Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Follow the Leader (Eric B. & Rakim song)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was WP:WITHDRAWN. (non-admin closure) ★☆ DUCKISJAMMMY☆★ 20:24, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Follow the Leader (Eric B. & Rakim song)[edit]

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Fails WP:NSONGS; there appears to be so significant coverage of the song to warrant a stand-alone article. — Statυs (talk, contribs) 14:57, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Albums and songs-related deletion discussions. ★☆ DUCKISPEANUTBUTTER☆★ 15:00, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep and improve (and then see if it's worth keeping as a standalone article or merging to the album). The article as nominated was unsourced OR, and/or a possible copyvio, but there is scope for improvement. The single made several charts including three Billboard charts ([1]) and also no. 21 in the UK Singles Chart, and there is coverage available such as Mickey Hess's Icons of Hip Hop, which describes the song as an "event horizon that defined the stock in trade of the rap soloist", states that it was one of Melody Maker's singles of the year in 1988, and describes the video as "the first rap video epic", Damien Morgan's Hip Hop Had a Dream, from which some of the content here appears to be lifted (I edited it to remove this text rather than cite the book as it appears to be self-published), Craig Hanser Werner's A Change Is Gonna Come, which says the song "reminded the community of rap's visionary possibilities", a SPIN article which cites it as an example of rap as devastating literature, The New York Times describing it as "space-age". It's hit status back in 1988 would almost certainly mean that further print coverage exists from that time. Note that the tracks listed on discogs.com (which lists 15 different releases of the single) conflict with the B-side stated here. --Michig (talk) 18:00, 20 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. While the article does need to be expanded and cleaned-up, the song certainly passes the notability criteria. It performed well on several charts and was a top 25 hit on both the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Eric B. & Rakim are a rather influential hip-hop duo, and "Follow the Leader" is one of their more well-known and influential songs, as discussed in the sources provided by Michig. Holiday56 (talk) 08:56, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Following Holiday56's recent changes, the song most certainly has the required level of coverage. I Am Rufus • Conversation is a beautiful thing. 10:44, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Withdraw, Holiday56 (talk · contribs)'s have clearly established notability of the song. — Statυs (talk, contribs) 15:00, 21 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.