Harman Patil (Editor)

Gettin' Jiggy wit It

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B-side
  
"Big Willie Style"

Format
  
CD single, Cassette

Genre
  
Hip hop, pop rap

Released
  
January 27, 1998

Recorded
  
1997

Length
  
3:48

"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.

Contents

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".

Composition

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 getting jiggy 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.

Smith has attested in an interview that his inspiration to alter the meaning for the purpose of the song came from his association of the term "jiggy" with "jigaboo", a derogatory term for African-Americans, which made the literal meaning of the title "getting African-American with it" and which was meant to reference the popular folk-myth of an innate sense of rhythm in black folks. The co-opting of a once offensive word also was racially empowering.

The song was also sampled by a Russian pop group Hi-Fi in their 1999 song "Pro Leto" (translated as "About Summer").

Since the song's release, many people have speculated if Nas helped compose "Gettin' Jiggy wit It", as he also helped compose the songs "Chasing Forever", "Yes Yes Y'all" and "Just Cruisin'" for Smith. In April 2014 on the social networking site Reddit, Nas finally put the rumor to rest:

"Alright, let's clear this up once and for all. I hung out with Will in the studio. And watched him write it. It was a fun studio session, and I said a line or two or three to him. It wasn't that serious. Will Smith wrote that song. But seriously, I watched him have fun making that record on his own, and Will is a true MC."

Music video

The music video was directed by Hype Williams and was filmed at various hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, including the New York-New York Hotel & Casino, The Mirage, and the foyer of the Luxor Hotel.

"Gettin' Jiggy wit It" won the 1998 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video. The song was also nominated for four additional awards, including Best Choreography, Viewer's Choice, Best Dance Video, and Video of the Year, but these further nominations were lost to Madonna for her song "Ray of Light".

Track listing

UK
  • CD1
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – 3:46
    2. "Men in Black" (New Video Mix) – 3:41
    3. "Big Willie Style" (Snippets) – 2:56
  • CD2
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – 3:46
    2. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" (Jay Scratch Mix) – 3:41
    3. "Big Willie Style" (featuring Lisa Lopes) – 3:35
  • Cassette
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – 3:46
    2. "Men in Black" (New Video Mix) – 3:41
    Europe
  • Single CD
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – 3:46
    2. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" (DJ Scratch Remix) – 3:20
  • Maxi-CD
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – 3:46
    2. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" (DJ Scratch remix) – 3:20
    3. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" (So So Def remix) – 3:36
    4. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" (DJ Scratch remix instrumental) – 3:19
    America
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – 3:46
    2. "Men in Black" (DJ Scratch Remix) – 3:45
    Digital download
    1. "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" (So So Def remix version 2; featuring Jermaine Dupri, Big Pun, R.O.C. & Cam'ron) – 4:17

    References

    Gettin' Jiggy wit It Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA