Songoftheday 9/6/23 - Let's get drunk it's gon' bring us closer, don't I look like a Halle Berry poster?

 

 

"Work It" - Missy Elliott

from the album Under Construction (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (ten weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 22

 

Today's song comes from hip-hop master Missy Elliott, whose third album Miss E...So Addictive had scored a pair of crossover hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with "Get Ur Freak On" and "One Minute Man".  In 2002, Missy returned with collaborator/writer/producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for her fourth release Under Construction. The lead single, and her last to have the "Misdemeanor" tag on the charts, was "Work It". Written by Elliott and Timbaland using samples of Run DMC's "Peter Piper" , Rock Master Scott's "Request Line", and the percussion break from Blondie's "Heart Of Glass", the verses have Missy brashly offering her sexual services to a person who she feels isn't getting from their own partner. But the real hook is having many of the lines repeated in reverse, which gave the record a unique sonic flavor. With another high-end music video that features special effects, comedy, as well as airbrushed tributes to Aaliyah, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes from TLC, Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace, and Tupac Shakur, the track became her biggest hit...

"Work It" parked itself in the runner-up position on Billboard's Hot 100 for ten weeks beginning in November of 2002, tying Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You" for the longest stay at #2, while topping their R&B chart for five weeks and the Rap Singles list for 12 weeks. On the radio, the song peaked at #3 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, and spent three weeks at #1 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in New Zealand (#3), the United Kingdom (#6), and Australia (#6), and made the top-40 in Denmark (#11),the Netherlands (#12), Switzerland (#14), Sweden (#15), Norway (#16), Ireland (#19), Belgium (#22 Flanders), Italy (#23), and Germany (#32). The Under Construction album, released as the single was cresting in November, took a week at #3 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and came in at #2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list, going on to sell over two million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2004, "Work It" won the trophy for Best Female Rap Performance, and was nominated for Best Rap Song, losing to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" (the record that held the #1 spot while Missy lingered at #2). The Under Construction set was up for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, both of which went to Outkast for their Speakerboxx/The Love Below double-disc opus. 

Missy and the album will be back to the series.

(9/10)

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A remix of the song was done giving up and coming rapper 50 Cent an cameo after the opening chorus...

 

 Next up is Elliot performing at the American Music Awards in 2003...

Up tomorrow: Another rap legend promises the same as Missy does.