Make Her Say
by Kid Cudi (featuring Kanye West & Common)

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009)
Charted: 67 43
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Kanye West and Common guest on this track; West produced it. The song samples Lady Gaga's international smash hit "Poker Face." Kid Cudi's mentor Kanye West, who co-wrote this track, told MTV News that he was attracted to Lady Gaga's record when he discovered it's true bi-sexual meaning. However, it was when he saw her perform a different version of "Poker Face" on the Internet that he was inspired to sample the song.

    He explained: "When I saw that YouTube, that's what made me fall in love with the song - when I saw her play it the acoustic version. I could hear all the melody lines. On the 'Poker Face' single, she sings it straightforward, almost, like, ripping it or chanting it. But this [acoustic version], you hear the Broadway melodies run up and down. I was inspired by that. I wanted to sample it. I thought it was really dope - just on some hip-hop, 'Say when I p-p-poke her face.' All the backstory to the song is really controversial. When I found out that her actual song is about her making love to her boyfriend but really thinking about her girlfriend, I was like, 'Oh, that's crazy.' For us to even flip it to another level and challenge people's opinions, that's it."
  • This was formerly called "I Poke Her Face" but West changed the title to make it more radio-friendly.
  • Kid Cudi, Kanye West and Common all feature in the music video. The way the director, Nez Khammal, (Lily Allen's "The Fear") got round the difficulty of finding a mutually convenient slot in all three of the busy artists' diaries was to film them separately. He explained to MTV News: "We shot Kanye in L.A. and we shot Common and Kid Cudi in New York. I tried to find a place in New York that just felt - not that it had to be specifically L.A., but something that just jelled everything. We did a half a day with Kanye, two-thirds of a day with Kid Cudi, and then a third of a day with Common. It was quite compact, like a get-up-and-go sort of thing."

    Cudi explained the concept of the clip: "We wanted to go for a real abstract and iconic-looking video, something real artsy. It's really dope. It's like split screen, and how he shot it is with multiple, different shots. It's almost like there's still shots and there's movement going on in them. It's really trippy."
  • This makes our biblical reference category for mentioning Moses, an Old Testament prophet who was given the Ten Commandments by God atop Mount Sinai. Kanye raps: "And that's my commandment, you ain't gotta ask Moses."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe ShaverSongwriter Interviews

The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

U2

U2Fact or Fiction

How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."