"I'm Not Havin' It" | ||||
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Single by Positive K and MC Lyte | ||||
from the album The First Priority Music Family: Basement Flavor | ||||
B-side | "A Good Combination" | |||
Released | August 1989 | |||
Recorded | 1988 | |||
Genre | Golden age hip hop | |||
Length | 3:29 | |||
Label | First Priority Music, Atlantic Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Darryl Gibson, Lana Moorer, Kirk Robinson and Nathaniel Robinson Jr. [1] | |||
Producer(s) | Audio Two | |||
MC Lyte singles chronology | ||||
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Positive K singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"I'm Not Havin' It" on YouTube |
"I'm Not Havin' It" is a song by American rappers Positive K and MC Lyte. It was included on the 1988 compilation album The First Priority Music Family:Basement Flavor and released as a single the following year. The B-side "A Good Combination",by Positive K as solo artist,is the main song in some versions of the single. [2] [3]
Produced by rap duo Audio Two,on the song Positive K and Lyte have a rapping conversation in which she rejects his persistent courtship attempts. [4] [5]
Although Lyte had already charted outside the United States thanks to her collaboration with Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor on "I Want Your (Hands on Me)",with this song they both got their first appearance on a Billboard chart,peaking to No. 16 of the Hot Rap Singles in September of that year. [6] In January 2019 they recorded a second version of the song. [7] [8]
Considered a safe-sex manifesto, [9] in the song Positive K insistently tries to woo Lyte,who rejects him on the grounds that "guys are running games,like the New York Knicks","guys like you just wanna hit and run" and "There's just certain things you don't understand baby/Every woman wants to be treated like a lady". On the hook of the song Positive K tells Lyte "Excuse me miss",to which she replies "No,I'm not havin' it". [4] [5]
As Positive K explained to Village People ,at the time of creating the song "wanted to do something in rap that had never been seen before" and his main inspiration was the duets he grew up listening to such as Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love". [10]
In August 1991,regarding the content of songs like I'm Not Havin' It and Please Understand,Lyte told Deborah Gregory in an Essence interview "I’ve never let a man dog me and I never will,It’s just not gonna happen!". [9]
When asked about the recording of the song in a subsequent interview,Positive K responded "Always energentic! We were in the studio all the time! The vibe was great!!" [11] In a 2018 interview for Weekly Rap Gods Positive K described the song as "the Adam and Eve of hip hop duos" and that it "set the tone for hip hop" in the work of other artists such as "Doin' It" by LL Cool J and "You're All I Need to Get By" by Method Man and Mary J Blige. [12]
"I'm Not Havin' It" is built around a sample of Teddy Pendergrass's "Turn Off the Lights". The song also samples the hook from "Yes We Can Can" by Pointer Sisters.
I'm Not Havin' It was used in HIV prevention public service announcements and in the Rock the Vote campaign. [9] [13]
Positive K would once again use the concept of 'I'm Not Havin' It for his 1992 hit "I Got a Man",in which Positive K wanted to collaborate with Lyte again,but could not do so due to his record label change. [10] He also interpolates some of his lines in the song:in I Got a Man says "Ya better catch a flashback/Remember I'm not crabbin it/You know my style/From I'm Not Havin It",in reference to the line that says "But I'm all the way live,but I'm definitely not crabbing". Also says "C'mon I'm clean,cut,and dapper,you got to admit that" in reference to the fourth verse "Well,I'm clean cut and dapper,that's what I'm about".
In 1995 it was sampled by The Roots on the track "You Ain't Fly" from their second album Do You Want More?!!!??!
In 2003 the song was included in Lyte's compilation album The Shit I Never Dropped. [14]
In January 2019,30 years after its publication,Lyte collaborated on the Positive K single "I'm Still Not Havin 'It",which is a continuation of the original version. "I find it incredible that after 30 years MC Lyte and I haven’t skipped a beat”Positive K said in a press release. “We have just as much chemistry now as we did then. A duet album would be phenomenal." Lyte added,"Working with him is easy and effortless. The music from ‘Still Not Having It’is one of my favorite songs from Bill Withers. It takes me back and with the subject matter Pos created,makes it MO Betta." [7] [8]
In July 1990,black feminist author and cultural critic Michele Wallace wrote about the song in a note for the New York Times ,later included in her book Dark Designs and Visual Culture (2004), [15] in which she commented that in their dialogue Positive K and Lyte "comes down hard on the notion that women can’t say no,and criticizes the shallowness of the male rap." [16]
In October 1996 Jon Shecter of Vibe called the song a forerunner of male and female duets in hip hop,highlighting when Positive K says "Excuse me,miss ..." on the hook as its most memorable part. [4]
In 2018,The Boombox's Naima Cochrane commented on Positive K about her lyrics in Im not Havin'It and I Got a Man "despite his name,specialized in what could be called street harassment hip-hop." [17]
A-Side
B-Side
Credits are taken from the liner notes. [18]
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Rap Songs ( Billboard ) [19] | 16 |
Lana Michele Moorer,better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper,DJ,and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap,Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s,becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock. She released a total of eight solo studio albums and an EP with Almost September.
Audio Two was the Brooklyn,New York hip hop duo of emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson,most famous for its first hit "Top Billin'".
Positive K is an American MC and songwriter from the Bronx,New York City,New York,and one of the original artists of the First Priority Music camp. He is best known for his hits "I'm Not Havin' It" and his 1992 hit "I Got a Man".
Eyes on This is the second studio album American hip hop recording artist MC Lyte. It was released on October 3,1989,via First Priority and Atlantic Records,and featured production from Audio Two,as well as Grand Puba,The King of Chill,Marley Marl and PMD.
Act Like You Know is the third studio album by American hip hop recording artist MC Lyte. It was released on September 17,1991,by First Priority Music,distributed by Atlantic Records,and featured production from Audio Two,The 45 King,Ivan "Doc" Rodriguez,The King of Chill,Pal Joey,Epic Mazur,Richard Wolf and DJ Master Tee.
Cha Cha Cha is the lead single from MC Lyte's second album Eyes on This. Produced by King Of Chill,who also has songwriting credits,it was released on September 8,1989.
Antoinette Lovell Patterson,known simply by the mononym Antoinette,is an American rapper from Bronx,New York,who released two albums,during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Poor Georgie is the second single from hip-hop artist MC Lyte's third album Act Like You Know (1991). The song was produced by Ivan 'Doc' Rodriguez,and released on December 12,1991. The song seeks to convey an anti-addiction message,through the story of George and the dysfunctional relationship MC Lyte has with this individual with self-destructive behaviors.
The following is the discography of MC Lyte,an American hip hop musician.
The First Priority Music Family:Basement Flavor is a hip hop compilation album,released on December 15,1988,on First Priority/Atlantic Records. The single "I'm Not Havin' It" by Positive K and MC Lyte peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart in 1989.
"Ruffneck" is a hip hop song recorded by American rapper MC Lyte. It was published on May 27,1993,as the lead single from her fourth studio album,Ain't No Other (1993). The song was produced by Aqil Davidson with Walter "Mucho" Scott,who along with Lyte have songwriting credits.
"Paper Thin" is the third single from MC Lyte's debut album Lyte as a Rock. It is produced by King of Chill,who along with Lyte has songwriting credits.
10% Dis is a single from MC Lyte's album Lyte as a Rock produced by the hip hop duo Audio Two,who are also credited as songwriters.
"Stop,Look,Listen" is a song by MC Lyte with DJ K-Rock,released as the second single from Lyte's second album Eyes on This. It was published on February 1,1990. In its single version it is an Audio Two remix of the original version of the LP produced by King of Chill.
Cappucino is the third and final single from MC Lyte's album Eyes on This. It was published on August 2,1990. In its single version it is a remix by Ivan "Doc" Rodríguez of the original version of the album produced by Marley Marl.
"I Cram to Understand U (Sam)" is the debut single by American rapper MC Lyte,in which features their DJ,DJ K-Rock,released in 1987. The song was part of her first album Lyte as a Rock,released the following year.
When in Love is the first single from MC Lyte's third album Act Like You Know. It was released on August 22,1991. Although its original version of the album is produced by Wolf &Epic,its single version includes a remix made with Carmen Rizzo.
Legend is the eighth album released by American rapper MC Lyte. The album was released in 2015 via Omnivore Recordings and its global entertainment firm,Sunni Gyrl,and featured production from Dominique Ludarius Cohill,Emmanuel A. Jimenez,Emmanuel Wells II,Loudbox and Olson Kenneth Wells II.
"Lyte as a Rock" is a 1988 single from the album of the same name by American rapper MC Lyte. Although in its version on the album it is produced by Audio Two,the single and the music video use a house music mix produced by King of Chill. The song was composed by Lyte With Audio Two's Milk Dee.
"I Go On" is the second and final single from MC Lyte's fourth album Ain't No Other. Produced by Tyrone Fyffe,Franklin Grant and Wreckx-n-Effect's Markell Riley,it was released on November 4,1993.
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