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. Versace founder, Gianni Versace was murdered in front of the his mansion in Miami, Florida in 1997, leading to a state of shock in the Versace Company, this lead to Versace being a financial failure in the years after Gianni, under its (then new) creative director Donatella Versace. 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. Halle Berry is the face of Versace for Spring 2006. "Gold Digger" also became West's first Top 10 single on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, peaking at number-two. Some of the celebrities that have been the face for Versace are Madonna (1995 and 2005), Demi Moore, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera.

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. Timepieces and jewellery are made in Switzerland, and writing instruments are made in France. 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. Versace Precious Items is Versace S.p.A's timepiece, jewellery and writing instrument sub-brand. 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. Although called Versace Couture, it is in fact prêt-à-porter clothing (ready-to-wear), the difference to the other brands is its runway presence, items designed by Donatella Versace, higher quality and exclusivity of materials such as various furs and skins plus the manufacture of clothes in a Versace owned factory in Italy. "Gold Digger" has sold over 1,000,000 downloads during its seven weeks of release. 2004 saw Versace items being manufactured under licence in Eastern Europe in countries such as Poland; a change from the previous Italy-only manufacturing locations.

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". It should be pointed out that although called Versace Couture it is in fact ready-to-wear clothes that are made in a Versace factory rather than a licensed factory throughout the world. 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. Currently only Versace Couture has a runway presence, Versus Versace, a slightly cheaper line compared to Versace Couture, was until 2003 presented on the runway. When Late Registration was released, the album version of "Gold Digger" was first made available for download. It also operates a hotel, the Palazzo Versace. 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. The brands of the Versace Group include: Gianni Versace Couture, Versus Versace, Versace Jeans Couture, Versace Ceramic Designs, Versace Collection, Versace Sport, Versace Intensive, Versace Precious Items, Istante, Versace Classic V2 and Versace Young.

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. With a broad international presence, the Versace Group had sales of €424.5 million and net earnings of €9.3 million in the 1999 fiscal year. Foxx is also present, lip-synching both his own parts and the Ray Charles vocal sample. directly employs 1,500 people and provides indirect labour for an additional 5,000 worldwide. The titles of the magazines the women appear on the cover of reflect the correlating verses in the song. Gianna Versace S.p.A. 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. Versace collections are distributed through a network of 240 exclusive boutiques, over 150 dedicated spaces in major department stores and duty-free areas, as well as a number of selective multi-brand boutiques in 60 countries.

The song's music video was directed by Hype Williams, who also directed West's previous video, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". These teams operate under the close supervision and guidance of Creative Director, Donatella Versace. 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.". Versace's Style Department employs a group of designers and stylists who work in teams specifically dedicated to each individual line. 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. Versace designs, markets and distributes luxury clothing, accessories, fragrances, makeup and home furnishings under the various brands of the Versace Group. 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. Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses.

"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"). Gianni Versace S.p.A. (pronounced ['ʤɑnni ver'saʧe]) is an Italian fashion clothing business founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 and currently headed by Donatella Versace as creative designer and Santo Versace as CEO. 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. The two also worked on Foxx's latest album, and West features on Foxx's song "Extravaganza". The song is the second collaboration between Foxx and West, following "Slow Jamz" with Twista.

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). 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. "Gold Digger" was written by Kanye West, and co-produced by West and Jon Brion. .

As of December 10th 2005, "Gold Digger" was nominated for "Record of the Year" for the 2006 Grammy Awards. It is 2005's second-longest running #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 at 10 weeks, behind Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together". The single broke a record for the most digital downloads in a week, selling over 80,000 digital downloads, and is also the fastest selling digital download of all time. Based upon elements of the Ray Charles song "I Got a Woman", "Gold Digger" features Jamie Foxx, who portrayed Charles in the 2004 feature film Ray, imitating Charles' vocal style.

The second single from West's second album, Late Registration, "Gold Digger" peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming West's and Foxx's second number-one single after 2003's "Slow Jamz" with Twista. "Gold Digger" is a 2005 number-one single recorded by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, and released by Roc-a-Fella Records.