Released March 31, 1992 Genre New jack swing | Recorded October 1991 Label MCA | |
Format CD single, Cassette single Length 5:19 (LP version)
4:50 (single version) | ||
"Don't Be Afraid" is a song by American singer Aaron Hall. It was produced by Hank Shocklee and Gary G-Wiz and spent two weeks at #1 on the US R&B chart (making it Aaron Hall's highest charting R&B hit) and peaked at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was one of the singles taken from the soundtrack for the 1992 film Juice starring 2Pac.
The song has four versions. The original uptempo version featured on the Juice soundtrack, the second called "Jazz You Up version," lyrically talks of a man's fantasies with a girl, and convincing her "don't be afraid, girl", which was met with controversy due to its overtly sexual nature. In response, an alternate version to the song was released, called the "Sex You Down Some Mo'" and features a slower tempo and different lyrics and a 4th version which is the Nasty Man's Groove version. One version is on the Juice soundtrack, with the Jazz You Up and Sex You Down Some Mo versions featured on Hall's The Truth album the year after and the fourth on the single.
The original, uptempo version of the song "Don't Be Afraid" appears in the 2004 videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional new jack swing radio station CSR 103.9. The song's drum loop is sampled from "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground.