with his elder brother Raymond Dior. In an ironic final twist which punctuates the sarcasm inherent in the song, West points out that when that hopeful and ambitious broke man finally gets "put on", however, he is very likely to "leave your ass for a white girl.". On returning, after trouble with his temporary replacement Marc Bohan, Saint-Laurent soon opened his own maison de couture once his military obligations were over. West urges his female listeners to stick with their man, even if he is a dishwasher or cook at a fast-food restaurant, instead of going after the men with the money. In 1953 Yves Saint-Laurent became Dior's assistant and was destined to be his successor but was reluctantly forced to leave when the time came for his military service. She even lies to her man about the paternity of her child, resulting in the man supporting the child for 18 years until he discovers he is not the father. Dior spread his fashions around the world when he and his partner, Jacques Rouet, started franchises in the fashion industry.

"Now I ain't saying she a gold digger," West tells his audience, "but she ain't messin with no broke niggas." The woman spends money her man gives her to buy her kid's toys on liposuction and plastic surgery (West comments that the woman was "supposed to buy your shorty (child) tyco wit' your money", but instead "went to the doctor and got "lipo" wit' your money"). The New Look revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the center of the fashion world after World War II. In the song, West and Foxx deliver a tongue-in-cheek criticism of a woman who falsely seduces a man under the true pretense of spending his money, playing into the stereotype of African-American young women as being gold diggers. His designs represented consistent classic elegance, stressing the feminine look. The two also worked on Foxx's latest album, and West features on Foxx's song "Extravaganza". Dior is known mainly for the 1947 "New Look" which employed narrow shoulders, a constricted waist, an emphasized bust, and long, wide skirt, all in striking contrast to the severity of wartime fashions. The song is the second collaboration between Foxx and West, following "Slow Jamz" with Twista. In twelve years he expanded his business to 15 countries and employed over 2,000 people.

Though he is given full credit as a featured artist on "Gold Digger," Jamie Foxx's only vocal contribution is the a cappella introduction to the song, an interpolation of Charles's "I Got a Woman" (Foxx opens the song with the line "She take my money/when I'm in need/Yeah she's a trifling/friend indeed," a twist on Charles' original lyrics, "She gives me money/when I'm in need/Yeah she's a kind/of friend to me." A sample of Charles singing the original is repeated throughout the song). Dior was a graduate of Paris Institute of Political Studies (better known as Sciences Po), after which he established his main house of couture in Parisgift 1946 with the backing of textile magnate Marcel Boussac. The song is built around both a vocal interpolation and a sample of "I Got a Woman", originally performed by Ray Charles and written by Charles and Renald Charles. In twelve years he expanded his business to 15 countries and employed over 2,000 people.. "Gold Digger" was written by Kanye West, and co-produced by West and Jon Brion. In 1946, backed by textile magnate Marcel Boussac, he established his main house of couture in Paris. . Christian Dior" He was born in Granville, Normandy, France, heir to a fertilizer fortune.