D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)

This song samples Janko Nilovic's "In The Space" from his 1970 album Psyc Impressions.

Jay-Z explained to Funkmaster Flex and Mister Cee at New York City's Hot 97 radio station that in this song, he's taking aim at artists who use Auto-Tune as a crutch. He went on to elaborate about who he was not getting at. Said the Brooklyn MC: "The guys who did it, did it great. T-Pain, he does great melodies. If you listen to Kanye, great melodies. If you listen to [West's] 'Say You Will' or 'Heartless,' great melodies. [Lil Wayne and T-Pain's] 'Lollipop' was a fantastic melody. Everybody can't do it. Let them guys do it. They got their little niche, let's move on. That's just my opinion. I don't know if everybody feels the same way." Jay-Z concluded that his intention with the record was to "draw [a] line in the sand."

Jay-Z explained to the Chicago radio station WGCI that hearing the use of Auto-Tune in an advert for Wendy's fast-food chain, was one of the inspirations for this song. He said: "I just think in hip-hop, when a trend becomes a gimmick, it's time to move on. I saw a Wendy's commercial and they're using Auto-Tune. They're joking on it. It's like, OK, enough of that... It was a trend, it was cool in the beginning. Some people made great music with it, now it's time to move on."