"Testify" is a single by rap/rock band Rage Against the Machine off their third studio album The Battle of Los Angeles.
The cover of the single was taken from the 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute. The song's lyrics notably make reference to George Orwell's novel 1984 through use of "The Party" slogan "Who controls the past (now), controls the future. Who controls the present (now), controls the past."
Testify is a song off the 1983 Stevie Ray Vaughan album Texas Flood. It starts out with a guitar riff and on the 7th bar the drums and bass enter with the beat that carries throughout the whole song. It ends with Stevie Ray Vaughan's signature string snap. Vaughan played Testify live often.
Some album editions and guitar tablature books wrongly credit "Testify" to George Clinton and D. Taylor, although they wrote the unrelated Parliament song of the same name (sometimes called "I Wanna Testify"). This version is an Isley Brothers cover. The original recording was released in 1964 and features Jimi Hendrix on guitar.
"Testify" is the fourth single from rapper Common's 2005 album Be. Clocking in at just above two and a half minutes, it is the second shortest track on Be (after the albums intro). It is produced by Kanye West, whose beat heavily utilizes vocal samples from "Innocent Until Proven Guilty" by Honey Cone. Spence D. of IGN.com comments on this saying: "'Testify' [...] features an intricate layering of vocals which provide such an hypnotic backdrop that you almost forget to listen to Common's compelling storytelling." The song's story is about a woman who manipulates a judge and jury to find her partner guilty of a crime she committed. After the case is settled, she starts laughing and reveals that she is the criminal. Sean Malcolm of AllHipHop.com considers Common to have "paint[ed] pictures of extravagant court trials" on "Testify." The song was a critical hit garnering a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 48th Grammy Awards.
A remix featuring soul singer Darien Brockington and a different beat was recorded.
"Testify" is a song by the band Parliament. It is a funk reworking of the song "(I Wanna) Testify", originally recorded in 1967 by The Parliaments. It was the second single released from the 1974 album Up for the Down Stroke, and the second track on the album.
