"Ring Ring Ring" is the second single released by De La Soul

De La Soul

De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...

 from their second album De La Soul Is Dead

De La Soul Is Dead

De La Soul Is Dead is De La Soul's second full-length album, released in 1991 . The album was produced by Prince Paul, whose work on 3 Feet High and Rising was highly praised by music critics. The album was one of the first to receive a five mic rating in the Hip hop magazine The Source...

, in 1991. The song is a party jam about overzealous fans who pursue the group with demo tapes in their efforts to obtain an endorsement from the group. It was inspired by one overzealous fan in particular, Breakestra

Breakestra

Breakestra is a funk music project of Miles "music man" Tackett's based in Los Angeles, California.Breakestra was first formed in 1997 as a strictly live ensemble playing "covers" of funk & soul-jazz music that had been sampled in late 80s & early 90s hip-hop seamlessly blended into each other...

 frontman Miles Tackett who was soliciting demo tapes to the group (note "demo taped bi-da miles" in the song's subtitle). It has been credited that it samples Fat Larry's Band's "Act Like You Know", which actually sampled The Whatnauts

The Whatnauts

The Whatnauts were an American soul group from Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1969. The group had several hit singles in the early 1970s, including the socially conscious single "Message From A Black Man" in 1970 on A&I International, "Please Make The Love Go Away" also in 1970 but on Stang, and...

 track "Help Is on the Way", which came out a year earlier in 1981 but it was actually the original Whatnauts track that was sampled. The song also includes a sample from "Pass the Peas", written by J. Brown, C. Bobbit & J. Skarks.
The chorus of "Ring Ring Ring" uses lyrics and melody from the Curiosity Killed the Cat

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Curiosity Killed the Cat was a British pop band that found success in the UK Singles Chart in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Career:The band tried to play soulful, jazzy, and funky pop music and was initially signed to Phonogram Records' Mercury imprint. They first came to notice of the UK music...

 song "Name and Number". The bass in the introduction comes from Lou Johnson's "Beat" and the drum comes from
The Honey Drippers'"Impeach the President".

This song was interpolated on Jaheim's 2009 single, "Ain't Leavin' Without You."

Track listings

12" maxi

Europe

1. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (party line mix) (6

56)

"Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (extended decision U.S. mix) (5:15)

"Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (piles and piles of demo taped bi-da miles - Conley's decision) (4:05)

NEWLIN

U.S.

1. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (extended decision) (5

15)

"Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (radio decision) (3:59)

"Piles And Piles of demo Tapes Bi-Da Miles (Conley's Decision)" (4:05)

"Afro Connection At A Hi 5 (In The Eyes Of The Hoodlum)" (3:42)

NEWLIN

7" single

1. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Party Line Edit) (4:05)
2. "Ring Ring Ring (piles and piles of demo taped bi-da miles - Conley's decision) (4:05)

CD maxi

1. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (party line edit) (4:05)
2. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (party line mix) (6:56)
3. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (extended U.S. mix) (5:15)
4. "Ring Ring Ring" (piles and piles of demo taped bi-da miles) (3:35)

CD maxi / 12" maxi - Remixes

1. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (CJ's alternative mix) (5:10)
2. "Afro Connection At A Hi 5" (3:42)
3. "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (sax mix) (5:10)

Official Versions

• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (LP Version) (5:06)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Radio decision) (3:59)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (CJ's Alternative Mix) (5:10)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Party Line Edit) (4:05)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Party line mix) (6:56)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Extended Decision U.S. Mix) / (Extended Decision Mix) / (Extended U.S. Mix) (5:15)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Piles and Piles of Demo Taped Bi-Da Miles - Conley's Decision) (4:05)
• "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (Sax Mix) (5:10)

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	4
Austrian Singles Chart	10
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	2
French SNEP Singles Chart	19
German Singles Chart	8
Irish Singles Chart	12
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	15
Swiss Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	10
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	16
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs	22

End of year chart (1991)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	37
Dutch Top 40	29
Swiss Singles Chart	10