Top Billin'

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“Top Billin'”
“Top Billin'” cover
Single by Audio Two
from the album What More Can I Say?
B-side Make It Funky
Released 1988
Format 12 inch single
Recorded 1987
Genre Hip hop
Label First Priority Music
Writer(s) K. Robinson
Producer Daddy-O, Audio Two

"Top Billin'", although released as the b-side to "Make It Funky" in 1987, was the 1988 breakout hit for hip-hop duo Audio Two, and made a deep cultural impact on hip hop. Rapped to a beat by Stetsasonic's Daddy-O, Milk Dee's lyrics continue to be referenced and sampled to this day. The beat samples the drumbreak from the Honeydrippers' Impeach the President, but rearranged in a very unexpected fashion. Daddy-O did this mistakenly when he hit the wrong keys on his sampler's keyboard, but thankfully recognized the funkiness of the resulting pattern, voted #8 in the 100 Greatest Rap Songs.

A remake of "Top Billin'" would be released in 1998, this time a duet between Milk Dee and younger sister MC Lyte, and her album Seven & Seven.

[edit] Notable references

  • The song "10% Dis" by MC Lyte includes the "Top Billin'" break as part of its chorus.
  • "Wreck Shop (Remix)" by Wreckx-N-Effect used the drum break from "Top Billin'".
  • The beat for Mary J. Blige's 1992 hit single, "Real Love", comes from the beat for this song.
  • The intro to The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album Ready to Die samples "Top Billin'" behind a skit of a train robbery.
  • "I Got 5 on It" by The Luniz samples the line "Got it? Good" from "Top Billin'".
  • "Bitch Niggaz" from Dr. Dre's album 2001 samples a line from "Top Billin'" ("stop scheming, and looking hard").
  • The lines "Kwa is chillin', Tone is chillin', what more can I say, we stay building" on Talib Kweli's song "Too Late" is inspired by Audio Two's "Top Billin'".
  • "We Trying to Stay Alive" by Wyclef Jean samples "Top Billin'", and more prominently samples "Stayin' Alive" by the BeeGees.
  • "I Get the Paper" by Stunna One takes its name from a line from "Top Billin'".
  • Madlib also used a short break from the track on Quasimoto's "Basic Instinct".
  • "What More Can I Say" by Jay-Z from The Black Album takes its name from a line from "Top Billin'".
  • Danger Mouse samples the line "What more can I say" in his remix of the Jay-Z song "What More can I Say" on The Grey Album.
  • The same line is used in "Is He Ill" by MF Doom.
  • Earatik Statik samples the line "on and on and on" from "Top Billin'" on their song "Evil is Timeless".
  • The song "Chillin'" by Erick Sermon, Talib Kweli and Whip Montez is based on "Top Billin'".
  • AZ)'s song "AZ's Chillin'" from the 2005 album, A.W.O.L., has a chorus completely based from "Top Billin'".
  • "SexyLove (Remix)" by Ne-Yo and Candace Jones features the "Top Billin'" drum break punctuating the end of each musical phrase.
  • "Pop the Glock" by Uffie is in large-part based both lyrically and musically upon "Top Billin'".
  • "Get To Poppin'" by Rich Boy
  • Kanye West samples a line from "Top Billin'" and a portion of his verse is lyrically based on the song, in Jay-Z's "The Bounce" on his album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse.
  • The track "Why Wout I" by Beanie Sigel that appears on the State Property mixtape "Out on Bail" uses a similar line to the chorus. Sigel rhymes "Sige is chillin', stackin' shit to the ceilin', what would I ever say about a killin'?"
  • 2Pac sampled this track in his 1996 song "Only God Can Judge Me".
  • "Top Billin'" appears on "The Classics 104.1" in Grand Theft Auto IV
  • "Top Billin'" appears on Tony Hawk's Underground 2.
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in the chorus of 50 Cent's single "I Get Money".
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled near the end of "Testimonial Year" by Hilltop Hoods.
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in the chorus of Lil' Flip's song "I Get Money" (featuring Jim Jones).
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in Apathy's song "The Buck Stops Here".
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in LL Cool J's song "Doin' It", sampling the crowd noise from the song played throughout.
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in the chorus of Styles P's song "Stop Scheming".
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in "Step Up" for Kutmasta Kurt's side project with the emcees Kool Keith and Motion Man, Masters of Illusion. Throughout the song is heard, "Step up if you wanna get hurt."
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in a series of cuts mixed in Everlast's single, "The Rhythm" (using Milk's line, "What more can I say?), and sampled again in his House of Pain days in the song "Over There Shit (I Don't Care)" (using Milk's line, "I don't care") from their second album Same As It Ever Was, and a final time on the final track of House of Pain's final album, Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again, the track titled "While I'm Here". The latter samples Milk's line, "While I'm here, I'd like to thank" in between Everlast's own lines in the track.
  • On the remix for 50 Cent's "I Get Money", which samples Milk D's vocals, the drums are used for the bridge that 50 Cent sings before Jay-Z's verse.
  • The Lines, "Jail for MC Assault" and "When I'm bussin' up a party I feel no guilt." are sampled in the song "MC Assault" by Godfather Don.
  • Memphis Bleek also makes reference in a line biting the hook from "Top Billin'" for his track "Do My..." featuring Jay-Z ("Bleek is chillin', Murda's chillin', what more can I say, we still killin'")
  • "Top Billin'" is sampled in "Paper Touchin'Remix" by Red Cafe the "Brooklyn" in the background.
  • "uffie's song pop the glock has similar lyrics and beats of top billin".