Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check

Last updated
"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check"
WooHAHBusta.jpg
US single version cover
Single by Busta Rhymes
from the album The Coming
B-side
ReleasedJanuary 7, 1996
RecordedSummer 1995
Studio The Music Palace, New York City
Genre Hip hop
Length4:31
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Busta Rhymes singles chronology
"The Points"
(1995)
"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check"
(1996)
"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)"
(1996)
Music video
"Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check" on YouTube

"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" is a song by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released on January 7, 1996, by Flipmode Entertainment and Elektra Records as his debut solo single and the lead single from his debut studio album, The Coming (1996). The song was both written and produced by Rhymes and Rashad Smith. It contains additional vocals by Flipmode Squad member and Rhymes' cousin Rampage, credited as Rampage the Last Boy Scout. A critical and commercial success, the song peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also peaked at the same position in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. In the United States, the song was released with several remixes of the song and "Everything Remains Raw", also appearing on The Coming, as its B-side. The single received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 39th Grammy Awards, losing to "Hey Lover" by LL Cool J. In addition, its music video, directed by Hype Williams, received a nomination for Breakthrough Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

Contents

Viewed as a classic, it has since become one of Rhymes' most famous and beloved songs. In 2008, it was ranked number 56 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". [1]

Background

In a studio session with Rampage and record producer Rashad Smith, Smith went through his record collection and found Galt MacDermot's 1968 instrumental song "Space". Rhymes told him that he wanted to use the sample for himself, and to put the record away and save it for him. Eventually Smith and Busta produced the instrumental for the song using the sample, but Rhymes could not come up with any lyrics. However, seven months later, as Rhymes listened to the Sugarhill Gang's 1980 song "8th Wonder", he found new inspiration through the lyric "Woo-Hah! Got them all in check", which he went on to interpolate as part of the chorus. [2]

Rhymes reused parts of the lyrics from a freestyle battle he did in 1994 with rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, who would later feature on the remix version of the song. [3] While working on the song, Rhymes was also inspired by singer and record producer George Clinton and aesthetic influences from dancehall, reimagining the cadences of toasters he heard growing up in a Jamaican household and a community of Caribbean immigrants. [4]

Composition and lyrics

"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" was composed in 4
4
time
and the key of C♯ major, with a tempo of 92 beats per minute. It has a duration time of four minutes and thirty-one seconds. [5] The song features "cleverly-written" lyrics with a "manic delivery" over an "infectious" instrumental. For each of the three verses, the last word in each lyric rhymes with one another. [6]

Furthermore, Rhymes references his then-two year old son T'ziah Wood-Smith. ("Yes, I catch wreck and that's word on my seed"). [4]

Critical reception

Neil Kulkarni from Melody Maker named "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" Single of the Week, writing, "This is getting mad playlisting in the US right now, and it could be the record to bring East Coast hip hop bombing back to the charts over here. Formerly of the wicked Leaders Of The New School, Busta's brilliantly hoarse delivery keeps up an incredible flow on this track, recalling the freestyle genius of Mad Skillz or Lord Finesse. But what makes huge crossover so inevitable is the most insanely catchy cartoon loop and a chorus destines to permanently scar the mind and enter the hip hop lexicon of dancefloor-detonating classics." [7] In December 1996, Melody Maker ranked it number 48 in their list of "Singles of the Year". [8] James Hyman from Music Week's RM Dance Update rated the song five out of five, adding, "Imagine the inane style of Biz Markie mixed up with a pinch of Leaders Of The New School, Ol' Dirty Bastard (who appears on one mix) plus phat production from the likes of DJ Scratch (EPMD) & J.D. (Pharcyde, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village) and you simply have the most boisterous, most infectious and freshest rap single of the year." [9] Retrospectively, Daryl McIntosh of Albumism wrote that "Busta Rhymes cemented himself as a household name, by helping to add new dimensions to both the look and sound of hip-hop. […] Busta was even more energetic than we had seen and heard on “Scenario” and the "Flava in Ya Ear" reworking. His rhymes […] jumped through the speakers to connect with listeners, who still regard the rhymes as an all-time go-to quotable." [10]

Music video

The official music video for "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" was directed by American director Hype Williams and designed by visual artist and designer Ron Norsworthy. It begins with the first few lyrics and part of the hook of the songs B-side Everything Remains Raw, and features cameos from Spliff Star, Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, Consequence, Onyx, and Jam Master Jay. [11] The music video has become one of his most popular and very influential in both the hip hop and pop culture. [12]

Daryl McIntosh of Albumism called the music video "equally entertaining [as the song], as Busta was dressed in bright colors to correspond with vibrant backgrounds, which was a welcome break from the gloomier imagery that prevailed during the 'grimey era'". [10]

Track listing

United Kingdom 12-inch single

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" (Album Radio Edit)4:41
2."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (Fila Mix 3)"4:55
3."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The DJ Scratch Albany Projects Remix)" (Radio Edit)4:10
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (Origin Unknown Mix)"6:44
2."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (Fila Mix 4)"6:39
4."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Other Shit Remix)" (Radio Edit)4:10
Total length:31:19

United States 12-inch single

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" (Album Version)4:40
2."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)" (featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard)4:25
3."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Bounce Remix)"4:42
4."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The DJ Scratch Albany Projects Remix)"4:48
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Everything Remains Raw" (Album Version)3:43
2."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)" (Instrumental) 4:18
3."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Bounce Remix)" (Instrumental) 4:42
4."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Other Shit Remix)"4:42
5."Everything Remains Raw" (Album Version Instrumental) 2:38
Total length:38:38

United States CD single

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check"4:40
2."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)" (featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard)4:25
3."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Bounce Remix)"4:42
4."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The DJ Scratch Albany Projects Remix)"4:48
5."Everything Remains Raw"3:43
6."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)" (Instrumental) 4:18
7."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Bounce Remix)" (Instrumental) 4:42
8."Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The Jay-Dee Other Shit Remix)"4:42
9."Everything Remains Raw" (Instrumental) 3:37
Total length:39:37

The World Wide Remix

  1. "VH1's 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs". 29 September 2008.
  2. "Talib Kweli & Busta Rhymes Talk ELE: 2, J Dilla, Q-Tip, Kendrick, 5% & Chuck D | People's Party Full". YouTube . December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  3. "Busta Rhymes vs. ODB Freestyle Battle". YouTube . December 17, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Bell, Max (March 25, 2021). "How Busta Rhymes Harnessed the Dungeon Dragon on His Classic Debut". The Ringer. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  5. "Key & BPM for Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check". Tunebat. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  6. Bailey, Matthew (March 18, 2016). "Hey look! A music review – Busta Rhymes – The Coming (1996)". WordPress.com . Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  7. Kulkarni, Neil (April 20, 1996). "Singles". Melody Maker . p. 34. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  8. "Singles Of The Year". Melody Maker . December 21, 1996. p. 68. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  9. Hyman, James (March 30, 1996). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 9. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  10. 1 2 McIntosh, Daryl (March 24, 2021). "Busta Rhymes' Debut Solo Album 'The Coming' Turns 25 | Anniversary Retrospective". Albumism. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  11. "mvdbase.com - Busta Rhymes - "Woo-hah! got you all in check [version 1]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  12. "VDN Throwbacks Takes It Back w/Busta Rhymes' 'Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check' Music Video". Vanndigital. November 10, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  13. "Busta Rhymes On Working With Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, His New Album & More | Drink Champs". YouTube . October 31, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  14. "Key & BPM for Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)". Tunebat. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
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  21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
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  23. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
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  25. "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
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"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)"
WooHAHBusta.jpg
Single by Busta Rhymes featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard
A-side
  • "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check"
B-side
ReleasedFebruary 27, 1996
Recorded1995–1996
Studio The Music Palace, Long Island
Genre Alternative hip hop
Length4:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Busta Rhymes singles chronology
"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check"
(1996)
"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)"
(1996)
"It's a Party"
(1996)
Ol' Dirty Bastard singles chronology
"Shimmy Shimmy Ya"
(1995)
"Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check (The World Wide Remix)"
(1996)
"Fix"
(1997)