<P> "Empire State of Mind" received acclaim from contemporary music critics, with most reviewers praising Keys' vocal performance . Jon Bush of AllMusic listed the song as being a highlight from The Blueprint 3 . He commented that the song is Jay - Z's "king of crossovers...a New York flag - waver with plenty of landmark name - dropping that turns into a great anthem with help on the chorus from Alicia Keys". Los Angeles Times writer Greg Kot commended Jay - Z for his ability to perform with cameos and called the song "the sound of Jay - Z cruising for pop hits ." Pete Cashmore of NME described Alicia Keys's cameo as "lusty bellowing". Martin Andrew of PopMatters called the song "yet another chance" for Jay - Z to show his respect to New York, but commented that it "remains interesting thanks to a fantastic Al Shux beat and celebratory hook from Alicia Keys ." </P> <P> Writing in Rolling Stone magazine, Jody Rosen called it a "pallid New York shout - out". USA Today's Steve Jones perceived a maturity by Jay - Z in the song, writing that "The upper - crust landmarks he now references are a far cry from the grimy Marcy Projects sights that he once detailed, something that perhaps is to be expected from the self - described' new Sinatra' ." The Daily Telegraph described the song's sound as "anthemic club pop" and called Keys's chorus line a "singalong". Shannon Barbour of About.com called "Empire State of Mind" the album's apex, while commending Keys for her "excellent display of some unusually strong vocals". Slant Magazine writer William McBee described it as a "glittering paean to the Big Apple" with Keys "soaring skyscraper - level on the hook and Jay putting on for his city ." </P> <P> IGN music reviewer Chris Carle described Keys as having "soaring vocals" in the song . New York Post writer Ryan Brockington called "Empire State of Mind" his favorite song from The Blueprint 3 and Tyler Gray from the same publication said "Empire State of Mind" was the "most soulful" song on the album . Francois Marchand of the Vancouver Sun called the song "shiver - inducing". The Times writer Stephen Dalton called the track a "heartfelt love letter to New York City," with Jay - Z playing the "hip - hop Sinatra" over Keys' "luscious" chorus, and The Guardian's Alexis Petridis described its chorus as "incredible, breezy pop". Killan Fox of the same publication felt that the track was a "terrific homage" to New York and listed the song as being one of the "really good tracks" on The Blueprint 3 . Pitchfork's Ian Cohen stated that "the piledriver hooks of "Run This Town" and "Empire State of Mind" are content to annoy their way to ubiquity ". </P> <P> "Empire State of Mind" has been included in multiple music critics list for the best songs of 2009 . The single was ranked the 8th best song of 2009 by MTV, the second - best song of 2009 by Rolling Stone magazine, and was voted the best single of 2009 by The Village Voice's 37th annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll . On the 2010 Pazz & Jop list, the song was, along with a number of other songs, ranked at 226 . Jon Pareles of The New York Times placed "Empire State of Mind" at number three on his list of the top songs of 2009, and Pitchfork also ranked it at number 44 on its The Top 100 Tracks of 2009 list . Entertainment Weekly placed it number one on its list of "The 10 Best Singles of 2009". "Empire State of Mind" was placed at number six on NME's Albums and Tracks of the Year, 2009 list . It was placed at number nine on PopMatters' list of "The Best Singles of 2009" and at number twelve on Consequence of Sound's list of "The Top 50 Songs of' 09". The song appears at number one on Rap - Up's list of the 25 best songs of 2009 . Jay - Z, a long - time fan of the New York Yankees, said that he was elated that his songs, namely "Empire State of Mind" and "Run This Town", had been played during different Yankee player's batting at home games in the 2009 World Series, commenting that it was "incredible" and "beyond explanation" to hear his music being played during Yankee games . New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg commented that "Empire State of Mind" had become "one of the newest anthems of the Yankees". The New York Daily News included it at number ten on its list of "The 10 best songs about New York". </P>

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