Keep Their Heads Ringin'

"Keep Their Heads Ringin'"
Single by Dr. Dre
from the album Friday
B-side "Take a Hit" by Mack 10
Released March 7, 1995
Format CD single, CD maxi, 12" single
Recorded 1995
Genre West Coast Rap
Length 5:06
Label Priority
Writer(s) Angie Stone, G. Chisholm, C. Cooks,
A. Young, James E. Anderson, S. Robinson,
S. Anderson
Producer Dr. Dre and Sam Sneed
Dr. Dre singles chronology
"Natural Born Killaz"
(1995)		 "Keep Their Heads Ringin"
(1995)		 "California Love"
(1996)

"Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Ring Ding Dong) is a single by Dr. Dre (featuring Nanci Fletcher) taken from the soundtrack of the movie Friday.[1] Although the album was released on Priority Records, Death Row Records still owns the masters to the song. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA on May 10, 1995 for individual sales of over 500,000. It also reached number one on the Hot Rap Tracks in the United States. It interpolates "Funk You Up" by The Sequence from their 1980 single released under Sugar Hill. The song also appears on Death Row Greatest Hits released in 1996. The intro "Hey. Whatup?" is done by Dr. Dre while the intro continues with the music on with KRS-One saying his trademark shout "Buck, buck, buck".

Contents

Alternate version

There is an alternate version of the song that can be found on Death Row Greatest Hits and the compilation album Death Row Dayz, where Dr. Dre uses the line:

Just chill, listen to the beats I spill
I use Crest, so ain't no cavity creeps in my grill

Instead of the more mainstream version of:

Just chill, listen to the beats I spill
Keepin' it real, enables me to make another mill' [mill' is short for million]

Music video

The music video was directed by F. Gary Gray and takes place in a plane hangar, in a Convair 880, with Dr. Dre, and his crew taking over air control. It features cast members from Friday including Chris Tucker, Faizon Love, and Nia Long, to name a few. It ends with Chris Tucker and Faizon Love taking the plane and flying away from the police. Chris Tucker says "I'm on probation, I can't go back to jail" referring to the character Smokey who was having trouble with the law in Friday.Lead vocalist Nanci Fletcher's intro marked the first time a female from the Death Row camp was featured in a video.

Track listings

CD maxi / 12" maxi
  1. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (LP version) — 5:01
  2. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (instrumental) — 4:57
  3. "Take a Hit" (by Mack 10) (LP version) — 4:34
  4. "Take a Hit" (by Mack 10) (instrumental) — 4:34
CD single
  1. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (LP version) — 5:01
  2. "Take a Hit" (by Mack 10) (LP version) — 4:34

Personnel

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[2] 15
Dutch Top 40[3] 11
Eurochart Hot 100 37
French SNEP Singles Chart[2] 29
German Singles Chart[4] 23
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[2] 3
Swedish Singles Chart[2] 7
Swiss Singles Chart[2] 7
UK Singles Chart[5] 25
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[6] 10
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[6] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[6] 10
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[6] 13

End of year charts

End of year chart (1995) Position
Dutch Top 40[3] 83
French Singles Chart[7] 72
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 53

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
U.S.[9] Gold May 10, 1995 500,000

References

  1. ^ King, Alex P. (2004) (in French). Hit-parade — 20 ans de tubes. Paris: Pascal. p. 338. ISBN 2-35019-009-9. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)
  3. ^ a b "Single top 100 over 1995" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201995.pdf. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 
  4. ^ "Dr.Dre singles, German Singles Chart" (in German). musicline. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Dr.Dre/single. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 
  5. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)
  6. ^ a b c d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)
  7. ^ 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
  8. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1995". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1995. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  9. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)

External links

Dr. Dre
Studio albums
Compilation albums
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Featured singles
Other songs
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