What I Got

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"What I Got"
Single by Sublime
from the album Sublime
Released August 27, 1996
Recorded 1996 at Pedernales Studio in Austin, Texas & Total Access Recording in Redondo Beach, California
Genre Alternative rock, alternative hip hop. ska punk
Length 2:51
Label MCA Records
Writer(s) Bud Gaugh/Bradley Nowell/
Half Pint/Eric Wilson
Producer(s) David Kahne
Sublime singles chronology

"Date Rape"
(1991)		 "What I Got"
(1996)		 "Santeria"
(1997)

"What I Got" is a song from Sublime's eponymous third album titled Sublime and was the band's biggest radio hit, posthumously after singer Bradley Nowell's 1996 heroin overdose. It was the second single to be released by the band, following "Date Rape" (1991). The song was one of the most popular singles of 1997 in the US. At the time of its release, it reached the #1 spot on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was also a mainstream Top 40 hit, peaking at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay.[1]

It is ranked among the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone at #83.[2] The song is noted for carrying a melody almost identical to that heard on The Beatles' "Lady Madonna"[3] and an overlaid comparison of the said melody matches up almost exactly.

The song itself is also an adaptation of the track "Loving" by Half-Pint.[4] Half-Pint has since performed songs with the Long Beach Dub Allstars, which includes the two surviving members of Sublime. It can be heard on the movie, Fun with Dick and Jane. A shortened, clean version of the song was also included in the video game Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. It also appeared on the soundtrack of Guitar Hero 5 and was sung by the Protagonist and Pierce Washington during the fourth mission and by cast and production crew during the credits of Saints Row: The Third as the features on the soundtrack. It will also be featured as a downloadable track for Rock Band 3.

The guitar solo was played by Michael “Miguel” Happoldt, the founder of Skunk Records.[5]

The song was covered by Michael Franti & Spearhead feat. Gift of Gab on the tribute album Look at All the Love We Found.

The song was covered by Bret Michaels of the glam metal band Poison on his solo album Custom Built released in 2010.

It was also covered by the Blues Traveler on their "25" album.

The song contains a sample from a Richard Pryor quote found on That Nigger's Crazy, the same Richard Pryor quote that is used in Ol' Dirty Bastard's Shimmy Shimmy Ya.

The sentence "Never had to battle with no bulletproof vest" is taken from "Mona Lisa (Nappy Heads Remix)" by The Fugees.

A second version, "What I Got (Reprise)", is a more rock-oriented version of the song on the album Sublime. This version was also heard on many rock stations. The lyrics, "I never start no static, I just get it off my chest, never had to battle with no bullet proof vest" are reversed in the reprise version. So he says, "Never had to battle with no bullet proof vest," first, then "never start no static, I just get it off my chest."

What I Got: The Seven Song EP

Track listing

  1. "What I Got" (Kahne Radio Edit) (2:47)
  2. "40 oz. to Freedom" (3:03)
  3. "D.J.s" (3:18)
  4. "All You Need" (2:46)
  5. "Same in the End" (2:39)
  6. "Work That We Do" (2:35)
  7. "Doin' Time" (Marshall Arts Remix) feat. the Pharcyde (4:12)

Chart performance

Chart (1996–97) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Alternative 30 2
UK Singles Chart 71
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 29
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 11
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 39

Music video

The video for "What I Got", shot after Nowell's death, mainly contains a collage of archive videos and photos of Bradley, as a tribute to the singer. The video includes images of Long Beach, CA, where the band met their success, as well as live footage from a Sublime show at The Capitol Ballroom in Washington, DC. The rollerblading woman in the beginning of the video is wearing a shirt with the words "I ♥ Slayer" in reference to the thrash metal band Slayer who emerged from the same area.

In popular culture

"What I Got" was made available for download on October 30, 2012 for Rock Band 3 basic mode.

The song was also used in the video game Saints Row: The Third during one of the story missions as well as the credits, performed by the game's voice cast.

The song is featured in Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX as a background music track.

The song is a playable track on Guitar Hero 5

References

  1. ↑ Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 7th Ed 2000, by Joel Whitburn. p. 611
  2. ↑ 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-01-24. "‘I can play the guitar like a motherfucking riot’, Sublime's Brad Nowell sang on this hit (released two months after his death from a drug overdose), and he was right: His bluesy acoustic solo lasts mere seconds, but its singalong syncopation makes it one of the Nineties' most unforgettable hooks."
  3. ↑ Sublime STP http://sublimestp.com/?page=pages/sublimewis#2
  4. ↑ Half Pint: Still Levelling the Vibes by Ryan A. MacMichael, Reggae Report, Vol. 16, #2, 1998.
  5. ↑ Sublime: Stories Lies Tales and Exaggerations. 1:53

External links

Sublime
Studio albums
Other albums
Popular songs
Tributes and legacy
See also
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