Impossible (Kanye West song)

"Impossible" is a song by American hip-hop recording artist Kanye West, featuring Twista, Keyshia Cole and BJ. The song was made for the film Mission: Impossible III and used as its official theme song, but was not featured on its soundtrack album.^[1] It appeared on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Bubbling Under Hot 100 charts in 2006.

"Impossible"
Single by Kanye West featuring Twista, Keyshia Cole and BJ
B-side	"Impossible" (Instrumental) / "Drive Slow" (Strings Mix)
Released	May 5, 2006
Recorded	March 2006, Sony Scoring Stage, Culver City
Genre	Hip hop
Length	3:23
Label	Roc-A-Fella Def Jam
Songwriter(s)	Kanye West Bryan James Sledge Carl Terrell Mitchell Keyshia Cole Sid Wayne Armando Manzanero
Producer(s)	Kanye West
Kanye West singles chronology
"Touch the Sky" (2006) "Impossible" (2006) "Drive Slow" (2006)
Twista singles chronology
"Spit Your Game" (2006) "Impossible" (2006) "Don't Get It Twisted" (2006)

Background

While the rest of the music for the film Mission: Impossible III was recorded over the course of eight days at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California.,^[2] 'Impossible' was originally an outtake from Twista's fourth album Kamikaze, which West found to be the perfect offering to be used in "Mission: Impossible III", when franchise star Tom Cruise asked for a contribution.^[3]

Cruise was said to be delighted at West contributing to the soundtrack, describing himself as being "a fan of Kanye's work".^[4]

Composition

Vocals from "It's Impossible" by New Birth are sampled throughout the track.^[5] West claimed the track took "50 hours" to produce.^[6]

Critical reception

"Impossible" was placed on a list of '20 Horrible Songs Made By Great Rappers' that Al Shipley of Complex published in 2013.^[7] Jonathan Ringen of Rolling Stone rated the song two out of five stars and elaborated by writing: "It doesn't quite work: The skittering beat never settles into a groove, and the rhymes never explain what, exactly, is supposed to be so impossible."^[8]

Track listing

CD single^[9]

1. "Impossible" (Radio) – 3:23
2. "Impossible" (Extended Radio) – 5:12
3. "Impossible" (Instrumental) – 5:09

12" single^[10]

A-side

1. "Impossible" (Radio) - 3:25
2. "Impossible" (Extended Version) - 3:25

B-side

1. "Impossible" (Instrumental) - 5:09
2. "Drive Slow" (feat. Paul Wall and GLC) (Strings Mix) - 5:41

Digital download^[11]

1. "Impossible" (Radio Edit) - 3:22

Commercial performance

The track spent a total of 16 weeks on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and managed to reach its peak position of 54 on June 24, 2006, over a month after being released as a single.^[12] It reached number 27 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart on May 27, 2006.^[13]

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[14]	3
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[15]	54
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[16]	83