"Otis" is a single by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaboration album Watch the Throne, and is the fourth song on the tracklist. The song's existence, along with several other tracks from the album, was confirmed during a listening session hosted by Jay-Z on July 7. It was also confirmed the song would heavily sample Otis Redding. On July 19, the release of the song the following day was confirmed via Twitter. The next day, "Otis" was premiered by Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and afterward, it was released onto the Internet.
The cover art was designed by Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci. Following its release the song received significant coverage and was reviewed by several sources. The song received highly positive reviews from music critics and has received radio airplay. On July 22, the song was released to the iTunes Store and on July 31, the song debuted at number 47 and went on to peak at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On July 7, 2011, "Otis," along with the other songs from Watch the Throne, was initially previewed by Jay-Z himself at a private listening session at the Mercer Hotel in New York City, previewing the album's songs from his MacBook Pro for a select group of reporters, music journalists, and contest winners. After these listening sessions, it was confirmed that a song called "Otis", would appear on the album. It was reported that the song would sample soul singer Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness". On July 20, "Otis" was premiered on Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and subsequently was released for download to the Internet as a way to promote the upcoming album, though no other official singles for the album have been confirmed. When the song was released, it quickly became a trending topic on Twitter and was heavily searched for. On July 22, the song was released to the iTunes Store and was a free download for those who pre-ordered the album. The song received moderate airplay. It will be sent by The Island Def Jam Music Group to rhythmic contemporary and urban contemporary radio on August 9.
The cover art for "Otis" was designed by Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci, who had previously designed the artwork for the "H•A•M" single cover and the Watch the Throne album cover. It features the American flag, both artists names and the name of the song and the album. The artwork was released onto the internet following the song's release and could be downloaded along with the song.
"Otis" is 2:58 long and is a mid-tempo hip-hop song. The song, which was produced by West, is built upon a sample of the cover version "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding. Jay-Z and West promptly rap over the sample in style reminiscent to past Kanye productions. Pitchfork Media summarized the composition, writing "here's Jay-Z on the "Otis" intro: "It sounds so soulful! Don't you agree?" Well, yeah. If you're willing to plunk down enough money to sample "Try a Little Tenderness", that'll happen. But even if the sample works as a sort of audio money-flaunt, it's also a tough and hard chop from Kanye—Otis Redding's magnificent voice mostly limited to a couple of hellfire grunts, the song itself held to a sharp guitar stab." The Vancouver Sun commented "there's no hook or chorus, no hip-hop- or hipster-cred guest stars. There's just Kanye and Jay-Z trading rhymes in mini-verses." The song ends with sampled screaming.
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