Seventeen Years

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"Seventeen Years"

Single by Ratatat
from the album Ratatat
Released	November 25, 2003
Recorded	?
Genre	Alternative, Electronic
Length	8:45 / 7:24
Label	Rex Records / Audio Dregs
Producer(s)	Evan Mast, Mike Stroud
Ratatat singles chronology
None	Seventeen Years (2003)	Germany to Germany (2004)

"Seventeen Years" is a song by Ratatat and is their first release as a band. It was first released in the USA on the independent record label Rex Records in 2003, before being later released in the UK by Audio Dregs, a label run by band member Evan Mast and his brother.

The track is instrumental, except for a brief introduction given by local Crown Heights MC and rapper Young Churf, from which the track takes its title:

“

I've been rapping for about seventeen years, okay? I don't write my stuff anymore, I just kick it from my head, y'know what I'm sayin', I can do that. No disrespect, but that's how I am.

”

The main part of the song consists of melodies and harmonies by synthesizers and electric guitars, overlapping to produce a rhythym that falls within the realms of techno, rock 'n roll and hip-hop.

The song was featured in an automobile commercial for Hummer automobiles in 2005. It was also used on the British television show Soccer AM, as the original background music for The Crossbar Challenge part of the show. It was also used as the song for professional skateboarder Keith Hufnagel's video part in the DVS - Skate More video.^{[citation needed]} It has also been used in an Icelandic shoe commercial.^{[citation needed]}

The single was only released on 12" vinyl, though it appeared in two different versions. The original release of the track was on the record label Rex Records, and contained the B-side "Breaking Away". The second release of the track, in November 2003, was on the label Audio Dregs. This release was limited to 1100 copies, and had different artwork in addition to the different B-side "Spanish Armada". Both B-sides, as well as "Seventeen Years" itself, later appeared on Ratatat's debut album Ratatat.