Push It (Salt-n-Pepa song)

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"Push It"
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German 12-inch single
Single by Salt-N-Pepa
from the album Hot, Cool & Vicious
ReleasedMarch 8, 1987
Genre
Length
  • 4:31 (album version)
  • 3:28 (UK radio edit)
Label
Songwriters
ProducerHurby Azor
Salt-N-Pepa singles chronology
"Tramp"
(1987) 		"Push It"
(1987) 		"Chick on the Side"
(1987)
Music video
"Push It" on YouTube
Alternative cover
Side A of US 7-inch retail single
Side A of US 7-inch retail single
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Number OneStarStarStarStar[2]

"Push It" is a song by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa. It was first released as the B-side of the "Tramp" single in 1987. Then released by Next Plateau and London Records, it peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1988 and, after initially peaking at number 41 in the UK, it re-entered the charts after the group performed the track at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert, eventually peaking at number two in the UK in July 1988. The song has also been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song is ranked number 446 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and was ranked number nine on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".[3]

History

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The original version of "Push It" was first released as the B-side to the 12-inch single "Tramp" in 1987. The corresponding 7-inch single contained a "Mixx-It" remix by San Francisco DJ and producer Cameron Paul; this was the radio version that gave the group its first mainstream hit. It advanced into the US Billboard Top 40 the week of December 26, 1987, eventually reaching its peak of number 19 the week of February 20, 1988. "Push It" and "Let's Talk About Sex" tie as the group's highest-charting UK hit, both peaking at number two in that country.

The original 1986 editions of the album Hot, Cool & Vicious did not contain "Push It". When the Cameron Paul remix of "Push It" became a radio hit, the album was reissued with the "Push It" remix added, along with the original versions of "Tramp" and "Chick on the Side" replaced by remixes.

Lyrics

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The song quotes a line from "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks, with the word "girl" replaced with "boy": "Boy, you really got me goin'/You got me so I don't know what I'm doin'." (For this, Ray Davies received a songwriting credit for "Push It.") It also quotes "Pick up on this" from "I'm a Greedy Man" and "There it is" from "There It Is", both by James Brown. The whispered "Push it" is sampled from the 1977 recording "Keep on Pushin'" by the band Coal Kitchen. This song is written in the key of A minor.[4]

Recognition and sales

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"Push It" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards. It was certified gold on March 23, 1988 by the RIAA for selling a million units. It was later certified platinum on October 13, 1989, under the new threshold for singles, which had been lowered to 1,000,000 sales earlier that year.

Critical reception

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Paul Oldfield from Melody Maker wrote, "'Push It' is an android electro pulse within earshot of Devo's pin-head synthesiser programmes, little pneumatic gasps and Mellotron drones like a motor in low-gear distress. It doesn't sound as if it's 'working up a sweat' at all. Forget riddim, forget rap. This is harder."[5] Another editor, Paul Lester, said the song "is to hip hop what M's 'Pop Musik' and Trio's 'Da Da Da' were to electro-pop."[6] Edwin Pouncey from NME commented, "The golden girls of rap decide to head off in a 'new direction'. This involves carefully ripping off a strip of Devo's 'Whip It' anthem of yore and pasting it onto the side of a riff that veers near the music for a John Carpenter movie that never was... I'm fond of both sources so Salt N'Peppa finally succeed in wriggling under my skin. Whether they intend to stay seems pretty doubtful however."[7]

Debbi Voller from Number One stated, "Bound to be a big hit in the present hip hop/house/rap mania climate, and why not? 'Push It' pumps and grinds like a street version of James Brown's classic 'Sex Machine' and these gals can rap a mean, errr, rap!"[2] Robin Smith from Record Mirror named it Single of the Week, writing, "Salt-n-Pepa produce enough energy to put life into a stuffed chimpanzee. 'Push It' is as sharp as a broken bottle on a mean city street, with forceful rhymes and heavyweight rhythms that just won't let up. If I was LL Cool J I'd put my gold chains in a safe and hide in a cupboard at home."[8]

Music video

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The accompanying music video for "Push It" features a concert performance of the song, along with DJ Spinderella and Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor on keyboards and backing vocals. The group wears eight-ball jackets during the video.[9]

Legacy

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In October 2000, VH1 ranked "Push It" number 37 in their list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs".[10] On their list of "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop", it was ranked number nine. In 2011 and 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 446 and 46 in their lists of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time".[3][11] In 2020, Slant Magazine ranked it number 31 in their "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time" list.[12]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[45] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[46] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[48] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  13. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  14. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  15. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8939." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  17. ^ Danish Singles Chart. September 23, 1988.
  18. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  21. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Push It". Irish Singles Chart.
  22. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 30, 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  23. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  24. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It". Top 40 Singles.
  25. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It". VG-lista.
  26. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  27. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It". Singles Top 100.
  28. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa – Push It". Swiss Singles Chart.
  29. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  30. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  31. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  32. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  33. ^ "Salt-N-Pepa Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  34. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Salt-N-Pepa – Push It" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
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