B-side "Everyday Love" Format 12" Genre Post-disco, funk | Released February 12, 1982 Recorded July 1981 | |
Length 4:42 (album version)
4:06 (7" single version)
6:22 (12" single version)
7:00 (instrumental) | ||
"Let It Whip" is a 1982 hit single by the Dazz Band and their biggest hit, peaking at number one on the R&B chart for five non-consecutive weeks. The single also reached number two on the Dance chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1983.
Contents
Song
Co-written by producers Reggie Andrews and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, performed by the Dazz Band, "Let It Whip" features a percolating drum machine rhythm underneath live drums, and a Minimoog bassline, underneath an electric bass guitar.
CDB version
Australian R&B and pop band CDB released a version in April 1998 as the third single from their second studio album, Lifted (1997). The song peaked at number 51 on the ARIA Charts.
Track listing
CD single (665254 2)
- "Let It Whip"
- "Back Then" (Dance Remix)
- "Good Times" (MI:II Remix)
- "Let It Whip" (Instrumental)
Other covers/sampling
"Let It Whip" is featured in the video games Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Scarface: The World Is Yours, in commercials for Tampax and Reese's Whipps candy, in the skateboard film DVS Skate More and in the films Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Adventures of Power (2008) and Almost Christmas (2016).
It has been covered by Boyz II Men, SR-71 on the soundtrack to The New Guy, George Lam (titled as the Cantonese song "愛到發燒"), and by The song was also covered by fictional a cappella group The Treblemakers in the 2012 film Pitch Perfect and is featured on the film's soundtrack.
Hip hop group The Treacherous Three sampled the song in their version called "Whip It", also released in 1982.
Christian hip hop artist Lecrae sampled the song in his song "Let It Whip" (featuring Paul Wall) on his 2013 mix tape Church Clothes 2.
Justin Timberlake sampled the song in a remix version of his 2003 hit "Cry Me a River".
The song is also sampled in the song "Let It Whip" by Purple Disco Machine (2012).
In 2015, the song was sampled by LunchMoney Lewis in his song "Whip It!".