"Juicy Fruit" | ||||
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Single by Mtume | ||||
from the album Juicy Fruit | ||||
Released | 1983 | |||
Format | 7-inch single, 12-inch single | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Length | 6:00 (album version) 4:32 (UK album edit) 3:44 (7-inch edit) 5:55 (12-inch vocal version) 7:03 (12-inch "fruity instrumental mix") |
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Label | Epic | |||
Writer(s) | James Mtume | |||
Producer(s) | James Mtume | |||
Mtume singles chronology | ||||
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"Juicy Fruit" is a song written by James Mtume and released as the lead-off single from Mtume's third album, also titled Juicy Fruit. It features keyboards by legendary Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist/arranger Bernie Worrell. The mid-tempo song is arguably Mtume's most well-known, proving enormously successful on R&B radio stations and (to a lesser extent) nightclubs when first released. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart on June 4, 1983 and remained there for eight weeks. Its success on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, however, was more modest, reaching number 45. The single remarkably became a certified one million seller on July 25, 1983 without even becoming a Top 40 hit. The song's video had different lyrics, where they replaced "You can lick me everywhere" with "Candy kisses everywhere" so it wouldn't be censored or banned from being seen on TV.
"Juicy Fruit" has been prominently sampled by hip-hop and R&B artists throughout the years, most notably by The Notorious B.I.G. on his debut solo single "Juicy", Keyshia Cole on her single "Let It Go", and Tamar Braxton on her hit single "The One".
The single itself would become the inspiration for another act that would take the name from the song, Juicy, whose single "Sugar Free" was considered an answer to "Juicy Fruit" and itself the basis for being used as sampled backgrounds on numerous songs.
The song "Juicy Fruit" is a staple hip hop sample. It is sampled in the following songs: