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It's All about the Benjamins

"It's All About the Benjamins"
It's All About The Benjamins.jpg
Single by Puff Daddy featuring Lil' Kim, The LOX and The Notorious B.I.G.
from the album No Way Out
Released June 30, 1997
Format CD single, 12" single,
cassette single
Genre East coast hip hop, Hardcore hip hop, Rap rock
Length 4:38
Label Bad Boy Records
Writer(s) Sean Combs, Sean Jacobs, Jason Phillips, David Styles, Christopher Wallace, Kimberly Jones, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie
Producer(s) Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie for The Hitmen
Puff Daddy singles chronology
"I'll Be Missing You"
(1997)
"It's All About the Benjamins"
(1997)
"Mo Money Mo Problems"
(1997)

"It's All About the Benjamins" is the third single released from the Puff Daddy album No Way Out. "Benjamins" is slang for $100 bills (USD), a reference to Benjamin Franklin's image on the bills. The Notorious B.I.G. used the slang on his debut album "Ready To Die". The song featured an uncredited vocal arrangement by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, and featured a signature guitar hook played by Marc Solomon.

The song debuted in 1996 on DJ Clue's Holiday Holdup mixtape. This version of the song only featured Puff Daddy and the rap act The LOX (excluding Styles P who still appears in the video). The song was later added to Puffy's debut album, No Way Out, in a remix, "It's All About the Benjamins (Remix)", which added two new verses by Lil' Kim and Notorious B.I.G. Lil' Kim also provided the song with a chorus which the original version lacked. This version of the song also omitted the word "Hebrews" out of Jadakiss' verse; however, the word was left in on the first pressing. Subsequent pressings removed the word. Additionally, when it was released on the Bad Boy's Greatest Hits Vol. I album, it retained the word. This single made it to #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and its video won a Viewer's Choice award at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards show. Due to the rarity of the obscure mixtape version, the remix featured on No Way Out is often considered the song's definitive version to avoid confusion.

The song samples two pieces of music. The first sample heard up to the end of Lil' Kim's verse is taken from the song "I Did It for Love" performed by the Love Unlimited written by Linda Laurie and Terry Etlinger. The verse performed by Notorious B.I.G. contains a sample from The Jackson 5 song "It's Great to Be Here." This latter sample is exclusive to the No Way Out remix. After the final verse, the song reverts to the first sample and ends shortly after.


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