"How Ya Doin'?" | |||||||||||
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Single by Little Mix featuring Missy Elliott | |||||||||||
from the album DNA | |||||||||||
Released | 17 April 2013 | ||||||||||
Format | Digital download | ||||||||||
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Genre | |||||||||||
Length | 3:13 (album version) 3:31 (single version) |
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Label | Syco | ||||||||||
Writer(s) |
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Producer(s) | Future Cut | ||||||||||
Little Mix singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"How Ya Doin'?" is a song by British girl group Little Mix, featuring American rapper Missy Elliott. It was released on 17 April 2013 as the fourth and final single from Little Mix's debut studio album, DNA (2012). The song's chorus is taken from Curiosity Killed the Cat's 1989 single "Name and Number"; The drums were sampled from "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers; The bassline and beat are sampled from The Whatnauts 1981 single "Help Is on the Way." (all songs were sampled earlier on De La Soul's 1991 song "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey).")
After becoming the first group to win The X Factor in 2011, and achieving their first UK number-one single with "Cannonball", the group began recording "How Ya Doin'?" with producers Future Cut. The recording of the song took place when Little Mix were on The X Factor Tour in the United Kingdom. It was recorded at The Sample Factory in London, England. In a January 2012 interview with the Daily Mirror, Perrie Edwards quipped, "We're going a bit urban, old school with a bit of pop. We wanna bring back old school harmonies. And Jesy beat-boxes and Leigh-Anne raps, so we're trying out different things." Little Mix co-wrote "How Ya Doin'?" with Shaznay Lewis from British-Canadian girl group All Saints and the song's producers Future Cut. It samples The Whatnauts' "Help Is on the Way" (1981), The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President (1973)," and Curiosity Killed the Cat's "Name and Number" (1989). The song was mixed by Phil Tan the Ninja Beat Club in Atlanta, United States. Its instrumentation was helmed by Future Cut, Jacob Quistgaard and Michael Hamilton, and Tom Coyne provided the track's mastering. British rapper Slick Rick was originally enlisted to feature on the song, but pulled out before the release of DNA.