"Stay Schemin'" is a single by American rapper Rick Ross featuring Drake and French Montana. It was released on his 2012 mixtape Rich Forever. The track was released as a digital download from iTunes on April 17, 2012. The chorus of the song, sung by French Montana, interpolates an unreleased Nas song titled "Day Dreamin, Stay Schemin," which covers the Kurtis Blow song, "Daydreamin'", with new lyrics.
Music video
The video for the song was released on January 6, 2012. The video features Rick Ross cruising through Miami in a Phantom, and Maybach alongside Drake and French Montana. Meek Mill and DJ Khaled also make appearances. The video was directed by Spiff TV for Maybach Films.
Critical reception
"Stay Schemin" was met with positive reviews. Complex praised the song, stating, "We've already listed 'Stay Schemin' as the bestsong of the year, so you already know how we feel about it—but a lot of the song's impact had to do with Drake's incredible verse. In fact it just might be the best he's ever spit." Complex went on to name it on their list of the best songs of 2012, and the guest appearance of Drake the best feature of 2012. XXL named it one of the top five hip hop songs of 2012.
Background
The song is said to be the response to rapper Common after he allegedly dissed Drake on a track titled "Sweet" which was the third single from his album The Dreamer/The Believer. On "Sweet", the lines "Y'all niggas man, y'all soft motherfuckers/Singing all around me man, la la la/ You ain't motherfucking Frank Sinatra/Uh, lil' bitch./Sweet ass motherfucker." are the reason why "Stay Schemin'" is directed at Common. Later, Common's album debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and sold 69,000 copies in its first week, his lowest first week sales since his 2002 album Electric Circus. Common responded to "Stay Schemin'" with a remix that featured the original verses from Rick Ross and Drake as well as a new verse from Common. Common called out Drake by name on the track, calling him among other things "Canada Dry." Common ended the song with "Say My Name," a song originally sung by Destiny's Child that Drake has sung live previously as a way to coax Drake into using Common's name in his diss tracks. The album artwork released by Common refers to Drake as "That Hoe Ass Nigga."
"Fanute"
French Montana's lyric "from the hoopty coupe to that Ghost, dog" sounds more akin to "fanute the coupe to that Ghost, dog", leading to initial speculation about the possible meaning behind the mondegreen word "fanute". The word has become an internet meme, used ironically by various rappers and rap fans.
The song debuted in the top 60 of the BillboardHot 100 at position 58. In its second week the song dropped to position 80 and fell off the chart the following week.
