Work It
Encyclopedia
"Work It" is a hip hop
song written by American
rapper/singer Missy Elliott
and her producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley
for Elliott's critically acclaimed fourth studio album Under Construction (2002). The song's musical style, and production by Timbaland, were heavily inspired by Old school hip hop
from the 1980s, and includes a portion which samples Run-D.M.C.
's "Peter Piper". The beginning of the song samples Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three
's "Request Line". Released as the album's first single in September 2002, the track reached the number two position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
on the issue dated November 16, 2002 for ten weeks (behind Eminem
's "Lose Yourself
"), becoming Missy Elliott's most successful single to date. It also reached number one for five weeks on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. The song is tied with Foreigner
's 1981 hit "Waiting for a Girl Like You
" as the longest-running U.S. number-two single that did not reach number one. Like this song, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" spent ten weeks at #2. A remix
of this song features 50 Cent
. The end of the song samples "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
, and the synth pattern in the rhythm track samples the intro to "Heart of Glass
" by Blondie
.
, Eve
and Tweet
make cameos in the video, as well as a brief appearance by actress/dancer Alyson Stoner
. Aaliyah
(January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
(May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), who at the time had both recently died, are commemorated in the music video with their images airbrushed on a car's hood.
The video won the award for Video of the Year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards
.
" with mainstream audiences ("Love the way my ass go bum-bump-bum-bump-bump/Keep your eyes on my bum-bump-bum-bump-bump/And think you can handle this badonk-a-donk-donk").
During the chorus, the lyric "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it" is simply played backwards
, a part many mistakenly assumed to be gibberish. In the middle of the song, after the lyric "Listen up close while I take you backwards", the lyric "Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards" is also played in reverse. This vocal reversing trend made it to several of her productions during the following years.
Also, in the song's chorus, an elephant trumpeting is heard to hide a sexual reference ("If you got a big (elephant trumpet), let me search ya"). In the radio edit of the song, part of the third verse is altered.
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
song written by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rapper/singer Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
and her producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
for Elliott's critically acclaimed fourth studio album Under Construction (2002). The song's musical style, and production by Timbaland, were heavily inspired by Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
from the 1980s, and includes a portion which samples Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
's "Peter Piper". The beginning of the song samples Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three
Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three
Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three was an old school rap group best known for the singles "The Roof Is on Fire" and "Request Line", both of which have been sampled by many other groups, from rap to R&B to rock...
's "Request Line". Released as the album's first single in September 2002, the track reached the number two position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
on the issue dated November 16, 2002 for ten weeks (behind Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
's "Lose Yourself
Lose Yourself
"Lose Yourself" is an Academy Award winning song by American hip-hop artist Eminem, released as the first single from the original soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile on October 22, 2002. It was written and produced by Eminem himself, along with longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, one half of the...
"), becoming Missy Elliott's most successful single to date. It also reached number one for five weeks on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. The song is tied with Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
's 1981 hit "Waiting for a Girl Like You
Waiting for a Girl Like You
"Waiting for a Girl like You" is a song by British-American rock band Foreigner. The distinctive synthesizer theme was performed by the then-unknown Thomas Dolby.-Chart performance:...
" as the longest-running U.S. number-two single that did not reach number one. Like this song, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" spent ten weeks at #2. A remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of this song features 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
. The end of the song samples "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
Bob James (musician)
Robert McElhiney James is a jazz keyboardist, arranger and producer.-Biography:During the 1970s, Bob James played a major role in establishing the smooth jazz genre. "Angela", the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, is probably Bob James' most well-known work to date...
, and the synth pattern in the rhythm track samples the intro to "Heart of Glass
Heart of Glass (song)
"Heart of Glass" is a song by American New Wave band Blondie, written by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. Featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines, it was released as a single in January 1979 and topped the charts in several countries, including the US and UK.Rolling...
" by Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
.
Music video
The music video to "Work It" was directed by David Myers. TimbalandTimbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, Eve
Eve (rapper)
Eve Jihan Jeffers , is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actress. Her first three albums have reached a total of over 8 million albums sold worldwide. She has also achieved success in fashion as she started a clothing line titled "Fetish." She won a Grammy Award in 2002 for the...
and Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...
make cameos in the video, as well as a brief appearance by actress/dancer Alyson Stoner
Alyson Stoner
Alyson Rae Stoner is an American actress, dancer and singer. Stoner is known for her roles in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody , Cheaper By The Dozen and Cheaper By The Dozen 2 , Step Up and Step Up 3 , and Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2...
. Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...
(January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Lisa Lopes
Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...
(May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), who at the time had both recently died, are commemorated in the music video with their images airbrushed on a car's hood.
The video won the award for Video of the Year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards
2003 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2003 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2003, honoring the best music videos from June 1, 2002, to June 9, 2003. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City...
.
Lyrics
A portion of the song's lyrics helped popularize the slang term "badonkadonkButtocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
" with mainstream audiences ("Love the way my ass go bum-bump-bum-bump-bump/Keep your eyes on my bum-bump-bum-bump-bump/And think you can handle this badonk-a-donk-donk").
During the chorus, the lyric "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it" is simply played backwards
Backmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
, a part many mistakenly assumed to be gibberish. In the middle of the song, after the lyric "Listen up close while I take you backwards", the lyric "Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards" is also played in reverse. This vocal reversing trend made it to several of her productions during the following years.
Also, in the song's chorus, an elephant trumpeting is heard to hide a sexual reference ("If you got a big (elephant trumpet), let me search ya"). In the radio edit of the song, part of the third verse is altered.
Charts
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart |
6 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 40 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 11 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 19 |
| French Singles Chart | 60 |
| German Singles Chart | 32 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 19 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 14 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 15 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks | 1 |
End-of-decade charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
96 |