Posse on Broadway

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“Posse on Broadway”

Single by Sir Mix-a-Lot from the album Swass
Released	1988
Format	7", 12", Cassette single, CD single
Genre	Hip-hop
Label	Def American
Writer(s)	Sir Mix-a-Lot
Producer	Sir Mix-a-Lot

"Posse on Broadway" is a popular rap song first recorded by Sir Mix-A-Lot on on his 1988 album, "Swass." Broadway refers to the Seattle street of the same name in the Capitol Hill district (Mix being a Seattle native), though some misinformed individuals consider the Broadway in question to be New York City's famed thoroughfare.

The geography of the song is quite specific, going north up Rainier Valley on Rainier Avenue S., then east to "23rd and Jackson," a major intersection in Seattle's traditionally black Central District or "CD," then cruising east to Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. where "the set looks kinda dead" so "we need a new street," then by "23rd and Union" (still in the CD, but northeast), and then to Broadway. "The college" is Seattle Central Community College near the south end of the Broadway commercial strip, from which they drive to Taco Bell at the north end, which "was closed" (a local joke, as that particular restaurant has a never-lit and wholly inaccurate "Open 24 Hours" sign built into the wall) so they "go back the other way" to Dick's Drive-In, a local fast food institution and, according to the song, "the place where the cool hang out."

There are two versions out there by Sir Mix-a-Lot: the "Radio Edit", which was played on air and the "Godzilla Remix Edit", which featured Godzilla's signature "roar" and a sample of the guitar riff from David Bowie's "Fame". The lyrics are slightly different between the two, most notably Mix-a-Lot references the "Gatorback" tires on his limo, instead of the "50-Series" in the radio edit and refers to the vehicle as "the Bistro" in the Godzilla version.

[edit] Other versions

Insane Clown Posse recorded a cover of "Posse on Broadway" originally named "Posse on Vernor" but re-recorded as "Posse on Broadway" for the Take a Bite Outta Rhyme rock/rap covers compilation. ICP's version modifies the lyrics in the band's gory style and to represent the geography of their native Detroit.

The Portland, Oregon Christian rap group Acts 29 covered the song as "Posse on Burnside".

Houston's South Park Mexican covered the song, applying it to the Broadway in the Southeast, Harris County.

Bay Area rapper E-40 recorded a remake titled "Big Ballin' With My Homies'" on his 1999 album Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire.