Hypnotize (song)
| Hypnotize | |
|---|---|
| The Notorious BIG feat. Pamela Long | |
| publication | March 1, 1997 |
| length | 3:50 |
| Genre (s) | Hip-hop , gangsta rap |
| Author (s) |
Christopher Wallace , Sean Combs , Deric Angelettie, Ron Lawrence, Andy Armer, Randy Alpert |
| music | Deric Angelettie, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Sean "Puffy" Combs |
| album | Life after death |
Hypnotize ( English for " hypnotize ") is a song by the American rapper The Notorious BIG , in which the chorus is rapped by the singer Pamela Long. The song is the first single from his second studio album Life After Death and was released on March 1, 1997, shortly before the murder of The Notorious BIG, which occurred on March 9, 1997.
content
In terms of content, the song revolves around the glorification of a dissolute lifestyle, combined with parties, fun and sex. The Notorious BIG raps in the first stanza about how he increases his money through rap, dresses extravagantly and attracts women. He and Puff Daddy would stick together like Starsky & Hutch and wouldn't let other rappers tell them anything. In the second stanza, The Notorious BIG tells of women from different cities whom he buys various luxury items from, for example, DKNY , Versace , Moschino and Coogi. He also drives a Lexus LX with bulletproof and tinted windows in case it comes to sex in the car. The third verse is about how easy it is for the rapper to tear up women because of his wealth. In the chorus rapped by Pamela Long, this is aimed at The Notorious BIG and says that his words would hypnotize her and that she loves his dissolute lifestyle.
Production and samples
The song was produced by Deric Angelettie, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence and Sean "Puffy" Combs (together as The Hitmen). They used samples from two songs by other artists. The beat is based on a sample of the instrumental piece Rise by Herb Alpert and the chorus contains elements of the song La Di Da Di by Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh .
Music video
The music video for Hypnotize was shot in February 1997, directed by Paul Hunter . It starts with the caption Florida Keys 5:47 pm . Shortly afterwards you see The Notorious BIG , who is on a motor yacht on the sea with Sean Combs and three scantily clad women, drinking champagne. Suddenly several helicopters appear and start chasing the boat. Now The Notorious BIG starts rapping while he's on the run with the ship. The chase then moves to a parking garage, where he and Sean Combs try to escape other cars and motorcycles in reverse. In some scenes, The Notorious BIG can also be seen rapping surrounded by women. At the end, the video pans back to the yacht, which the helicopter was able to shake off and drives towards the sunset.
The video won the Best Rap Video category at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards .
single
Cover design
The single cover shows The Notorious BIG wearing a black suit and black hat. He looks at the viewer seriously and holds a walking stick in his hand. In the foreground are the lettering The Notorious BIG in red and Hypnotize in white. In the background you can see blue sky, trees and a statue.
Chart successes
Hypnotize entered the German charts at number 74 on May 26, 1997 and reached the top position on July 14, 1997 at number 15. It was the rapper's first single to hit the German charts. In total, the song was in the top 100 for 16 weeks. In the German annual charts in 1997, the single was number 87. The song was particularly successful in the United States, where it became the first number one hit by The Notorious BIG and stayed at the top for three weeks.
|
|
Sales figures and awards
Hypnotize earned a platinum record for more than one million copies sold in the United States that year . In 2018, it was also certified platinum in the UK for over 600,000 sales.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 United States (RIAA)
|
 platinum
|
1,000,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
600,000 |
| All in all |
2 × platinum |
1,600,000 |
At the 1998 Grammy Awards , Hypnotize was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance , but lost to the song Men in Black by Will Smith .
Web links
- Lyrics with interpretations (English)
- Lyrics (German)
- Music video for "Hypnotize" on YouTube
swell
- ↑ Lyrics
- ↑ music video
- ↑ Single cover
- ^ The Notorious BIG - Hypnotize. officialcharts.de, accessed on April 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Top 100 annual single charts 1997. officialcharts.de, accessed on April 22, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ 1997 annual charts: DE
- ↑ 1997 annual charts: AT
- ↑ 1997 annual charts: CH
- ↑ 1997 annual charts: UK
- ↑ 1997 annual charts: US
- ↑ Gold / platinum database. riaa.com, accessed April 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Gold / platinum database. bpi.co.uk, accessed April 22, 2019 .
