Gettin' Jiggy wit It
| "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Will Smith | ||||||||||
| from the album Big Willie Style | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Big Willie Style" | |||||||||
| Released | January 27, 1998 | |||||||||
| Format | CD single, Cassette | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||||||||
| Genre | Hip hop, pop rap | |||||||||
| Length | 3:48 | |||||||||
| Label | Columbia | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Samuel Barnes, Bernard Edwards, Joe Robinson, Nile Rodgers, Will Smith | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | Poke & Tone, L.E.S. (co-prod.) | |||||||||
| Will Smith singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Gettin' Jiggy wit It" is a single by American actor and rapper Will Smith, released as the third cut from his debut solo album Big Willie Style (1997). The song is based around a sample of "He's the Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge. The chorus is sampled from "Sang and Dance" by The Bar-Kays. Released in January 1998, the song was Smith's second hit produced by Poke & Tone, who replaced his long-time partner Jazzy Jeff, though the record-scratching techniques of Jazzy Jeff can be heard in the song.
The song spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart from March 14, 1998. It also won a Grammy Award in 1999 for the Best Rap Solo Performance. It was ranked the 68th greatest song of the 1990s by VH1. However, it was ranked at #19 on the list of AOL Radio's 100 Worst Songs Ever in 2010. The song was included in Pitchfork Media's 2010 list of "the seven worst U.S. No. 1 singles of the 90s".
The song samples the 1979 Sister Sledge song "He's the Greatest Dancer". The "mama-uh, mama-uh, mama come closer" line is a reference to the song "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango, specifically the version adapted by Michael Jackson in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"'s final bridge. The connotations associated with the expression were heavily influenced by this single. The term went from being used to acclaim one's fashion or style towards being synonymous with dancing, and eventually back to the original association with sexual connotations.
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