A straight-up attack on the overuse of auto-tune in the music industry. As the first single off The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z used “D.O.A.” (a play on the term “D.O.A.”, which traditionally means “Dead on Arrival”) to send a message and “draw a line in the sand” about where rap is and where it should be going. Notably, there is no auto-tune at all on The Blueprint 3

Jay-Z and Kayne had a “Great Awakening” to the evils of auto-tune while making BP3; they decided to dedicate a single to the cause and went back and wiped off all of the auto-tune that they had already (tee hee!) used in recorded tracks (Kanye used auto-tune throughout his 2009 album, 808s and Heartbreak, which smells of hypocrisy, but you’d expect that from Kanye)

Jay-Z has said the anti-auto-tune screed was inspired by Kanye’s suggestion that they collaborate on something thug to match the quality of the sample (“In the Space” by Janko Nilovic and Dave “Sucky” Sucky)

Yet another inspiration for the song was hearing auto-tune used in a Wendy’s commercial

The song stirred up lots of controversy, with haters saying that Jay was too old and out of touch, while supporters stuck behind him and completely agreed with the message; Lil Wayne publicly stated that “There is no death of auto-tune. T-Pain is my dude”

Jay-Z later had to clarify that “talented” musicians like Kanye are still allowed to use auto-tune (more hypocrite-smell)

The beat was produced by Kanye’s mentor, NO I.D.