"Empire State of Mind" is a song by hip hop artist Jay-Z, featuring guest contribution of R&B and soul singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. The song was released as the third single from Jay-Z's eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3on his Roc Nation label. The song is an anthemic ode to both artists' native New York City, featuring a sample of "Love on a Two-Way Street" by The Moments. Jay-Z and Keys performed the song at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as the American Music Awards of 2009. It is also the plate music for New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, and it was used in the trailer for Sex and the City 2.

The single has been commercially successful in the United States. It peaked at number one on the Hot 100 for five weeks, becoming Jay-Z's first number-one single on the chart as a lead artist. "Empire State of Mind" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart on October 4, 2009. The song also reached number 2 on the Irish Singles Chart on September 25, 2009 with no official release. The song was named "Song of The Year" at The Village Voice's Pazz & Jopand was ranked the second best song of 2009 by Rolling Stone.

Alicia Keys has recorded an answer song to 'Empire State of Mind' titled 'Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down', it features on the album The Element of Freedomand peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Empire State of Mind" is an anthemic hip hop song with influences of electropop and orchestra pop. It features a sample of "Love on a Two-Way Street" by The Moments. The title is a reference to New York's eponym "The Empire State", and may also be a reference to Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind". Jay-Z's former rival Nas titled a song on his 1994 debut album, Illmatic, "N.Y. State of Mind". The song is an anthem to Jay-Z's hometown, New York City. The song also mentions NBA superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and teams New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. It states that New York is "the home of the hip hop", namechecking Afrika Bambaataa, a DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1970s & 80s.

"Empire State of Mind" was originally created by singer-songwriter-producer Angela Hunte, a Brooklyn native, along with writing partner Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic. Hunte grew up in the same building — 560 State Street, an address which is mentioned in the song — where Jay-Z lived, but they had never collaborated on a song before.

The track's creation was inspired during an overseas trip Hunte and Sewell-Ulepic made to London in February, both feeling nostalgic. Hunte was sick during that summer while Sewell-Ulepic's mother was ill. Hunte recalls, "We said to ourselves, 'we complain so much about New York -- about the busy streets, about the crowds and the pushing, about the subway system -- but I would trade that for anything right now.' Before we left the hotel that night, we knew we would write a song about our city."

It was reported that fellow New York MC Nas, who himself has a song called "N.Y. State of Mind", was supposed to be featured on the song but declined because of a busy touring schedule, an ongoing divorce case with his ex-wife Kelis, and his continuing work with Damian Marley on their collaboration album titled Distant Relatives.

Jay-Z stated in an interview that after hearing the piano loops, he immediately thought of Keys and wanted her to be featured. Keys recalls, "There was a first phone call, and Jay hit me up like, 'I feel like I have this record that's going to be the anthem of New York.'" Keys later recorded the sequel to the song called "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", which is included on Keys' fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom. Contrary to previous reports, the sequel does not feature Jay-Z.

In February 2010, Jay-Z has revealed that Mary J. Blige was initially considered for Alicia Keys' feature on 'Empire State Of Mind'. He has admitted that he was "two seconds away" from phoning Blige to appear on the record's chorus. He said that the second choice for the track's vocals was Keys. He said that using Blige on the song would have been a safe move but said that that the combination of Keys' sound and piano talent had struck a chord with him.

The song is played in the key of F# Major at a tempo of 87bpm. The vocal range is A#3-C#5.

The song received airplay from numerous radio stations and gained a huge number of downloads, especially after the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The song was released as the third single from the album to Rhythmic Airplay on October 19, 2009, the same day as Alicia Keys's single "Doesn't Mean Anything". The song was featured on episode 12 of the third season of Gossip Girltitled "The Debarted". It was also featured on WWE Rawfor a Madison Square Garden episode shot there.

"Empire State of Mind" received generally positive reception from most music critics. Allmusic stated "The king of the crossovers here is 'Empire State of Mind,' a New York flag-waver with plenty of landmark name-dropping that turns into a great anthem with help on the chorus from Alicia Keys. Los Angeles Timeswriter Greg Kot commended Jay-Z for his ability to perform with cameos, and called the song "Empire State of Mind" "the sound of Jay-Z cruising for pop hits". Newsday 's Glenn Gamboa said that Jay-Z declares "'I'm the new Sinatra' - and when he pushes for change" on the song. NMEdescribed Alicia Keys's cameo as "lusty bellowing". Pitchfork Media stated "the piledriver hooks of 'Run This Town' and 'Empire State of Mind' are content to annoy their way to ubiquity". PopMatters called the song "yet another chance for Jay to show love for his city, but it remains interesting thanks to a fantastic Al Shux beat and celebratory hook from Alicia Keys . Above all, it’s a chance for the Marcy emcee to show off shades of a new flow while not losing you for a second". Rolling Stone 's Jody Rosen called it a "pallid New York shout-out".

Steve Jones of USA Todayperceived a maturity by Jay-Z in the song, and wrote that "The upper-crust landmarks he now references are a far cry from the grimy Marcy Projects sights that he once detailed, something that perhaps is to be expected from the self-described 'new Sinatra.'" Alluding to the classic "Theme from New York, New York" anthem, Hip Hop Is Read similarly commented: "Frank Sinatra, move ova, make room for Hova. This is by far the best offering on The Blueprint 3". The Daily Telegraphdescribed the song's sound as "anthemic club pop" and called Keys's chorus line "singalong". About.com called "Empire State of Mind" the album's apex, while commending Alicia Keys for her "excellent display of some unusually strong vocals". Slant Magazine 's William McBee described it as a "glittering paean to the Big Apple with Alicia Keys soaring skyscraper-level on the hook and Jay putting on for his city". Smoking Section called "Empire State of Mind" an "antithesis to Nas’ 'NY State Of Mind,'as he presents the city that never sleeps as the ultimate proving ground for those who can escape it’s trappings". The Timescalled it an "orchestral rap ballad"., and The Guardian 's Alexis Petridis described its chorus as "incredible, breezy pop".

The song was ranked 8th best song of 2009 by MTV, second-best song of 2009 by Rolling Stone, the Best Hip Hop Single by iTunes, and the best single of 2009 by The Village Voice's 37th annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Pitchfork Media ranked it #44 in its year-end recap.

"Empire State of Mind" was first performed at Jay-Z's "Answer the Call" benefit concert in Madison Square Garden on September 11, 2009, where it was the opening song. The song was then performed live at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009, where it closed the awards. Also, Jay-Z performed the song on September 18, 2009 during a live performance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Because of scheduling conflicts, Roc Nation singer Bridget Kelly performed in Alicia Keys' place (with the exception of the MTV Video Music Awards).

The song became an anthem for the New York Yankees during their championship run in 2009. Yankee shortstop and captain, Derek Jeter, used the song as his entrance music before every at-bat. It was performed live by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys in Yankee Stadium before Game 2 of the 2009 World Series. Jay-Z also performed the song with Bridget Kelly at the Yankees' World Series victory ceremonies in New York City Hall on November 6, 2009.

The song is used by World Wrestling Entertainment in video packages highlighting their Madison Square Garden appearances. Jay-Z and Bridget Kelly also sang "Empire State of Mind" at the MTV EMA in Berlin, Germany in November 2009. The song was also performed by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys at the American Music Awards on November 22, 2009. While accepting an American Music Award for the song, Jay-Z finished off his thank you speech with the phrase "Men lie, Women lie, Numbers don't" and then laughed, which many believed to be a shot at fellow rap artist 50 Cent.

On November 29, 2009 Keys performed the song's chorus in a medley alongside "Doesn't Mean Anything" and "No One" on the UK TV show The X Factor.

On December 15, 2009 Keys appeared on The Colbert Reportas a guest. Following an interview with host Stephen Colbert, she performed the song with Colbert taking Jay-Z's place. The lyrics to Jay-Z's rap were rewritten into a tribute to the upper middle class area, which Colbert had accused Keys of ignoring during the interview.

On February 16, 2010 Jay-Z and Keys performed the song together at the UK Brit awards.

The music video was filmed on October 1, 2009, in Harlem, Times Square, and around Ground Zero of New York City, and shows Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Ebbets Field. The video was directed by Hype Williams. It premiered on Jay-Z's official YouTube channel on October 30, 2009. It ranked at #6 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009countdown.

The song debuted on the Hot 100 at number 50, with more than 40,000 downloads. Leaping from 23 to 1 on the Hot Digital Songs the following week, it hit number 5 on the Hot 100 in its second week on the chart. With that big jump, the song became Jay Z's sixteenth top 10 hit and Keys's ninth top 10 hit. The song was the first single on which Jay-Z performed as a lead artist to hit number one on the Hot 100, though he has had previous Hot 100 number ones as a featured artist. Overall, it is the fourth "Hot 100" number one hit for both artists. The song stayed at number one for five weeks, and was the final number-one single of the 2000s.

"Empire State of Mind" entered the UK Singles Chart at #15 on 20 September, 2009. In the next week, it climbed to #3, and then one further place to #2, held off the top spot by Taio Cruz with "Break Your Heart". The song also peaked at #2 on the UK R&B Chart based on downloads alone, no promotion and, at that time, no music video. As of March 28, 2010 it has spent 28 weeks inside the UK top 40.

After the release of Keys's album, The Element of Freedom, the acoustic version of the song debuted at #55 in the U.S.

The Song has so far sold over 3.000.000 units and remains in the Top 20 Digital songs

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