B-side Jack the Ripper Format Vinyl, cassette Genre Golden age hip hop | Released January 27, 1988 Recorded 1987 Length 3:57 | |
"Going Back to Cali" is a 1988 single by LL Cool J from the Less Than Zero soundtrack as well as his third album, Walking with a Panther. The song was co-written and produced by Rick Rubin. It peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and was eventually certified gold by the RIAA on May 28, 1991.
Contents
The song features LL Cool J vacillating about moving to California, rapping in the chorus, "I'm going back to Cali", followed by "I don't think so". In the verses, he describes a trip to Los Angeles in which he meets several women but is scared off because they are too sexually aggressive. The basic concept for the song was Rubin's, based on his own ambivalence about possibly moving from New York City to Los Angeles. (Rubin moved to LA later in 1988.)
Music video
The music video for "Going Back to Cali" was directed by Ric Menello. It was shot in black and white and was filmed mostly at two Los Angeles landmarks, the Venice neighborhood and the Griffith Observatory, as an homage to two of Menello's favorite films, Touch of Evil (1958) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955), respectively.
Covers
Rock band Sevendust covered the song on the 2000 album Take a Bite Outta Rhyme: A Rock Tribute to Rap.
Track listing
- "Going Back to Cali" (R. Rubin, J. T. Smith) – 3:57
- "Jack the Ripper" (Rubin, Smith) – 4:50