The original version of "Push It" was first released as the B-side to the 12-inch single "Tramp" in 1987. The corresponding 7-inch single contained a "Mixx-It" remix by San Francisco DJ and producer Cameron Paul;this was the radio version that gave the group its first mainstream hit. It advanced into the US Billboard Top 40 the week of December 26,1987,eventually reaching its peak of number 19 the week of February 20,1988. "Push It" and "Let's Talk About Sex" tie as the group's highest-charting UK hit,both peaking at number two in that country.
The original 1986 editions of the album Hot,Cool &Vicious did not contain "Push It". When the Cameron Paul remix of "Push It" became a radio hit,the album was reissued with the "Push It" remix added,along with the original versions of "Tramp" and "Chick on the Side" replaced by remixes.
Lyrics
The song quotes a line from "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks,with the word "girl" replaced with "boy":"Boy,you really got me goin'/You got me so I don't know what I'm doin'." (For this,Ray Davies received a songwriting credit for "Push It.") It also quotes "Pick up on this" from "I'm a Greedy Man" and "There it is" from "There It Is",both by James Brown. The whispered "Push it" is sampled from the 1977 recording "Keep on Pushin'" by the band Coal Kitchen. This song is written in the key of A minor.[4]
Recognition and sales
"Push It" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards. It was certified gold on March 23,1988 by the RIAA for selling a million units. It was later certified platinum on October 13,1989,under the new threshold for singles,which had been lowered to 1,000,000 sales earlier that year.
Critical reception
Paul Oldfield from Melody Maker wrote,"'Push It' is an android electro pulse within earshot of Devo's pin-head synthesiser programmes,little pneumatic gasps and Mellotron drones like a motor in low-gear distress. It doesn't sound as if it's 'working up a sweat' at all. Forget riddim,forget rap. This is harder."[5] Another editor,Paul Lester,said the song "is to hip hop what M's 'Pop Musik' and Trio's 'Da Da Da' were to electro-pop."[6] Edwin Pouncey from NME commented,"The golden girls of rap decide to head off in a 'new direction'. This involves carefully ripping off a strip of Devo's 'Whip It' anthem of yore and pasting it onto the side of a riff that veers near the music for a John Carpenter movie that never was... I'm fond of both sources so Salt N'Peppa finally succeed in wriggling under my skin. Whether they intend to stay seems pretty doubtful however."[7]
Debbi Voller from Number One stated,"Bound to be a big hit in the present hip hop/house/rap mania climate,and why not? 'Push It' pumps and grinds like a street version of James Brown's classic 'Sex Machine' and these gals can rap a mean,errr,rap!"[2] Robin Smith from Record Mirror named it Single of the Week,writing,"Salt-n-Pepa produce enough energy to put life into a stuffed chimpanzee. 'Push It' is as sharp as a broken bottle on a mean city street,with forceful rhymes and heavyweight rhythms that just won't let up. If I was LL Cool J I'd put my gold chains in a safe and hide in a cupboard at home."[8]
Music video
The accompanying music video for "Push It" features a concert performance of the song,along with DJ Spinderella and Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor on keyboards and backing vocals. The group wears eight-ball jackets during the video.[9]
Legacy
In October 2000,VH1 ranked "Push It" number 37 in their list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs".[10] On their list of "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop",it was ranked number nine. In 2011 and 2017,Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 446 and 46 in their lists of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time".[3][11] In 2020,Slant Magazine ranked it number 31 in their "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time" list.[12]
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