Work It
Work It is a hip-hop song by the American rapper and hip-hop musician Missy Elliott . It comes from Elliott's fourth studio album, Under Construction, released in 2002.
background
The song was written and produced by Missy Elliott and Timbaland . It contains samples of the tracks Peter Piper by Run-DMC and Heart of Glass by Blondie .
Work It was released as the album's first single in late 2002 and reached # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 16, 2002 ; the title held this position for ten weeks. This makes Work It , alongside the Foreigner's hit Waiting for a Girl Like You from 1981, the title that stayed at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 the longest without ever reaching the top position. In the Hot R & B / Hip-Hop songs , however, the title was the front runner for five weeks. Work It is Missy Elliott's most successful single in the US.
Together with the rapper 50 Cent a remix version was recorded, which is also included on the album Under Construction .
Music video
Timbaland , Eve , Tweet , Halle Berry and Alyson Stoner make brief appearances in the video . Directed by Dave Meyers . The video is reminiscent of Aaliyah († 2001) and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes († 2002) with the help of airbrush images on a hood . At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003 , it was awarded as the best video of the year.
Lyrics
Some of the lyrics were cut by the US radio stations , which is supposed to arouse the listener sexually (“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 text “I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it” is played backwards for a short time , this is supported by the lyrics “Listen up close while I take you backwards” and “Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards " more clear. Missy often used this backward effect for her productions in the following years.
Charts
| Charts | Chart positions | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 6th | 10 |
| United States | 2 | 26th |
| Switzerland | 14th | 16 |
| Germany | 32 | 9 |
| France | 60 | 12 |
| Netherlands | 12 | 13 |
| Sweden | 15th | 15th |
| Norway | 16 | 9 |
| Denmark | 11 | 7th |
| Italy | 23 | 16 |
| Australia | 6th | 22nd |
| New Zealand | 3 | 9 |
Web links
- Music video Work it on MTV (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ MTV Video Music Awards 2003 (English).