Deliver

Album: Tetsuo and Youth (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Fiasco lamenting on the simple problems of inner-city life such as getting a deep-dish pizza delivered to your crib. It was inspired by his upbringing in Chicago's Westside. He explained to Billboard magazine: "A song like 'Deliver' is the autobiography of a myth in the hood. You don't really recognize it until you are there. The hood doesn't really have the basic amenities that things that aren't the hood has. The pizza man might have two or three thoughts before he comes to your neighborhood. The pizza man might pull up, see your building and then keep driving. It's almost like a myth. Does that really happen? Does the pizza man really not come to the hood? In some cases it's true."

    "In some places it's probably more of a story," Fiasco continued. One of the interesting things when we put the record out was that people were posting news stories about pizza men getting killed. There are some very serious reasons as to why. But it also speaks to the nature of those places like the places I grew up in, West Side of Chicago, South Side of Chicago. It's things like that, that are those odd aspects of the hood that don't really get a lot of attention like all drug dealers. But they have effects too."
  • Fiasco is assisted on the song by frequent collaborator Ty Dolla $ign who croons the hook and background vocals. Their other work together include Fiasco's cuts "Snitches" and "Next To It."
  • The song's music video was directed by Alex Nazari, who's also worked with 2 Chainz, YG and Tyga. Fiasco and Nazari previously teamed up on the Chicago rapper's cuts "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" and "#1234."
  • Here are a few more songs that reference pizza:

    "Chic 'N' Stu " by System of a Down (Deals with compulsions and addictions using pizza as a metaphor.)

    "This Town" by Rehab (One of the places mentioned is Mazzio's, which is a pizza place and a hang out spot in Rehab's home town of Winder, Georgia.)

    "Shell Shocked" by Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign (The three rappers spit rhymes referencing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' love of pizza.)

    "Pizza And Pinball" by Rumer (The singer's imaginings about being a child in the 1970s include eating pizza and playing pinball.)
  • This was released as the first single from Tetsuo and Youth. The album cover was painted by Fiasco. He told Billboard: "I paint a lot - probably too much. I paint more than I write raps. It's the same creative thing for me. I started painting two years ago, and I gave myself 10 years to really get good. I'll sit and paint for 11 hours and get lost in it, the technique of it, trying to execute it clean, colors and palettes, etc."

    "Van Gogh said he wasn't happy unless he was painting, and I'm starting to realize that's becoming true for me," Fiasco added. "If I'm not in a creative mode and I'm dealing with the outside world, I'm not really happy."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale of Bush

Gavin Rossdale of BushSongwriter Interviews

On the "schizoid element" of his lyrics, and a famous line from "Everything Zen."

Black Sabbath

Black SabbathFact or Fiction

Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.