Smack My Bitch Up
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Smack My Bitch Up" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by The Prodigy | ||
| from the album The Fat of the Land | ||
| Released | 17 November 1997 | |
| Format | 12 inch vinyl record CD single |
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| Recorded | Essex, England | |
| Genre | Electronica Industrial Rock |
|
| Length | 4:45 Smack My Bitch Up (Edit) | |
| Label | XL Recordings Maverick Records |
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| Writer(s) | Liam Howlett | |
| Producer(s) | Same as above | |
| Certification | None | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| The Prodigy singles chronology | ||
| "Breathe" (1996) |
"Smack My Bitch Up" (1997) |
"Baby's Got a Temper" (2002) |
Smack My Bitch Up was the thirteenth single released by the British electronica/rave/rock band The Prodigy on November 7, 1997. It was the third and final single from the album The Fat of the Land.
The song was very controversial because the lyrics and title of the song were believed to promote violence against women. The band defended the song saying that the lyrics were being misinterpreted and the song actually meant "...doing anything intensely...". (The "Smack My Bitch Up" sample is actually taken from the Ultramagnetic MCs song "Give The Drummer Some".)
Prior to the release of the single Liam Howlett was presented with three remixes of the title song. One by Jonny L, one by DJ Hype and one by Slacker. Eventually, Howlett chose the DJ Hype remix to be released on the single. The Jonny L remix was released through a free CD that came along with the January issue of Muzik Magazine in 1998, while the Slacker remix was never officially released, although it surfaced on a rare and limited set of white labels.
The song "No Man's Army" is an instrumental version of "One Man's Army", a song which Howlett created together with former Rage Against the Machine - now Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello for the soundtrack to the movie Spawn.
The song was banned by the BBC and only a lyric-free version was played on Radio 1. On the chart rundown, other tracks from the single release were played, and the title "Smack My Bitch Up" was not mentioned. Yet on the first episode of Top of the Pops in which SMBU charted, the DJ Hype remix was played over the Top 10 countdown, including the offending lyric of "Change my pitch up, Smack my bitch up."
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered this song on his 2000 album called "Lounge Against the Machine". This is the song where he introduces the whole band.
The music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and proved to be very controversial and popular as well. Though universally banned from television, massive demands on MTV made them show the video, but only after midnight and following an MTV News warning. The video depicts a night out in the city from an innovative and much imitated first-person perspective, portraying drinking & driving, shooting heroin, fighting, vandalism and sex. Detractors deplored the wantonly aggressive and mysogynistic behaviour of the video's protagonist, which would seem to indicate that they did not watch the end of the video, where the protagonist is revealed to be female.
In mid-2002, the full-on unedited version of this video was aired on MTV2 as part of a special countdown showing the most controversial videos ever to air on MTV. This countdown was only shown late at night because of the graphic imagery of "Smack My Bitch Up" and several other videos on the countdown. This video was at #1 on the countdown and therefore named the "Most Controversial Video" in MTV's history. Programming blocks in the United States containing the unedited video for "Smack My Bitch Up" automatically gained a rating of TV-MA-SLV(previously TV-M-DSLV). Teresa May features in the video.
Despite the controversy, the video would be nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards, and eventually win Best Dance Video and Breakthrough Video.
The ethnic lyrics were performed by Shahin Badar.
The song appears in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels, yet the song is not on the film's soundtrack. It also appears in the 2001 film Scary Movie 2, in the scene that spoofs the Charlie's Angels' scene that uses this song.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] XL recordings
[edit] 12" vinyl record
- Smack My Bitch Up (LP version) (5:42)
- No Man Army (Featuring Tom Morello) (4:44)
- Smack My Bitch Up (DJ Hype remix) (7:17)
- Mindfields (Headrock dub) (4:34)
[edit] CD single
- Smack My Bitch Up (Edit) (4:45)
- No Man Army (Featuring Tom Morello) (4:44)
- Mindfields (Headrock Dub) (4:34)
- Smack My Bitch Up (DJ Hype Remix) (7:17)
[edit] Maverick records
[edit] 12" vinyl record "Black sleeve"
- A1. Smack My Bitch Up (Album Version) (05:43)
- A2. Mindfields (Headrock Dub) (04:35)
- B1. Smack My Bitch Up (Dj Hype Remix) (07:17)
[edit] 12" vinyl record
- A1. Smack My Bitch Up (LP Version) (05:42)
- A2. No Man Army (Featuring Tom Morello) (04:44)
- B1. Mindfields (Headrock Dub) (04:34)
- B2. Smack My Bitch Up (Dj Hype Remix) (07:17)
[edit] Digipak
- Smack My Bitch Up (Edit) (04:45)
- No Man Army (Featuring Tom Morello) (04:44)
- Mindfields (Headrock Dub) (04:34)
- Smack My Bitch Up (Dj Hype Remix (07:17)
The digipak was released in cooperation with Sire.
[edit] External links
| The Prodigy |
| Liam Howlett - Keith Flint - Maxim - Leeroy Thornhill |
| Discography |
| Albums: Experience - Music for the Jilted Generation - The Fat of the Land - The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned - Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005 |
| Singles: What Evil Lurks - Charly - Everybody in the Place - Fire/Jericho - Out of Space - Wind It Up (Rewound) - One Love - No Good (Start the Dance) - Voodoo People - Poison - Firestarter - Breathe - Smack My Bitch Up - Baby's Got a Temper - Girls/Memphis Bells - Girls - Hotride - Spitfire - Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)/Out of Space (Audio Bullys Remix) |
