In da Club

"In da Club"
Single by 50 Cent
from the album Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Released	February 4, 2003[1]
Format	12-inch single, CD
Recorded	2002
Genre	Hip hop
Length	3:13
Label	Aftermath, Interscope, Shady
Writer(s)	50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Mike Elizondo
Producer	Dr. Dre, Mike Elizondo
50 Cent singles chronology
"Wanksta" (2002) "In da Club" (2003) "Magic Stick" (2003) Audio sample file info · help

"In da Club" is a hip hop song performed by rapper 50 Cent from his commercial debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. The song was produced by Dr. Dre with co-production from Mike Elizondo. 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Elizondo wrote the song. The track was released in 2003 as the album's lead single and it was positively received by music critics.

"In da Club" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming 50 Cent's first number one single. At the 46th Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song. The song's music video won Best Rap Video and Best New Artist at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2009, the single was listed at number 24 in Billboard's Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.^[2] It was listed at number 13 in Rolling Stone's "Best Songs of the Decade".

Background

After 50 Cent was discovered by rapper Eminem in 2002, he flew to Los Angeles where he was introduced to record producer Dr. Dre.^[3] "In da Club" was the first of seven tracks he recorded in five days with Dr. Dre. 50 Cent described the studio sessions, saying:

Dre, he'll play dope beats ... [He'll say], 'These are the hits, 50. So pick one of these and make a couple of singles or something.' The very first time he heard [me rap on] 'In Da Club' he said, 'Yo, I didn't think you was going to go there with it, but, you know, it works.' He was probably thinking of going in a different direction with that song. Then he expanded it into a hit record.^[4]

The production was originally given to the hip hop group D12, but was passed on to 50 Cent.^[5] He recorded the track with only the drum beat present. Since much of the content on Get Rich or Die Tryin' was "dark", he wanted to write material that was "the exact opposite". He called the song a "celebration of life. Every day it's relevant all over 'cause every day is someone's birthday."^[6]

Music and reception

"In da Club" was positively received from music critics. Allmusic described it as "a tailor-made mass-market good-time single".^[7] The Source called the song a "guaranteed party starter" with its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps".^[8] The BBC also wrote that the song is "a spectacular party anthem" that "highlights 50 Cent's ability to twist his words effortlessly".^[9] Entertainment Weekly noted that 50 Cent "boasts unashamedly of his career objectives and newly flush bank account" with lyrics such as "I'm feelin' focus, man, my money on my mind/Got a mil out the deal and I'm still on the grind."^[10] Rolling Stone wrote that the song sports "a spare yet irresistible synth hook augmented by a tongue-twisting refrain".^[11] The Guardian called the track "irresistible" due to its "sparse orchestral samples and snaking chorus",^[12] and Pitchfork Media said, "the bounce on 'In Da Club' is straight-up irresistible, Dre at both his minimalist best and most deceptively infectious."^[13] Splendid magazine called the song an "insanely catchy" single with its "stanky, horn-addled thump".^[14] The track was listed at number ten on Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".^[15] In 2008, it was ranked at number 18 on VH1's "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs".^[16]

Chart performance

"In da Club" charted well in the United States, becoming 50 Cent's first number one single. The song peaked at number one for nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for twenty-two weeks.^[17][18] The track also reached number one on the Top 40 Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Hot Rap Tracks charts.^[19] In March 2003, it broke a Billboard record as the "most listened-to" song in radio history within a week.^[20] The Recording Industry Association of America certified the track Gold.^[21] The song was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2004 Grammy Awards, but lost to Eminem's "Lose Yourself".^[22] Across Europe, it reached number one in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland and the top five in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.^[18] In Australia, the single peaked at number one, was certified two times Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association,^[23] and on the 2003 year-end chart, it was listed at number five.^[24]

Music video

Phillip Atwell directed the music video on December 10–11, 2002.^[25] Almost all the film footage was used in the video except for a scene where 50 Cent raps in a glass box.^[26] The video is set in a fictional hip hop boot camp known as the Shady/Aftermath Artist Development Center. It begins with a black Hummer driving to the facility at an unknown location. 50 Cent is introduced by hanging upside down from the roof of a gym. Atwell commented, "I think I could have done better with it, but I really liked the way that it turned out".^[26] The video also contains a shooting range, which Atwell felt was appropriate because 50 Cent had been shot nine times. He said, "creatively, I felt like we were able to put guns in a video and have it play. And I like it when you are able to play within the standards and still give the artist something symbolic of what they are going for."^[26]

The video ends with the camera zooming out of the club to reveal a two-way mirror with Eminem and Dr. Dre in white lab uniforms, observing 50 Cent and taking notes. Atwell stated that "seeing 50 with Dre and Em having his back is as big a visual statement as it is a musical statement" and the shot was significant because it made clear the club was inside the center and not unrelated performance footage.^[26] On January 27, 2003, the video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live at number nine and stayed on the chart for fifty days.^[27] It also reached number one on the MuchMusic video charts.^[28] At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was awarded Best Rap Video and Best New Artist and was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, and Viewer's Choice.^[29]

Lawsuit

In January 2006, 50 Cent was sued for copyright infringement by former 2 Live Crew manager Joseph Weinberger, who owns the rights to the rap group's catalog. He claimed that 50 Cent plagiarized the lines "it's your birthday" from former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell on his 1994 album Still a Freak for Life.^[30] The lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Paul Huck, who ruled that the phrase was a "common, unoriginal and noncopyrightable element of the song".^[31]

Remixes

Many remixes for the song have been made by artists including Beyoncé Knowles, Mary J. Blige, P. Diddy, Lil Wayne and many others who rapped their own verses over the songs instrumentals.

Sexy Lil' Thug

Beyoncé Knowles made a remix to the original song that sampled "In da Club's" instrumental and melody with Knowles rapping her own verse's. The remix was titled "Sexy Lil' Thug" instead of "In da Club" and runs 3:16.^[32] In the song, Knowles references Jimmy Choo shoes, Marilyn Monroe, Marc Jacobs, and Bailey Bank and Biddle. The song was officially released on Knowles' only mixtape Speak My Mind.

We All In da Club

After each artists created their own remixes to the song, they were dubbed together to create one nearly 10 minute song with each artist titled as 50 Cent vs. Beyoncé vs. Mary J. Blige vs. P.Diddy.^[33] The song had each artist take turns rapping their verse with their respective choruses afterwards.

Track listing

• CD single^[34]

1. "In da Club" (clean) – 3:46
2. "In da Club" (explicit) – 3:45
3. "Wanksta" – 3:41

• Australian CD single^[35]

1. "In da Club" – 3:48
2. "Wanksta" – 3:41
3. "In da Club" (instrumental) – 6:18
4. "In da Club" (multimedia track) – 13:53
5. "Wanksta" (multimedia track)

Personnel

Information taken from the liner notes of Get Rich or Die Tryin'.^[36]

• Producer: Dr. Dre
• Co-producer: Mike Elizondo
• Audio mixing: Dr. Dre
• Recording engineers: Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri, Sha Money XL
• Assistant engineers: James "Flea" McCrone, Francis Forde, Ruben Rivera
• Keyboards, guitars, bass: Mike Elizondo

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

• 50 Cent's official site
• "In da Club" lyrics
• "In da Club" music video at YouTube